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Is the i5-3470 the best CPU under $200?

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  • CPUs
  • Intel i5
  • Product
Last response: in CPUs
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February 15, 2013 4:10:46 PM

Right now, the i5-3470 is on sale for $184 on Amazon. Normally, it is about $210. $184 is really the most I would want to pay for a CPU. I was looking at getting the FX-8320 which is $173. I know the i5 is better at gaming, but i have also heard that I would have to buy a new MOBO if I upgrade from the i5 in a couple years. I also know the FX can be overclocked much easier, although as a noob, I would overclock little if any at first. I would use it mostly for gaming.
What is the best value for the money in cpus between $130-$185?

More about : 3470 cpu 200

February 15, 2013 4:42:26 PM

If you are anywhere close to a Microcenter you can pick up a Intel® Core™ i5-3570K for less than $200 and that is a really hard deal to beat. So for gaming this is the path I would take.
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February 15, 2013 5:08:40 PM

+1 to intelman

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February 15, 2013 5:12:59 PM

AMD fx-8350 at $180 (tigerdirect) is pretty hard to beat.

What graphics card?
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February 15, 2013 5:17:00 PM

for gaming the i5 beats the 8350. for multi-threaded apps and multitasking amd fx wins

s1mple

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February 15, 2013 5:22:43 PM

twelve25 said:
AMD fx-8350 at $180 (tigerdirect) is pretty hard to beat.

What graphics card?




A GTX 660, unless the HD 7870 goes on sale for less than $200.
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February 15, 2013 5:23:17 PM

gtx 660 works good ;) 

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February 15, 2013 5:24:04 PM

IntelEnthusiast said:
If you are anywhere close to a Microcenter you can pick up a Intel® Core™ i5-3570K for less than $200 and that is a really hard deal to beat. So for gaming this is the path I would take.




I live nowhere near a microcenter
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February 15, 2013 5:41:23 PM

grich96 said:
A GTX 660, unless the HD 7870 goes on sale for less than $200.


IMO the opposite is true. Also a 7870 LE is only $240 and beats a 660 Ti. That IS the best value in any card available now...
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February 15, 2013 5:43:49 PM

i think its clear the i5 is the way to go for a gaming CPU under $200 unless it would take away money from the video card

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February 15, 2013 6:06:51 PM

dirtyferret said:
i think its clear the i5 is the way to go for a gaming CPU under $200 unless it would take away money from the video card

http://media.bestofmicro.com/F/2/371198/original/Average.png


Yeah this is true. However I will say my brother got an FX-8320 for $150 recently. It is overclocked to 4.4 GHz and have yet to see it not keep up with my i5-3570k. If you can get one for $150, I think it is a better value hands down. Otherwise the i5 is CURRENTLY the esy choice if they are priced similarly.
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February 15, 2013 6:09:22 PM

thats a good deal.

except not for gaming.

if it was for multi-tasking maybe but amd fails in gaming for most of the time.

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February 15, 2013 6:32:56 PM

grich96 said:
A GTX 660, unless the HD 7870 goes on sale for less than $200.


I'd probably drop to an FX-6300 and bump up one tier on GPU. THat's going to get you higher framerates and better quality than dropping $200 on a CPU.
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February 15, 2013 6:35:02 PM

iceclock said:
thats a good deal.

except not for gaming.

if it was for multi-tasking maybe but amd fails in gaming for most of the time.


When the CPU is limited, it fails to achieve the exact same framerates as i5, but it does not "fail". At the OP's price point (<$400 for CPU and GPU combined) the GPU is going to be the limiting factor in just about every case I can think of.
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February 15, 2013 10:16:02 PM

iceclock said:
thats a good deal.

except not for gaming.

if it was for multi-tasking maybe but amd fails in gaming for most of the time.



Since games are utilizing more and more cores, could the fx 8320 surpass the i5 3470 in a few years? I would like this CPU to last me at least 3 years.
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February 15, 2013 10:36:41 PM

grich96 said:
Since games are utilizing more and more cores, could the fx 8320 surpass the i5 3470 in a few years? I would like this CPU to last me at least 3 years.


Well here's what you have to consider:

-The FX-8320 is easily overclocked to 4.4 GHz and can reach 5GHz with a closed loop cooler.

-The i5-3470 is not overclockable and only runs at 3.6 GHz.

-The FX-8320 uses much more power. (Sometimes twice as much when the FX is overclocked a lot).

-The i5 has PCIe 3.0 support while the FX has more PCIe lanes.

As it stands an overclocked FX-8320 is about the same strength as an i5-3470. In about a year I suppose the FX could start to lead in performance in some of the best supported PC games. However I don't think 6 and 8 cores will be supported like quad cores are now until 2015. One other thing to consider is that the i5 supports PCIe 3.0 which basically means it won't bottleneck graphics cards at all for 5+ years.

The bottom line is that an i5-3470 is a bit better for general gaming now, and will probably be for another year or so. Whenever the FX surpasses this i5 (If it does), it won't ever be by a huge margin. If you can get an FX-8320 for $30 less than the i5 and you don't care about power consumption or PCIe 3.0, definitely get it because the extra cores WILL make your PC multitask better. Otherwise the i5 has all the features you will need for the next 5+ years.
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February 15, 2013 10:47:40 PM

grich96 said:
Since games are utilizing more and more cores, could the fx 8320 surpass the i5 3470 in a few years? I would like this CPU to last me at least 3 years.


you are asking on the future which is uncertain... it might happen and it might not happen in the end.

what resolution you are playing game at? 1024x768?? :kaola: 

if 1024x768 go for i5 because you will be cpu limited :na: 
when in 1080P or higher the performance gap between fx-83XX & i5 is reduce. (ya i5 still win ok)

2nd question will be what monitor you using? 60hz or 120hz
in 60hz monitor you can't really notice the difference between both
in 120hz might be able to notice in cpu intensive game

if for me i would get a oc able cpu since op want to keep it for 3 year ++ (not saying that i5 3470 unable to oc just more problematic)

for me there i will invest on the GPU more then CPU. getting a FX 6300 also is a good choice and put the rest of the extra money you save into gpu. then when u hv extra $25 go get a CM 212 evo and oc the hell out of fx 6300
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February 15, 2013 10:54:08 PM

CaptainTom said:
Well here's what you have to consider:

-The FX-8320 is easily overclocked to 4.4 GHz and can reach 5GHz with a closed loop cooler.

-The i5-3470 is not overclockable and only runs at 3.6 GHz.

-The FX-8320 uses much more power. (Sometimes twice as much when the FX is overclocked a lot).

-The i5 has PCIe 3.0 support while the FX has more PCIe lanes.

As it stands an overclocked FX-8320 is about the same strength as an i5-3470. In about a year I suppose the FX could start to lead in performance in some of the best supported PC games. However I don't think 6 and 8 cores will be supported like quad cores are now until 2015. One other thing to consider is that the i5 supports PCIe 3.0 which basically means it won't bottleneck graphics cards at all for 5+ years.

The bottom line is that an i5-3470 is a bit better for general gaming now, and will probably be for another year or so. Whenever the FX surpasses this i5 (If it does), it won't ever be by a huge margin. If you can get an FX-8320 for $30 less than the i5 and you don't care about power consumption or PCIe 3.0, definitely get it because the extra cores WILL make your PC multitask better. Otherwise the i5 has all the features you will need for the next 5+ years.


+1 for you but i want to add one point

when pcie 3.0 take the real effect you will be changing new cpu hahah
now amd 7970 ghz edition in CF will not fill up the pcie 2.0 x8
get a 990fx chip set if you want a CF or sli solution you should be fine for a few years
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February 15, 2013 11:50:26 PM

id get a 3570k for 15$ more and overclock it.

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February 16, 2013 12:43:52 AM

iceclock said:
id get a 3570k for 15$ more and overclock it.


Exactly. Either look for a $150 FX-8320 or get an i5-3570k.
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February 16, 2013 2:13:36 AM

good point.

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February 16, 2013 4:47:36 AM

CPU is like 1/3 of the equation. GPU is 2/3. I'd probably cut spending on about that ratio, too.
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February 16, 2013 12:25:10 PM

twelve25 said:
CPU is like 1/3 of the equation. GPU is 2/3. I'd probably cut spending on about that ratio, too.




So FX 6300 and HD 7870 GHZ Edition?
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February 16, 2013 2:37:40 PM

that would work very nicely together yes :) 

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February 16, 2013 4:08:12 PM

good find. considering the 7870xt or le as they call it is a stronger 7870. thats a great buy.

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February 16, 2013 4:52:02 PM

grich96 said:
Right now, the i5-3470 is on sale for $184 on Amazon. Normally, it is about $210. $184 is really the most I would want to pay for a CPU. I was looking at getting the FX-8320 which is $173. I know the i5 is better at gaming, but i have also heard that I would have to buy a new MOBO if I upgrade from the i5 in a couple years. I also know the FX can be overclocked much easier, although as a noob, I would overclock little if any at first. I would use it mostly for gaming.
What is the best value for the money in cpus between $130-$185?



So I've come to the conclusion that I should go with whatever the best deal is. Currently the FX 6300 is the best deal. If the:
FX 8320 is $150
or the FX 8350 or i5 3470 is $160
I would buy one of them.

The same thing for the GPU. Right now, the HD 7850 in general is the best deal. If the GTX 660 went down to $180ish or the 7870 went below $200 I would get that. The 7870 Tahiti on sale though may be worth it though.

Thanks for all the feedback.
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February 16, 2013 4:55:32 PM

grich96 said:
So I've come to the conclusion that I should go with whatever the best deal is. Currently the FX 6300 is the best deal. If the:
FX 8320 is $150
or the FX 8350 or i5 3470 is $160
I would buy one of them.

The same thing for the GPU. Right now, the HD 7850 in general is the best deal. If the GTX 660 went down to $180ish or the 7870 went below $200 I would get that. The 7870 Tahiti on sale though may be worth it though.

Thanks for all the feedback.


No the 7870 LE is EASILY the best deal! $210 for a card that usually beats the 660 Ti!!! GET THAT!
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February 16, 2013 5:10:43 PM

def get the 7870xt or le thats the top stuff for ur dollar

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February 16, 2013 7:03:41 PM

CaptainTom said:
No the 7870 LE is EASILY the best deal! $210 for a card that usually beats the 660 Ti!!! GET THAT!



Will an FX 6300 bottleneck it?
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February 16, 2013 7:54:33 PM

There are way too many bottleneck fears on this forum. No, you'll be fine
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February 17, 2013 3:16:30 AM

no.

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February 17, 2013 7:29:01 PM

grich96 said:
Will an FX 6300 bottleneck it?


In all honesty you should just make your decision and close this thread with a best answer. The last thing I will say is an i5-3570k + 7870 LE will be the best bang for your buck and future-proof combo you can get (Especially if you have a crossfire ready mobo). It costs more, but it is crazy worth it.
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February 17, 2013 9:50:45 PM

he cant afford the 3570k derp. so 6300fx+7870le works good

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February 17, 2013 10:00:27 PM

iceclock said:
he cant afford the 3570k derp. so 6300fx+7870le works good


I fail to see how someone who can afford an i5-3470, can't afford an i5-3570k. If it takes an extra week or two, it is worth it. Derp.
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February 17, 2013 11:22:44 PM

well the 3570 is like 50$ morethan the 6300 and thatsa big difference with someone on a tight budget.

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February 17, 2013 11:31:24 PM

There's always one more step up you can take, you have to draw the line somewhere.
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February 17, 2013 11:37:48 PM

twelve25 said:
There's always one more step up you can take, you have to draw the line somewhere.


And I am saying the line should be at the i5-3570k if he doesn't want to upgrade for a long time. Otherwise an FX-83xx is better than an i5-2500k imo since it has double the PCIe lanes.
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February 17, 2013 11:55:26 PM

Best answer selected by grich96.
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February 18, 2013 1:04:36 AM

cheerios mate.

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