Phenom x4 965 vs intel i3 3220 Gaming

[markus843]

Why is life so damn hard. This always happens to me... Frick
Ok, so basically I'm building a gaming computer, I have all other parts but now I'm thinking if I should get the phenom II x4 965 and MSI 970 Mobo ($90 + $83) or the intel I3 3220 + lga 1155 mobo ($120 + 70).
I am getting an HD 7870 graphic card with this setup. I heard the phenom can bottleneck the gpu, and the intel doesn't.
I'll be playing games like BF3, skyrim, FC3, on 1920x1080, hopefully maxed out settings.
The newer games I heard take advantage of physical cores (which the phenom has 4 physical cores and the intel i3 has 2 cores/4threads). In Battlefield 3, which CPU would be better with an HD 7870? Skyrim?

What about the newer games that use 4 cores?
Help me !!!


First

World

Problems..

 

[computernewb]

i would get the phenom with a am3+ board since the 965 is selling for $85 at newegg right now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

 

[markus843]

i would get the phenom with a am3+ board since the 965 is selling for $85 at newegg right now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Honestly the budget/price difference doesn't bother me, I just want best performance. Do you know how big of a difference it is between the phenom and the i3?

 

[envy14tpe]

Go Phenom II x4. It handles well in Battlefield 3:
http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page7.html
Although the 965 model is not included, you still can see where it would fit in. I'd guess the 3220 would perform almost the same, or an insignificant difference.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-6.html

 

[envy14tpe]

If budget doesn't bother you too much, then why not bump up to a i5-3350p or i5-3470 ?

 

[computernewb]

Honestly the budget/price difference doesn't bother me, I just want best performance. Do you know how big of a difference it is between the phenom and the i3?

the i3 does better in most games but the phenom can be overclocked to match/come close to its performance. In real life the difference will be minimal if not non-detectable. And it is definitely not worth a $40+ premium

 

[markus843]

Also, I have another question which was kind of bothering me alot.. Will the Phenom II X4 965 bottleneck a HD 7870?

 

[kitsunestarwind]

Not really it won't
A 965 is still a very capable CPU

 

[computernewb]

no it wont bottleneck. thats a mid-range graphics card.

also if money isnt a problem, then why not spend a bit more on a i5?

and at the $130 range the fx 6300 is great. games like battlefield 3 actually utilizes the extra cores.

 

[markus843]

no it wont bottleneck. thats a mid-range graphics card.

also if money isnt a problem, then why not spend a bit more on a i5?

and at the $130 range the fx 6300 is great. games like battlefield 3 actually utilizes the extra cores.

I heard that the Fx 6xxx series is just 3cores/6threads. If they're 6 physical cores, i'd get them for sure 100%.

 

[markus843]

Not really it won't
A 965 is still a very capable CPU

Thank you, I was really worried about this.

 

[markus843]

Hey guys, this is the build I'm getting http://pcpartpicker.com/p/EIWE
Is my power supply good enough? on pcpartpicker it says estimated 394W but I plan to overclock a bit.
Also, do you think there are any incompatibilities or anything with this build?

Thx

 

[envy14tpe]

Hey guys, this is the build I'm getting http://pcpartpicker.com/p/EIWE
Is my power supply good enough? on pcpartpicker it says estimated 394W but I plan to overclock a bit.
Also, do you think there are any incompatibilities or anything with this build?

Thx

Everything looks fine. Just don't forget to get a better cooler if you want to overclock the 965. And I
think you should overclock it to get more for your money. It is easy to do and can be done safely with
a little reading beforehand.
This is a good one for $24.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[BeastLeeX]

If price doesnt bother you, and you want to overclock, I would get a FX-6300. The only reason to grab a Phenom II X4 965 is if your on a $100 CPU budget, or you want to wait for Steamroller, and save the extra $50 or so dollars, and get a better CPU down the line.

Also, I would get this Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144636

You seem to want 1866, so I found that.

 

[envy14tpe]

If price doesnt bother you, and you want to overclock, I would get a FX-6300. The only reason to grab a Phenom II X4 965 is if your on a $100 CPU budget, or you want to wait for Steamroller, and save the extra $50 or so dollars, and get a better CPU down the line.

Also, I would get this Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144636

You seem to want 1866, so I found that.

Typically the FX-6300 is around $45 more than the 965BE. The Phenom II X4 965BE has been an awesome CPU for years. Also, the OP is trying to stay in a budget given choices he/she made. I think his choices have been great for the value.

 

[djangoringo]

I would go with the i3-3220, it has a lower power consumption and it's a better cpu, usually it's 120$(in ncix us), it's more ~30$ than the x4 but it's worth, you don't need to spend much on a motherboard, the asrock B75M-DGS in newegg will do for just 58$.
You need a good motherboard for overclocking the x4 965 be, the lower am3+ motherboard are terrible with low power phases, low quality mosfets and no vrm cooling, so you need a decent board with the 970 chipset and within ~80$, and a cooler(20$-30$), when you do the maths, the i3 is cheaper.
So in this case i'd go with the i3-3220.

Here's some useful benchmark :

And this : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-frame-rate-performance,3427-9.html

 

[amirp]

^+1

also, you haven't answered (I don't think) why you can't spend the extra say $50/60 on an i5? I'd say it's well worth it.. and at least with the intel platform you have an upgrade path that poses a significant improvement.

 

[markus843]

^+1

also, you haven't answered (I don't think) why you can't spend the extra say $50/60 on an i5? I'd say it's well worth it.. and at least with the intel platform you have an upgrade path that poses a significant improvement.

I just watched a video by teksyndicate showing that the FX 8350 is better than an i5 3570k !!

http://teksyndicate.com/videos/amd-fx-8350-vs-intel-3570k-vs-3770k-vs-3820-gaming-and-xsplit-streaming-benchmarks

I'm actually gonna go for an 8350 because of that

also that picture the guy posted above is probably misleading.. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-13.html

 

[envy14tpe]

I just watched a video by teksyndicate showing that the FX 8350 is better than an i5 3570k !!

http://teksyndicate.com/videos/amd-fx-8350-vs-intel-3570k-vs-3770k-vs-3820-gaming-and-xsplit-streaming-benchmarks

I'm actually gonna go for an 8350 because of that

also that picture the guy posted above is probably misleading.. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-13.html

$85 CPU to $200 CPU! That's a big change. At that price I'd get a i5-3470. Why AMD at that price?

The 3570k outperforms the 8350 in most comparisons.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/697?vs=701

Thanks for providing teksyndicate link. Good site.

 

[BeastLeeX]

The only games that I have seen AMD beat Intel in is Deus Ex, and Crysis 3, where it actually beat the i7 3770k. The problem with buying a cheap Intel motherboard, is that you get a chipset other then z77. Z77 is your key to overclocking, so if you would like a k series processor after buying your i3, then you would need a new mobo.

 

[envy14tpe]

The only games that I have seen AMD beat Intel in is Deus Ex, and Crysis 3, where it actually beat the i7 3770k. The problem with buying a cheap Intel motherboard, is that you get a chipset other then z77. Z77 is your key to overclocking, so if you would like a k series processor after buying your i3, then you would need a new mobo.

1) Depends on which CPU, i3 i5 FX.... I believe their is a case for AMD CPUs.
2) Z77 Overclocks. H77 does not.
3) i3 CPUs do not overclock well at all. You can, but it is not worth it. If you want to overclock you need at least a 3570k,
which costs $225. However, you can overclock a $125 AMD CPU. This is a big difference and why AMD is the best at
budget builds.(in my opinion)

 

[markus843]

1) Depends on which CPU, i3 i5 FX.... I believe their is a case for AMD CPUs.
2) Z77 Overclocks. H77 does not.
3) i3 CPUs do not overclock well at all. You can, but it is not worth it. If you want to overclock you need at least a 3570k,
which costs $225. However, you can overclock a $125 AMD CPU. This is a big difference and why AMD is the best at
budget builds.(in my opinion)

I couldn't of said it any better

 

[djangoringo]

I just watched a video by teksyndicate showing that the FX 8350 is better than an i5 3570k !!

http://teksyndicate.com/videos/amd-fx-8350-vs-intel-3570k-vs-3770k-vs-3820-gaming-and-xsplit-streaming-benchmarks

I'm actually gonna go for an 8350 because of that

also that picture the guy posted above is probably misleading.. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-13.html

It's not misleading because the toms hardware is a single player benchmark, you need to look for the BF3 MP, which much more cpu demanding than single player, and that benchmark was a mp cpu bench(the one i linked), and no, the FX-8350 doesn't beat the i5-3570k, it's curious because that's the only place were it says it beats the i5 when all the reviews shows otherwise, the misleading part is the teksyndicate benchmarks, it's clearly biased.
That being said, it will all depend on what gpu you'll have, don't spend too much on a cpu if you can't afford a good card, the i3 beats the x4 965 even with it overclocked, and the point of the i3 is it doesn't need an aftermarket cooler or to be overclocked(it cannot be) or a mid end board, a b75 will do and it will have a much lower power consumption.
For the X4 965 you need a decent motherboard around 80$ for overclock and the aftermarket cooler.

 

[markus843]

It's not misleading because the toms hardware is a single player benchmark, you need to look for the BF3 MP, which much more cpu demanding than single player, and that benchmark was a mp cpu bench(the one i linked), and no, the FX-8350 doesn't beat the i5-3570k, it's curious because that's the only place were it says it beats the i5 when all the reviews shows otherwise, the misleading part is the teksyndicate benchmarks, it's clearly biased.
That being said, it will all depend on what gpu you'll have, don't spend too much on a cpu if you can't afford a good card, the i3 beats the x4 965 even with it overclocked, and the point of the i3 is it doesn't need an aftermarket cooler or to be overclocked(it cannot be) or a mid end board, a b75 will do and it will have a much lower power consumption.
For the X4 965 you need a decent motherboard around 80$ for overclock and the aftermarket cooler.

Ok, so I bumped down some other stuff in my build to get a better CPU/GPU, and these are my 2 options..
FX 8320 with HD 7870, or i5 3570k with HD 7850?

 

[djangoringo]

I would get the i5-3350p for 170$ : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=75435&promoid=1302 + h77 motherboard : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303 or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304
For just ~240$.

or the FX-8320 : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=76933&promoid=1302
+ motherboard with the 970 chipset : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262
For 258$.

And that will leave a margin for the 7870, in both, if you can afford the 7870 tahiti le with either of those two, it's a good option, either the intel or amd side, if you can't, you can always get the FX-6300...