What is the best AMD processor for a gaming build?

[Bdayton94]

I was wondering what you guys could tell me on a solid AMD CPU I could get, that would preferably be optimized for gaming (so best clock performance is what i'm looking for i think?). Yes, I do know that intel is going to almost always be better than AMD for gaming performance, but unfortunately intel is not in my budget. Thanks in advance to any replies!

 

[djangoringo]

What's your budget then ?

 

[kenny3105]

your best bet is to get a phenom II 965 and avoid the fx series as they are not good for gaming and get something better further down the line as AM3+ is here to stay for a while longer yet

 

[andrewcarr]

What is your budget because you could get an i3 or an FX-4100 at a higher price range an i5 or an FX-8xxx are both around the same price. So unless you're talking about $80 the Itel processors are still better for gaming.

 

[Bdayton94]

My budget was originally for around the price of the FX-8320, so about 180$. So is the Phenom 965 really the best CPU I could get in that price range?

 

[J_E_D_70]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html
Front page article with price points.

Check to see if you are within a reasonable drive to a Microcenter - currently running the i5-3570K for $170 in store only.

 

[djangoringo]

For more 4$ you can get a much better cpu like the i5-3470 :

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53470

Also they have better mobos at lower price with pcie 3.0 support.

 

[Bdayton94]

What is your budget because you could get an i3 or an FX-4100 at a higher price range an i5 or an FX-8xxx are both around the same price. So unless you're talking about $80 the Itel processors are still better for gaming.

Yea, I know intel is always better, but i've also already bought my AM3+ board, so i'm limited to AMD for now.

 

[chase3567]

your best bet is to get a phenom II 965 and avoid the fx series as they are not good for gaming and get something better further down the line as AM3+ is here to stay for a while longer yet

Don't give misinformation, the best is the FX 8350 and its better than a phenom II 965. It will run you about $200 or you can get a 8320 for less, with room to overclock to the 8350 cpu speed.

 

[djangoringo]

The best price/performance cpu from amd is the fx-8320 :

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox


What is the mobo by the way ? Some mobos needs bios update in prior to use the piledriver cpus.

 

[andrewcarr]

I second the FX-8320 but make sure you get a good CPU cooler so you can overclock it and have it performing closer to an i5.

 

[lostgamer_03]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

As you can see FX 8350 is the best CPU, which surely didn't surprise you, the best bang for the buck of them I think would be the FX 6300. It's like 140$ on newegg, while the FX 8350 is around 220$.

 

[jay_nar2012]

And the FX 8350 is exactly the same as the 8320 but clocked lower, save some money and get the 8320 and overclock it, simples.

 

[andrewcarr]

Yep they both have the same headroom (8320 and 8350) so just save some money on the CPU and put it into a better CPU cooler.

 

[Wisecracker]

FX-6300 ...

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

AMD 1100T

All the best Brett

 

[Bdayton94]

Thank you for all the replies! The motherboard I have orders is the Gigabyte GA-790A AM3+. And I saw several responses that say the 8320 is the best option, but I also saw a couple other CPU's mentioned, is the 8320 better than those as well?

 

[djangoringo]

Is it the GA-970A-D3 rev 3.0/pcb 3.0 ?
That one has already support out of the box for any piledriver cpu.
The other ones, you'll have to update the bios with your current cpu(?).
The best one is the fx-8320, in terms of price/performance, it can top the fx-8350, and it's better than any AMD Phenom II x4 or x6, and better than any bulldozer cpu.

 

[cmi86]

I still suggest the 965 because they have roughly the same IPC as the FX chips for less money. Clock your 965 to 4Ghz and you will play any game you want.

 

[Bdayton94]

Is it the GA-970A-D3 rev 3.0/pcb 3.0 ?
That one has already support out of the box for any piledriver cpu.
The other ones, you'll have to update the bios with your current cpu(?).
The best one is the fx-8320, in terms of price/performance, it can top the fx-8350, and it's better than any AMD Phenom II x4 or x6, and better than any bulldozer cpu.

I believe my motherboard is at least slightly different than the one you named, here's the link to mine:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

And thank you, your advice makes me really want to stick to the 8320, like i had originally planned. Hopefully my build will turn out pretty good, here's my hardware if anyone is curious: (changes can still be made in the processor and graphics card)

GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W
Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB 10000 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower
AMD FX-8320 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo)
MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5/OC Radeon HD 7950 3GB

 

[geekdgreen]

I was wondering what you guys could tell me on a solid AMD CPU I could get, that would preferably be optimized for gaming (so best clock performance is what i'm looking for i think?). Yes, I do know that intel is going to almost always be better than AMD for gaming performance, but unfortunately intel is not in my budget. Thanks in advance to any replies!

well theres many scenarios to this question...
with the fx line up you decided to go with an 8350 with a 990fx motherboard
with an intel route just for gaming you go with a i5 3570k with a z77 motherboard

8350fx at microcenter: $199.99
i5 3570k at microcenter: $169.99

keep in mind sure an 8350 is a 8core processor but whats the power consumption
difference? the 8350 takes alot of watts not including your gpu.
Youd save money on an i5 and there barely be a performance difference.

 

[djangoringo]

He already has the mobo and components : GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+, etc.

The same applies for that mobo, you have to see if the mobo is a rev 3.0 or if it's shipped with the bios updated for the new piledriver cpus like the fx-8320.
The card is a good one, although the psu is not a quality one, that brand is known for having bad psus.

 

[Bdayton94]

Yea, I could tell it wasn't the best quality from the price, but it had enough positive reviews that I still considered it a worthwhile purchase. And what if it isn't shipped with the update? Would it be fixable from simply downloading the update?

 

[darksparten]

Phenom 1100T x6 Black, Phenom 1090T x6 Black, or the X4 Black series, like the 965/975. For your $180 budget the 1090T would be a good choice, and the 1100T usually sells for 200, if you're willing to go up, the 1100T is great too.

Stay away from FX, they are outperformed by older AMD processors and are more expensive too.

Good luck!

 

[FinneousPJ]

I think people need to look at new benchmarks and stop the "FX is bad"-mantra.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=362

Repeat after me: Piledriver is good (enough).