New AMD build

[gamer4evz]

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: $300

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor:No

Parts to Upgrade: n/a

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website for Parts: newegg.com

Location: sacramento ,CA

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments: I already have a case and a power supply as well as a graphics card (Evga gtx 660 ti 2gb). I need a excellent mother board with socket am3+ with a cpu and a good memory combo for $300

-Any help is appreciated and i thank you in advance!

 

[Deemo13]

What power supply are you running? Want to make sure it is a good one.

 

[g-unit1111]

$300 is an incredibly tricky budget to work with, it can be done but really you should try to increase that unless you've got a lot of extra parts you're reusing.

 

[Outlander_04]

Asrock 970 extreme4 ~ $105
FX 6300 ~ $130
2 x4 gig of 1600 Mhz RAM rated for 1.5 volts or less ~ $40

Buy a cpu cooler with the change

 

[g-unit1111]

Asrock 970 extreme4 ~ $105
FX 6300 ~ $130
2 x4 gig of 1600 Mhz RAM rated for 1.5 volts or less ~ $40

Buy a cpu cooler with the change

If gaming is the priority I'd do something like this:

- Asrock 970 Extreme 4 = $90

- AMD FX-4170 - $110

- 8GB Mushkin Blackline - $40

I think I'd go for the 4170 over the FX-6300, it seems like its' a better bang for buck option.

 

[blazorthon]

FX-4170 is a poor buy right now. The FX-6300 is a better gaming CPU and even the FX-4300 is also better than the FX-4170. Both are better performing while consuming significantly less power. The 4170 does not have a better bang for your buck.

 

[usbgtx550]

I concur with the 4170, higher clock rate helps allot.

 

[blazorthon]

I concur with the 4170, higher clock rate helps allot.

No, it doesn't in this case. It's a different micro-architecture and the performance per Hz is not the same. The A10-5800K has roughly identical gaming performance to the FX-4170 desptie having no L3 cache and a lower frequency. The FX-4300 is functionally the same as the A10-5800K for its CPU components except for it having a 4MiB L3 cache that lets it outperform the A10-5800K and FX-4170 while consuming less power than the FX-4170.

 

[Deemo13]

I still want to be sure that the power supply is a good unit before recommending anything.

And clock rate does not always help. Its mainly the core architecture.

Think like this, you can have a 1965 Ford Mustang GT V8, but it sucks up gas and doesn't put its power to the ground very well.

The new 2012 Mustang with the V6, and it will out-perform the old V8's by a longshot.

 

[Outlander_04]

If gaming is the priority I'd do something like this:

- Asrock 970 Extreme 4 = $90

- AMD FX-4170 - $110

- 8GB Mushkin Blackline - $40

I think I'd go for the 4170 over the FX-6300, it seems like its' a better bang for buck option.

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

The FX 6300 is a Piledriver cpu , it will game better , and make more fps than the 4170 which is not as powerful as the 4300 in the link I have just posted


as an added bonus it will encode videos at very close to the speed of a 2500k , and it fits the budget

 

[gamer4evz]

What power supply are you running? Want to make sure it is a good one.

I am running a coolermaster extreme power plus 500w power supply

 

[g-unit1111]

FX-4170 is a poor buy right now. The FX-6300 is a better gaming CPU and even the FX-4300 is also better than the FX-4170. Both are better performing while consuming significantly less power. The 4170 does not have a better bang for your buck.

But you have a six core CPU where two cores are useless, where the four core CPU will be better utilized.

 

[Outlander_04]

But you have a six core CPU where two cores are useless, where the four core CPU will be better utilized.

nonsense

if you read the anandtech benches I posted you would see that in almost every case there is a clear advantage to the 6300 over the 4300
This is because more recent DX 11 game engines can and do multithread very well .

And of course clock for clock the piledriver is better than a BD cpu . Its just bad thinking to recommend the Fx 4170 now PD is available

 

[Deemo13]

I would look into a new power supply. The eXtreme Power Plus is overrated. It only puts out just over 400W, and is not the most reliable power supply on the planet.

That being said, I do have one, and on light load, there is no problem.

 

[blazorthon]

But you have a six core CPU where two cores are useless, where the four core CPU will be better utilized.

Two extra cores are never useless. Many games can use them (albeit generally not to a full 50% performance advantage despite being 50% more cores, but still), especially if you go for heavy CPU-based physics settings or otherwise very CPU-intensive game settings/situations. Furthermore, the four cores aren't better utilized because six cores already have more than four cores.

Regardless, none of that matters if you simply compare the FX-4300 to the FX-4170. The FX-4300 has the same core count, but is faster while using less power and having about the same price (maybe even the same, depending on where you buy from), so there is no good reason to buy the FX-4170.