i5 4590 vs FX 8350 (gaming)

Consant · Dec 5, 2015

Hi. This is pretty much what the title says. I recently bought an new i5 4950 because there was a great deal in a local store.

Now everytime i check canyourunit.com, it says my cpu doesn't meet the recommended spes.

For many new games, an i7 or a fx 8350 is recommended. So i wanted to ask: is the 8350 better when it comes to gaming? Was it a mistake that i got the 4590?

In any game that i've played i haven't had trouble at 1080p. Though im worried because im planning on getting new ones like AC Syndicate, Just Cause 3 etc, and they recommend a fx 8350.

The rest of my specs are a g1 gtx 970 and 8gb of ram. Relatively speaking, those should suffice for 1080p.

synphul · Dec 5, 2015

I think you're fine. The game is pretty new yet and full of bugs. It's not out of the ordinary for games to 'recommend' the fastest possible cpu from either amd or intel whether it's needed or not. The i5 should game much better than the 8350 and in a best case scenario for the 8350, definitely no worse.

Have a read through some discussions of various users' experience here. Problems with full screen mode, severe frame drops even with i7's. Indicating a poorly optimized game in dire need of patches, especially after more than one less than wonderful review of the game. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much hardware you have, it can't overcome a poorly written game. It doesn't help that there's no sli support either.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1148535

Redneck5439 · Dec 5, 2015

You are totally fine for now. As a general rule of thumb the i5 4590 is better at gaming than the FX series. Newer games are starting to utilize more cores and are starting to being more heavily multithreaded, however as to date no game is utilizing the new DX 12 and even if a game can utilize up to 8 threads of a processor only the primary thread communicates with the GPU as they are still on DX 11. It is possible that once games utilize DX 12 and are capable of utilizing 8 threads with all 8 cores being able to communicate directly with the GPU that processors like the FX 83xx may have a gaming edge over i5 quad cores, however that won't happen for awhile and even if it does it doesn't mean your i5 4590 won't run the games just fine.

petar80 · Dec 11, 2015

"Was it a mistake that i got the 4590?"

It was not a mistake. The i5 4590 is insane. It handles new games without ever going over 55C. Witcher 3 on Ultra - forget about it, handles it with ease.

king3pj · Dec 11, 2015

Forget that can I run it website. All it does is pull the recommended specs from system requirements. The fact is your i5 is better than an 8350 in almost every game on the market.

Just look up CPU benchmarks and you will see that even an i3 does better in many games than a FX 8350. Developers just always recomend the 8350 as the AMD CPU because it's the best mainstream AMD CPU available. The CPU you bought will still beat it in in FPS benchmarks.

petar80 · Dec 11, 2015

"Gaming is 70% gpu dependent, 20% cpu, and 10% rest"

OMG I strongly disagree. I played games on four very different rigs this past month and I have come to the conclusion that having a good CPU is just as important as a GPU.

If one wants to OC the AMD - well one is gonna need that extra $40 bucks for an aftermarket cooler. The AMD also needs more power...... The i5 4590 works PERFECT with the stock cooler. Perfect.

I can't think of a better rig than the i5 4*** with a GTX 970.....

Redneck5439 · Dec 11, 2015

petar80 :

You can't put all games into one broad spectrum and say "games" are dependent on this much GPU and this much CPU. As a rule of thumb most new games are much more GPU dependent than CPU dependent (a trend that will more than likely continue and expand in the world of DX 12 games), however there are many games that are much more CPU dependent that GPU dependent. Any game that is more heavily CPU dependent is going to run with higher, more consistent FPS on Intel. Games that are more heavily GPU dependent and can utilize Mantle (and later DX 12) and can utilize 6 threads or more will give an eight core FX 83xx a slight edge over i5s. It all depends how the game was coded.

To OP: you are perfectly fine with your i5 4950, it is a fine processor that will keep you gaming for at least the lifespan of the the PS4 and Xbone. Keep in mind DX 12 will also boost the gaming capabilities of the i5 quad core systems (the biggest boost will be given to the 8 core FX, however in most circumstances it will put the two processors more on equal footing).

clutchc · Dec 11, 2015

In gaming the i5-4590 generally outperforms the FX-8350 anyway. I have both. There isn't a game made that either processor can't play well.

Redneck5439 · Dec 11, 2015

clutchc :

+1 I don't know why some games are listing such overkill recommended specs, unless they are horribly coded bad ports.

king3pj · Dec 11, 2015

When did I say that? What I said was that the i5 4590 he already bought is better than an FX 8350 for gaming. There is no reason for him to downgrade to an FX 8350. Buying an AM3+ motherboard and a FX 8350 would cost him money and perform worse than the build he already owns.

Redneck5439 · Dec 11, 2015

king3pj :

At this point, if a person is already on Intel i5 Ivy or better, and wanted to switch to AMD it is far better to wait a few months and upgrade to Zen. That is not saying that FX aren't fine processor fully capable of gaming @ 1080p on Ultra settings (I love my FX 8370), however Zen will be a big improvement over piledriver and really elevate AMD back into the high performance market where they belong. Zen is scheduled for a 2016 release.

Mr_Venbeer · Dec 11, 2015

The i5 4590 is better than the FX 8350 in more than 90% of all games, especially older titles.

superstition · Dec 12, 2015

For people who did not bother to read the opening post, the person ALREADY has an i5. So you don't need to try to sell him a CPU.

Yes, your i5 is fine. And, yes, those other processors are also fine. Anyone with that AMD should turn off APM and overclock to 4.5 GHz with a good cooler like the True Spirit Power 140.

petar80 · Dec 12, 2015

"For people who did not bother to read the opening post, the person ALREADY has an i5"

I kinda feel bad I even wrote anything, thus bumping the topic. I just wanted to brag about my new CPU and support a fellow gamer by saying he did NOT make a mistake by buying an i5 4590 and that he is gonna be very happy in my opinion.

Why doe everything have to turn into a conflict........ (rhetorical question, please do not answer)

Redneck5439 · Dec 12, 2015

Unfortunately that is a dispute that your just not going to win. I love my FX 8370 and would eagerly pit it against an i5 in a lot of situations, but some CPU dependent games will have the i5 as a clear winner. It all depends on the game. Most new games that have come out recently have been more GPU dependent, but then you get games where either the port was just bad or the coding could be better... a recent game like that was GTA V, great game not so great of a port. Other games like MMORPGs are known to be CPU intensive. Most games of today are GPU dependent or at least mostly GPU dependent, however there are still popular games that come out and are heavily CPU dependent due to the coding. An i5 will always beat an FX on CPU dependent games utilizing DX 11 it is that cut and dry.

Tradesman1 · Dec 12, 2015

Redneck5439 :

Unfortunately that is a dispute that your just not going to win. I love my FX 8370 and would eagerly pit it against an i5 in a lot of situations, but some CPU dependent games will have the i5 as a clear winner. It all depends on the game. Most new games that have come out recently have been more GPU dependent, but then you get games where either the port was just bad or the coding could be better... a recent game like that was GTA V, great game not so great of a port. Other games like MMORPGs are known to be CPU intensive. Most games of today are GPU dependent or at least mostly GPU dependent, however there are still popular games that come out and are heavily CPU dependent due to the coding. An i5 will always beat an FX on CPU dependent games utilizing DX 11 it is that cut and dry.

_____________

+1 what is best is dependent on the individual game

petar80 · Dec 12, 2015

See, with your nickname I never would have guessed you will be forcing AMD on us.........silly me...

Tradesman1 · Dec 12, 2015

petar80 :

g-unit1111 · Dec 12, 2015

Again what is this advantage? I keep hearing this from AMD fans all the time. I want to know what it is, and show me on the CPU heirarchy chart where the AMD beats the i5-4XXX and i5-6XXX in any benchmark test.

Redneck5439 · Dec 12, 2015

g-unit1111 :

As I have already said I love my FX 8370, and will pit it against i5s for certain tasks and win, but CPU intensive games and any benchmark that tests single core performance... forget about it, the i5 wins hands down. There is no way the FX line, as aged as they are, are going to outperform a much newer arch i5. I love my processor,it has a lot of strengths, but I also know its weaknesses. Core per core AMD can't compete with Intel at this point in the game, that is why there was no third generation bulldozer FX (Excavator). AMD knew that even with Excavators improvements there was little to be gained in bringing it to AM3+ FX and instead switched gears to Zen. Zen will bring AMD back in the high end game.

Its okay to love your AMD processor, they all have their strengths (mainly price/ performance), but just because we love our processors we can't overlook their weaknesses. DX 12 and more multithreaded games will make the aging FX 8 core processors game better and be stronger in-game but its not going to magically make it better than i5s. Even if they game on equal, or slightly better footing with i5s with DX 12 they are still going to be more power hungry and produce more heat than their i5 counterpart. Think of it like this a GTO Judge is an amazing muscle car and in a straight away it may break even or slightly edge a new fuel injected Challenger but how much more fuel will it take to do it. As much as we all love the GTO Judge the new fuel injected Challenger is better because it can do the same performance with better fuel economy.

superstition · Dec 12, 2015

check this: https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/3ho4iq/amds_fx_cpus_beat_intels_hex_octo_core_cpus_4k/

AMD FX chips need to be overclocked to at least 4.5 GHz. If you want to power game you should get a high-end board and clock to 4.9 - 5 GHz. If you run something like an 8350 or 8370 at stock then, yes, it's going to be too slow for some games.

FX chips have even outperformed the $1000 8 core Haswell chip in some games at 4K with SLI. They can be just fine for gaming when clocked high enough. But, if you run them at slow speeds they'll be snails in games that don't leverage most of the cores. Games that are poorly threaded will favor Intel.

Tradesman1 · Dec 12, 2015

Redneck5439 :

________________

+1 I've got a nice 8370 rig in the shop and it primaril just sits, about the only reason it really ever really got used was after I sold off my Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge rigs (they both outperformed it and were older).

Maybe AMD will have a hit with Zen, but to do so, it's going to have to be more that there recent rollouts, i.e. the 2xx series of 'new' GPUs being rebrands of 7xxx, the new 3xx cards, many of which are rebrands of 2xx with added VRAM, and lets not forget the release of the 5GHz 9590 at almost $1,000 which got thumped by a stock 4770K that was going for $350, and what's the 9590 these days, about $200?

I'm pulling for Zen, but not holding my breath, AMD just hasn't shown us anything an a few years now.

Redneck5439 · Dec 12, 2015

Tradesman1 :

Redneck5439 :

________________

+1 I've got a nice 8370 rig in the shop and it primaril just sits, about the only reason it really ever really got used was after I sold off my Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge rigs (they both outperformed it and were older).

Maybe AMD will have a hit with Zen, but to do so, it's going to have to be more that there recent rollouts, i.e. the 2xx series of 'new' GPUs being rebrands of 7xxx, the new 3xx cards, many of which are rebrands of 2xx with added VRAM, and lets not forget the release of the 5GHz 9590 at almost $1,000 which got thumped by a stock 4770K that was going for $350, and what's the 9590 these days, about $200?

I'm pulling for Zen, but not holding my breath, AMD just hasn't shown us anything an a few years now.

I too am hoping for a big hit with Zen, AMD needs it. I think its important that no one set their sights too high though. Zen isn't going to come out and thump Skylake in its first generation. From what I have seen of Zen it should offer 40% IPC gain over Excavator. A 40% IPC gain over Excavator would place Zen at about the performance level somewhere between Ivy Bridge and Haswell. Intel will still have the lead, but for a first generation leap that is a huge improvement and they would have a chance of catching Intel with second or third generation Zen. Intel's performance gains from Ivy to Skylake haven't been huge or groundbreaking which may suggest they are approaching a performance wall with iCore. If AMD keeps its very competitive price/performance ratio and tendency to add more cores than Intel it will be an attractive alternative to Intel in its first generation.

That is all of course assuming that AMD is right and Zen is a 40% IPC gain over Excavator.

superstition · Dec 12, 2015

"Zen isn't going to come out and thump Skylake in its first generation."

The Broadwell 5775C outperforms Skylake in many gaming tests.

If Broadwell can beat Skylake in gaming then I think AMD has a chance. It's Kaby Lake that will be the real question mark. That's when Intel will likely put EDRAM with Skylake.

Consant · Dec 20, 2015

Thank you all for your answers.

I've been playing many new games and i haven't had any fps problems on 1080p. A friend of mine has an 8370 paired with a Strix 970. I've played a few times on his computer and the performance is great as well. I'm not the kind of person who buys a computer for bragging rights or to prove something, the only reason i've spent close to 2000€ on my desktop over the last few years(which i would've happily spent on trips, food and booze) is because i want a good gaming experience.

What i am saying is, it doesn't matter if one cpu gives a few fps edge over the other. 1-5 fps difference is only for the numbers and benchmarks on the web, what matters is for you to enjoy the games you play at the performance level your system gives you. And although i have a 120hz screen, i don't need 100+ fps at all times, like some people say.

I wish you all happy holidays, happy gaming, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

i5 4590 vs FX 8350 (gaming)

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