Did I just make a stupid move? (AMD purchase)

[Bobstrauss]

I just bought the following components for my first ever build:

Silverstone Grandia GD07B ($146 on Amazon)
MSI GA970 mobo ($75 on NewEgg) w/ 15 dollar rebate
G.Skill Ripjaws 8 GB (2x4) DDR3 ($25 through NewEgg)
LG Black 12x Blu Ray Drive ($35 through NewEgg)
Intel 330 180 GB SSD ($137 through TigerDirect) w/30 dollar rebate
Seasonic G Series SSRM 550W Power Supply ($70 shipped through NewEgg) w/15 dollar rebate
Sapphire Radeon 7870 ($220 on NewEgg) w/15 dollar rebate
AMD FX 8150 CPU ($160 on NewEgg)
TOTAL = $793 after rebates


Now I keep reading about how AMD processors run hot, take too much power (costing money that I figured was saved), and (the 8 cores) aren't well-utilized when running games and basic operations.

Is my build going to suffer because of this? Should I try to sell the CPU and get a AMD FX 4170 instead? Or should I try to sell both the motherboard and the CPU and get an Intel motherboard/cpu combo for the same price ($235)? Is it worth the trouble?

 

[bigcyco1]

Yeah pretty dumb move.Good news is you get a aftermarket cpu cooler oc your cpu it will preform pretty well so no worries.

 

[dingo07]

i would go Intel... 3570K at least with a mb that Tom's recommends from their testing

 

[Sakkura]

I would have recommended an FX 6300 instead, or an Intel build. But unless you can get a refund I think it's better just to stick with it. It's not like the CPU is useless. It does use more power than Intel processors, but it really shouldn't make much difference on the electricity bill.

 

[Bobstrauss]

Is the 8150 going to bottleneck me on gaming? Or is it just going to eat up some more power that I wouldn't have otherwise if I had planned better?

 

[maxalge]

Is the 8150 going to bottleneck me on gaming? Or is it just going to eat up some more power that I wouldn't have otherwise if I had planned better?

For gaming its about equal to a i3 from the intel side.

 

[Bobstrauss]

Hmmm ... Seems at my price point ($235) I'm about right then? Could I have done much better with that amount of cash?

 

[quiller]

Why not an fx8350? that should be somewhat better... so u just have to sell the processor.

 

[Sakkura]

Hmmm ... Seems at my price point ($235) I'm about right then? Could I have done much better with that amount of cash?

You could have gotten an FX 8320. Or you could have saved some money and gotten an FX 6300 that will still do better than the 8150 in most games.

 

[Bobstrauss]

Hmmm ... Well hopefully someone will take this AMD 8150 off my hands for what I paid for it ($160). Maybe worst case scenario is I get $140 out of it so I can buy a 6300.

 

[quiller]

again : why not the new 8350? that should be a lot better...

 

[Bobstrauss]

Quite a bit more expensive for the 8350.

 

[Bobstrauss]

I paid $160 for the 8150

Prices on NewEgg:

$140 for a 6300
$180 for a 8320
$220 for a 8350

 

[cbrunnem]

its always a bad idea to buy amd cpus if you care about gaming performance. regardless of the amd cpu you are always playing catch up.

 

[burntpizza]

its always a bad idea to buy amd cpus if you care about gaming performance. regardless of the amd cpu you are always playing catch up.

No, its not see the huge difference once you get to the "gamer's" res?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-14.html

Its certainly not a bad idea if they are much cheaper. You can put the $ to a better graphics cards instead. I see alot of people getting an i7 and gtx 560 ti when they can get i5 and hd 7950/660ti/670 for the same price, and they wonder why they consistingly get beaten by chepaer gaming rigs.

 

[OX-49]

don't worry be happy! AMD has great performance so stay cool

 

[cbrunnem]

No, its not see the huge difference once you get to the "gamer's" res?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-14.html

Its certainly not a bad idea if they are much cheaper. You can put the $ to a better graphics cards instead. I see alot of people getting an i7 and gtx 560 ti when they can get i5 and hd 7950/660ti/670 for the same price, and they wonder why they consistingly get beaten by chepaer gaming rigs.

i see a sizable lead at 1080p? its not a matter of how big the disadvantage is its that amd is always behind and at best on par with Intel in gaming.

 

[Bobstrauss]

Oh well, unless someone on Craigslist offers me $160 for it I think I'll just keep the 8150. If it bogs me down I'll just try to buy a cooler and OC it.

For me, I'm not sure if the Intel route is worth it at the moment. Seems as if an Intel CPU equal to the 8150 in gaming (in the i3 range) might not outperform in other areas, while also requiring a more expensive motherboard - and the hassle of me selling what I already bought.

The games I'm most interested in (NBA2k series, Tiger Woods Golf, FIFA, and maybe BF3) will probably run fine on the 8150. And who knows if GTA V is even going to come out on PC. I'd think that is where I might really see the limit.

 

[Sakkura]

i see a sizable lead at 1080p? its not a matter of how big the disadvantage is its that amd is always behind and at best on par with Intel in gaming.

It's still well above 60 FPS. Also, check the Medal of Honor: Warfighter CPU benchmark:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/medal-of-honor-warfighter-performance-benchmark,3336-7.html

Vishera somehow ends up beating Sandy Bridge-E.

 

[cbrunnem]

It's still well above 60 FPS. Also, check the Medal of Honor: Warfighter CPU benchmark:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/medal-of-honor-warfighter-performance-benchmark,3336-7.html

Vishera somehow ends up beating Sandy Bridge-E.

thats one game and i question it too. going from a pentium to a sbe cpu that is overclocked points to gpu bottleneck but doesnt really explain the "win" PD gets. hmmm thats one win to the intels hundreds though.

 

[technoholic]

@ OP: Stay calm and cool Use your PC well. You will not sense the difference between an AMD CPU vs Intel one in 98% of the games. Test your rig at gaming. If you actually can see some poor performance in a certain game and if it is not related to your GPU, you can switch your CPU for a better one later. Do not pay too much attention to benchmarks and stuff. What really matters is the final experience

 

[songorocosongo]

I say keep it and use it until it can't play games or wait till next year when the new FX line will show up. There are high expectations for those and you won't have to get a new mobo. The 8150 will get you decent performance in every game. It was not a smart move but you already made it and now you have to deal with it.

 

[azathoth]

Worst case, you have an ~8% performance difference during games. It's not a big deal so there's certainly no need to worry about anything.

 

[xa376]

Hey man don't listen to some of the Intel only people. It's not the best, but its a great rig. Wish I had it instead of my old Pentium Dual-Core 2.2ghz

 

[Sakkura]

intel currrent cpu's are 2-3x better performance per watt. Heck intel don't even have a consumer line cpu that takes as much electricity as your cpu and amd cpu's when overclocked even multiply that difference performance per watt. An amd cpu cost twice as much at least to run then an intel cpu for same performance.

Thing is, using another 50 or 100 watts under load isn't really going to add that much to your electricity bill. Especially if you don't run at 100% CPU load 24/7. It's more of an issue for cooling and noise; using more power means there's a lot more heat to get rid of.