FX 4100 or A8 3870K OC

[Brad002]

Hi

Cant decide between Fx 4100 ($112) or A8-3870K black Ed. ($99)

Will be Overclocking with the help of a Hyper 212

Whats the better option??? I will be using another GPU (6850) so i dont care about the Ilanos igpu, only putting it up there cause its cheaper and its a black edition for OCing.

Thx

 

[amuffin]

FX-4100.

 

[wr6133]

Neither they both are lacklustre, Phenom II 965BE or wait a short time for FX piledriver

 

[nekulturny]

I would do what wr6133 said. The FX-4100 in theory can overclock to a higher frequency than the slighly older Phenom II 965, but a P II @4.0GHZ is going to have much more consistent performance than the FX-4100 at any frequency.

 

[Brad002]

i can get a 955BE for $95 so i guess thats viable then
Comparing the 4100 to the 4300 Piledriver - seems the only diff is 200mhz on the clock and it only has half the L3 Cache. The rest is the same...Is that really worth it??

 

[nekulturny]

Well the 4300 PD isn't out yet, but that would be worth considering as a more viable replacement for the Phenom II.

Phenom II 955s are fine, really for the graphical limitations of a 6850, so is the FX-4100, but if the CPUs are all around the same price the Phenom II is going to be the better choice. Just make sure the 955 is C3 stepping 125watt TDP. There are a couple different variants of it. The C3 stepping is the final, perfected release. That can be checked by looking at the AMD model number on whatever site you're buying from.

BTW- $99.99 from here for the 965
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

 

[saudagar]

you could also consider the FX 4170 if you up the budget for about 8-13$ according to this month's budget gaming cpu recommendation in the Tom's Hardware monthly
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

"But the FX-4170 comes with a much higher 4.2 GHz base clock, and consequently offers compelling performance out-of-the-box. With a price tag recently lowered to $120"
As the FX 4100 is only 3.6GHz base and turbo core @3.8 GHz as compared to the 4.2 base and 4.3GHz turbo on the FX-4170.
Just a suggestion or you can wait and watch for the FX vishera CPUs

Also the 3870k APU requires the FM1 CPU socket and the other FX series requires the AM3+ socket so have you bought the motherboard already or you getting a buying decision on the platform, Personally I would recommend to go by the AM3+ route and get a Vishera CPU with better IPC and better clocks in a couple of months or so.

 

[mrlime09]

Wait for Piledriver or get a 4170 I can't in good faith suggest anything less.

 

[noob2222]

just wait a month for PD release, it will lower prices at the very least.

especially don't get the 3870k if your using a 6850. your paying for the IGPU and disabling it, Its max overclock is around 3.8 ghz, and the 3870k motherboard is being phased out already.

As for overclocking the 4100, you should be able to get 4.4-4.7ghz out of it, but I wouldn't recommend it over a good phenom II x4 at 4.0 ghz.

 

[Brad002]

Price drops are in so now i need help between the 3 here (will be using a discrete GPU)
4100 $112
3870K Black Ed. $89
Athlon x4 631 $65

Will be doing a slight OC too

 

[nekulturny]

I still say Phenom II 965 @ 99.99 from Newegg.com

 

[Brad002]

From Oz so cant do Newegg...other options such as ebay etc is still too expensive (Ie id be looking at least 130 plus shipping, hence i threw up those 3 that i can source locally

 

[NoUserBar]

What does Oz stand for? There are other places does microcenter(this a store or a website? lol), Amazon, and/or Tigerdirect ship to where you are?

 

[nekulturny]

What does Oz stand for? There are other places does microcenter(this a store or a website? lol), Amazon, and/or Tigerdirect ship to where you are?

Australia. Hes right, computer parts are expensive as hell over there. In that case, go with the 4100 and overclock the crap out of it.

 

[Brad002]

Best answer selected by Brad002.