Should I upgrade my fx8350 to top Intel i7?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
Hi guys.

I'm looking into possible upgrading my current build to an Intel board and cpu. I've been mostly using AMD setups, but I've been getting the push from several pc friends to get into an Intel setup. Should I make the plunge on a new board, cpu, and ram? I'm kinda wanting to, but wondering if what I have picked out wool be worth it, and if it will be a solid setup for future upgrades.

I do a lot of video editing and audio work. Recording bands, video production type stuff stuff (blu ray authoring, YouTube, ECT). I do small documentary type videos, home movie stuff for friends and family, ECT.

My main video camera is a Sony HXR-NX100 (not 4k... yet). It has 60fps recording capabilities, so my file sizes and rendering times are pretty big.

I am also starting to get into some PC gaming. I play Xbox one, but I would like to make the jump to pc and eventually ruin games at the VR and 4k levels. I know a lot of that is graphics card related, but these are the things I'm looking to do.

I guess my over all goal is a full multi media setup, which I kinda have already, but being more familiar with AMD boards and CPUs, I am looking into the hype of the newer Intel i7 chips.

Currently, I have the Cooler Master Haf X case with an Intel ssd boot drive, 5 other internal HDDs for editing and storage. Fan cooled.

My current ram is 16 gigs - G Skill Rip jaws:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model

My current board is a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 R5 (rev. 1.0):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128817

And I am running the AMD FX-8350 without any over clocking. I don't know much about overclocking,(but looking to learn).

I have an MSI 4 Gb gtx 960 graphics card.

I'm running Windows 10 Pro 64bit and my main video editing app is Sony Vegas Porto 13 64bit.

Now, I have a couple assumptions I am wondering if i need corrected on. Every AMD board I have ever used only had 2 to 4 ram slots on them, but I am seeing a lot of intel boards with 8 slots. Am I right in saying that a 4 slot board is usualy a dual channel board, and an 8 slot is a quad channel board? And if I where to go with an 8 slot intel board with quad memory, and get DDR4 ram at 32gigs, would I see an increase in my ram preview rendering for video editing?

Also, with having the AMD FX 8350 already, would I be loosing power to any of the core i7 chips? Or gaining? I am still reading info on the intel's and how they work. I also have the cooler master evo 212 cup cooler. It keeps my 8350 running at 41 celsius under 100% load when encoding video with Handbrake. Idk what safe temps for Intel's are, but I hear that they don't run nearly as hour as AMD? Is this cup cooler solid for a new i7?

I've never been one to trick out my case much, but I was digging around earlier today and I am looking to add some fancy zip to my case as well. All I have right now is a front fan with a red LED set on it, and that's it.

In this PC parts picker link I have setup so far, with fashion & Fuction in place with this MSI board picked out. It has 128 gig max ddr4 memory, as well as other interesting specs. Should I upgrade?

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/liberty610/saved/kVMPxr

These are the main parts in looking to upgrade. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
synphul

synphul

Champion
Mar 11, 2011
9,477
7
54,965
The intel boards with more than 4 ram slots are x99 enthusiast/workstation boards and yes they run memory in quad channel. Even if you overclocked the fx 8350 it won't match the performance of an i7, especially one of the 6 or 8 core i7's like the 6800k.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=1727

That's a comparison of the 6800k vs the fx 8350 with a couple of benchmarks using handbrake.

I don't know how big of an impact quad vs dual channel memory will have on your video preview but the cpu support on a quad channel x99 board more than makes it worthwhile if it's within your budget. Losing power or gaining power? Power consumption, processing power? Not sure what you mean there. You'll be gaining processing power for sure. Power consumption will likely be less with the intel cpu even when it's overclocked. It tops out around 98w stock, 177w oc'd to 4.4ghz.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-broadwell-e-6950x-6900k-6850k-6800k,4587-7.html

The fx 8350 stock reaches almost 200w consumption under load.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/6

You'll probably want a better cooler for the intel cpu if you plan to overclock it. Otherwise the 212 evo should do ok at stock speeds but if doing hours of video encoding and things on a regular basis a better cooler probably wouldn't hurt.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Trafalgar747

Trafalgar747

Honorable
Nov 7, 2015
2,104
1
12,960
An i3 6100 is better than A FX 8350 imo. Anyways, an i7 6800k is a pretty dang beastly build. What is your budget for the entire pc? Also your definitely going to want a decent SSD. For 4k gaming your going to want a GTX 1080, or 2 GTX 1070, or even 2x GTX 1080's. You should see a very drastic improvement between a FX 8350 and an i7 6800k in processing power etc. A Hyper 212 Evo is fine for casual pc use, but if you want to overclock your K processor your going to want something like a Noctou D15 air cooler.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

Bem-xxx

Reputable
Sep 20, 2015
163
0
4,710



You should upgrade only if the performances don't satisfy your expectation.
Playing at 4K 60fps doesn't require a powerful CPU, but a SLI/CrossFire setup.
http://www.technologyx.com/featured/amd-vs-intel-our-8-core-cpu-gaming-performance-showdown/
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/7770/amd-radeon-rx-480-crossfire-beating-geforce-gtx-1080-4k/index.html

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
Thanks for the replies guys. My main concern isn't gaming right now but my video editing. I already have a full tower cooler master har x case build running. I have an Intel ssd boot drive, and 6 other internal HDDs for storage and editing. So all I'm really needing is to make the jump to the Intel setup so I can upgrade more down the road.

I figured the 1080 would be needed for 4k gaming, but again, that's not in the budget right now. I wanted to snag that new msi board as it is way ahead of my current board, so I could update better down the road.

That evo 212 keeps my fx 8350 at steady 41c top 44c Uber full load with hand brake. Do the Intel chips push more heat? Idk much spout them or their safe temps like the AMDs, and again, I have no overclocking experience. But that cooler you posted has been suggested before... So I'm thinking that's a future purchases as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Trafalgar747

Trafalgar747

Honorable
Nov 7, 2015
2,104
1
12,960
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $750.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 07:51 EDT-0400

This would be a good upgrade for now, you 212 Evo should be fine. Also what power supply do you have? A high quality one is needed for overclocking and gaming. When you want to use your pc for VR or 4k like you wanted, all your pc would require is a dedicated graphics card like the GTX 1080.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
synphul

synphul

Champion
Mar 11, 2011
9,477
7
54,965
If the budget allows the 6800k that would be the better route for all the video editing/encoding. The 6700k is cheaper and the z170 (1151) platform is a bit cheaper but there's no real upgrade path. Not that it's a bad i7 but it's not a 6c/12t cpu either. Changing out to something else later would be another system rebuild, a 6800k 6 core won't drop into an 1151 board. Just something to consider before investing in one or the other rather than find out the budget wouldn't have been too much more to go to the 6800k.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
Synohul, The motherboard I'm looking at is the MSI x99a pro carbon.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/X99A-GAMING-PRO-CARBON.html#hero-specification

It has the LGA 2011-v3 socket. It can take the 6800k i7. Is that correct? Or am I missing something... Our where you confused as to what boats I was looking at? The pc parts picker link has the 6800k in it. I may have said 6700k by mistake in other replies.

Trafalgar747, thanks for the reply and suggestions. Are all the stores that pc picker offer inn their searches good trusted stores? I'm in the States, and I've not heard of them that it shows in searches.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
synphul

synphul

Champion
Mar 11, 2011
9,477
7
54,965
Overclocking the 8350 is one way to go for the time being but the gains really aren't that great. In terms of numbers yes they can often overclock to 4.7 or 4.8ghz but require good cooling, a solid psu and a motherboard up to the task. Meaning something with better than 4+1 power phases and heatsinks on the vrm, possibly even with additional cooling for the vrm. In the end an overclocked 8350 will perform in the ballpark of an i5, certainly not an i7 4790k/6700k or 6800k.

The weaker ipc performance is why the overclocking only does so much.

"The multi-core nature of the architecture makes the FX-8350 more competitive in our handbrake H.264 video encoding test, but a score of 2,701 points at stock and 3,164 points when overclocked is still slower than Intel’s Core i5-2500K, let alone the Ivy Bridge i5-3570K which scores 3,1160 points at stock and 4,245 when overclocked. " Quoted from here - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/11/06/amd-fx-8350-review/8

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/11/06/amd-fx-8350-review/4

It would be ideal to find accurate cpu comparisons for something like sony vegas pro but since it's costly software most sites resort to handbrake because it's opensource and freeware available not only to the review teams but to people looking to encode video.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
I use Handbrake a lot, and I love it.

Thanks guys for all the feedback! I really appreciate it. The board I am looking at, I have a question. in the description on new egg's website, it shows that it supports DDR4 speeds up to 3466, but all the speeds it shows with the exception of the 2400 speed have (OC) next to them. So, does that mean I can only put a higher speed of ram in the board past 2400 if I am over clocking the cpu? I'm confused with this, because MSI's website has several higher speed DDR4 ram models in their compatibility list, but Newegg is showing that the only way other speeds are supported is if they are overclocked?

Is that making sense to anyone?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Epicness937

Epicness937

Honorable
BANNED
Feb 20, 2015
2,201
3
12,465
im going to speak for the part i HAVE a 6800k and from what im finding for video editing its a very good cpu and mostly for the money compared to the 6900k 5960x and 6950x the 6800k and 5820k are MUCH better for the money
my specs are on my profile by scrolling over my photo :)
as for the rest of your rig 32gb is good and a 6800k or a 5820k are both HUGE upgrades from your cpu
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815


Aweosme! Thanks for the feedback. I ordered the board today. But I am still wondering about the ram. Why does all the ram speeds but the 2400 speed have (oc) for overclocking next to them? Can I only use the higher speeds if I am overclocking?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Epicness937

Epicness937

Honorable
BANNED
Feb 20, 2015
2,201
3
12,465


depends completely on the motherboard
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
anbello262

anbello262

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2013
1,179
3
19,915
No, it doesn't mean that you have to overclock the cpu.
It just means that it is considered a non-stock RAM speed, but an "overclocked" ram speed. Which means that you overclock the memory only.
And actually, you don't even overclock it. You just activate it's XMP profile (which is only 1 setting, and the ram already comes tested at that frequency)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815


So, should I buy ram that only runs at 2400? Or should I consider a higher speed? I don't do any overclocking of any kind at all at this point, as I don't know enough about it.

And, the 6800k says it only supports 4 channels of memory. But my mother board has a total of 8 channels. Does that mean I should only by a 4 stick quad kit?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
anbello262

anbello262

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2013
1,179
3
19,915
Your board has 8 'slots', but 4 'channels'. 4 channels is the maximum right now (excluding servers), so don't worry about that. Just don't buy ram in sets of 1 or 2 sticks, buy only in sets of 4 (or 8) that have been tested for quad channel (you will know, it is usually clearly specified).

About the "OC" on the memories speed, don't worry about that. Buy whatever memory speed you want (you can ask here for recommendations). You don't actually have to OC them.
No matter the speed (except the slowest ones, that are so slow that can actually impact performance) you will have to tell the BIOS (UEFI) 'these memories I bought run natively at a high speed!'.
You do that very simply, just by clicking 1 button on the bios that says 'activate XMP profile'. It's that simple, it's not overclocking, there's no stability issues, no heat, no testing needed (they already come pre-tested to run at the specified speed with no issues).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
Awesome. The 8 ram slots is what had me confused. I have never had a board with 8 slots. all my AMDs had 2 or 4. So I was confused that the 8 slots was still 4 channels.

I already know you have to install them in the the correct slots. 1-3-5 ect. Or whatever the board has them labeled as.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
I just downloaded that today. I have the board ordered, was just waiting on the ram questions to be answered. Thanks so much for the help guys!

I'll posted an update after I get it out together next week.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
liberty610

liberty610

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2012
466
5
18,815
Another quick question about the ram...

I just ordered that quad channel 32 gig kit I posted a little bit ago. It's in the motherboards compatibility list as well.

It was suggested to just hit up the bios and turn on the xmp feature. However, is going into the bios and setting the voltage, timing, ave skewed manually just as easy? Isn't all you have to do is set them to the ram sticks specifications?

For example, the ram I ordered had these specs:

Timing: 15-15-15-35
Speed: 3000
Voltage: 1.35

So wouldn't I just enter these numbers in manual in the bios section and save it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom