A8-3870 vs 955be

the 955 be will probably be faster because it has an L3 cache.

budget, from these 2 , nothing, i3 2100 will be better

^except in applications which use multiple cores.

"Equal GPU" still depends on the GPU. If it is one of the GPUs that hybrid crossfire, 3870k is better because of that extra boost. If it is a GPU that does NOT use the integrated graphics, the 955 is cheaper.

Just comparing them as CPUs, the Phenom II has a higher clock speed, but the Llano uses less wattage.

As far as overclocking goes, I have yet to see a REAL OC of the 3870k. So far the reviews seem to pull some decent stable clocks off it but dont push it. There is a huge potential clock there, especially on boards that use the clock speed trick from the locked llanos that allowed you to set a 133Mhz clock which reset the I/O clock. If the locked Llanos could get up to 4Ghz with a locked multi, how far can you push it unlocked? Keep in mind lower wattage on the Llanos than the PIIs could potentially bring higher clocks.

Thank you guys, I appreciate all the help...even the intel suggestions  

Ok my target budget is under $350 for a mobo, cpu, ram, cooler & a decent gpu for casual gaming. Will be doing a mild overclock but nothing too extreme.

Here are my 2 options both purchased at Ncix.ca :


Option 1 (a8-3870k) :


AMD A8-3870k
Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Total (w/ taxes,shipping & price-matching)
$326



Option 2 (955 BE) :

AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition OEM (purchased locally, no tax or shipping)
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
Patriot G2 AMD Black Edition Series 8GB 1600MHz (pre bundled with mobo)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Zotac GeForce GT 240 550MHZ 1GB GDDR5

Total (w/ taxes,shipping & price-matching)
$356
- $30 zotac rebate

$326


I know it seems like a no brainier, I was just a little worried about the dated 955be. But I guess with this route I'll still have plenty of options down the road with an am3+ socket.

Id like to hear what you guys have to say  

the A8 has a better gpu and will thus be more powerful.

Really?

According to the hierarchy chart & benchmarks, a gt240 DDR5 is way above the A8's 6550D integrated gpu.


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-ca...


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4448/amd-llano-desktop-pe...

sorry I guess I was wrong. I always thought the 240 was a really low end card when it launched so I thought it was worse.

The 6550D does offer dx11 which could be something good for it.

Don't worry, am3+ will be supporting piledriver from what i've been hearing.
The reason why AMD has been making the FM platforms is for their APU's, AM3+ is future proof for their regular cpu's.

EDIT: Obviously go down the phenom 955 road =p

piledriver is fm2 and will not work with am3+ or fm1.

Do you have an AMD source you can link me to that says that is for definite?


From what i understand, fm1 is to bulldozer as fm2 is to piledriver, they have their own platform but will be backwards compatible with am3+, as well as the APU's only working on those specific platforms.

I don't really feel like pulling the source, but the engineering sample of Trinity did not fit the FM1 socket. It had the same format and actually 1 LESS pin, but 2 other pins were intentionally different which would prevent a fit. So FM1 is probably done unless they release multiple versions. There's no solid guarantee of an AM3+ CPU either way, but they have said they would use the AM3+ socket this year. They also will likely cancel it by next year.


I'd say a 6550D is better than the 240 for DX11 alone. You can probably find a cheap DX11 GPU though, like the HD6570

No where did i say that piledriver/trinity would fit in fm1, and i didn't say anything about guaranteed AM3+ compatibility.