Build Upgrade - FX6200 or FX8120?

[professorturtle]

Hey all,
I plan to use a PC as a dedicated arcade emulator using Hyperspin - I was wondering what CPU would have the best performance-money ratio out of the FX-6200 ($143 aud) or the FX-8120 ($165 aud). As of now - the current setup goes as of the following:

-ASUS M5A97 Evo (this can be changed to suit another CPU - still unpurchased)
-4GB of cheap ram
-A rubbishy CM 700w PSU
-Asus ENGTX460 (of course I didn't buy it to play metal slug - it came from my sig machine )
-a WD 1TB Black (^^^)

I'd be willing to switch the CPU and the board or go Intel if there's a better equivalent.
Oh - and yes, I do know a quad core is overkill for Pacman

 

[chase3567]

Hey all,
I plan to use a PC as a dedicated arcade emulator using Hyperspin - I was wondering what CPU would have the best performance-money ratio out of the FX-6200 ($143 aud) or the FX-8120 ($165 aud). As of now - the current setup goes as of the following:

-ASUS M5A97 Evo (this can be changed to suit another CPU - still unpurchased)
-4GB of cheap ram
-A rubbishy CM 700w PSU
-Asus ENGTX460 (of course I didn't buy it to play metal slug - it came from my sig machine )
-a WD 1TB Black (^^^)

I'd be willing to switch the CPU and the board or go Intel if there's a better equivalent.
Oh - and yes, I do know a quad core is overkill for Pacman

Go with a phenom 965 its better price for performance ratio for what you want use it for.

 

[luciferano]

You're looking at six and eight core CPUs, but you later say that you're aware of the fact that even a four core CPU is overkill for this? I don't understand this logic. A Phenom II CPU would probably be better for you unless you don't mind messing around with some complex settings to optimize the FX CPUs for lightly threaded performance instead of their stock highly threaded performance optimization. Stuff such as disabling the second core of each module or cutting its P states (core 1, 3, 5, and 7, only those first three for the FX-6xxx CPUs), overclocking the CPU/NB frequency and memory, and overclocking the CPU itself. Either way, waiting for Vishera would be better.

 

[sarinaide]

Phenom II x4 955/65 BE - Cheap and very proficient and will be so for some time yet.

FX 8120 - because now it is so damn cheap.

Though I would wait for the Piledriver releases before making any AMD purchase.

On the motherboard side, I am still sceptic on 970 boards, the one I have tested and trust is the Gigabyte 970A UD3 which is a solid board, if you like a bit of overkill then the 990FX boards are the way to go.


For Intel A B75 motherboard and a i3 3220 should be enough.

 

[professorturtle]

Best answer selected by professorturtle.

 

[professorturtle]

Ended up building an 8120 system. I should've stated this - but this rig would and is also being using for video rendering.