Help in deciding which CPU

[Fibonacci]

Hello guys,

This is my first post and I'm proud to be a part of such a wonderful community! To 'get to business', I am planning on buying a new computer (switching back to a desktop after 4-5 years of laptop usage) to use as my main machine. At the moment, I can't decide which CPU to buy.

How I use my computer:
- I use linux and use virtualization to experiment with other distro's and to have a windows virtual machine, just in case. Also, I'm planning on dual booting with Windows.
- I do programming
- I do a lot of unpacking .rar's and repairing them
- I have 200 original classical Bach cd's (his complete works!) which I'm planning on ripping to listen to on my mp3-player (I list this because i don't know if the CPU plays a major role in ripping audio CD's)
- I do a lot of multitasking (I regularly have 8+ programs open. Also, firefox is open 24/7 with over 30-50 tabs, though this is more of a RAM concern)
- sometimes I play some games (but i'm in no way an avid gamer, i can spend weeks without touching a game).
- I play guitar daily and use the programs Cubase and Band in a Box. However, my usage is nothing demanding, i just record 1 to 2 tracks at most.
- I am also planning on using multiple monitors in the future (both with a minimum resolution of 1080p), but currently, one monitor will suffice. Also, I find 4k resolution interesting and that might be an option in the future.
- Having a quite (and cool system) is important to me

What I thought about:
I was thinking going the AMD route (specifically, the AMD A10-7850), mostly because of price (AMD motherboards are also cheaper then when going the Intel route). However, I have read that the A10 has some poor CPU-benchmarks, compared with an intel i5. Also, If I buy a graphics card (which i still don't know whether to do that or not, now or in the near future), then an APU will be kind of useless.
Besides, I don't like CPUs that consume lots of Watt and generate a lot of heat.
Finally, I would like something that is a bit of future proof. The way i see it, there is no point in buying an CPU with a specific socket that's on it's end (like AM3, as i remember having read at some point (correct me if I'm wrong though))

Budget for CPU: 200 euro's max

Any help or directions are very welcome!

 

[Fidgetmaster]

I would go Intel.....that A10 doesn't even get close to an i5....

 

[Rubn_alq]

You should go with a 6300 AMD with a cooler master 212, you will notice great multitasking and it will run very quiet with that cooler. Programming is wondefull on AMD too since openCL performance is great. Go with Radeon R7 250X for casual use on simple games or low quality on current games and you should be fine.

Of course if you don't want to go that route then you will need to go intel route. Forget about AMD's open source initiatives and hope that intel doesn't change sockets, which does almost everyday anyways. You will get exceptional performance though. So think about the pro and cons and evaluate.

 

[Fidgetmaster]

No the 6300 needs Oced drastically to even be useful....and that R7 250 would be a waste of money....it would struggle with majority of everything....that is not a very good current or Future proof build at all....

 

[Fidgetmaster]

If you actually do go AMD/AM3+ Still think the 8320/8350 is best bet.....when its Oced way up there it is very nice and it will age quite well...far more applications are using more threading now days and will in future etc....

 

[Rubn_alq]

No the 6300 needs Oced drastically to even be useful....and that R7 250 would be a waste of money....it would struggle with majority of everything....that is not a very good current or Future proof build at all....

Carefull because I clearly said he had to EVALUATE himself, this is due to the OP not specifing how much money to spend, and with evaluate I mean he has to decide between 40% more single thread performance or 50% more cores, or in the case of the octadore, double the cores.

You must also remmember what he said about TDP and cooling, if he goes the octacore way he may need to evaluate also the 95W versions of the octacores of amd route (8300) as long as he doesn't mind the loss of single core performance.

 

[Fidgetmaster]

You make no sense and that makes no sense haha.....it would be so much easier to just get a 8350 build....might be more money than he wants to spend....but hell it will be far more future proof and perform well at least...

 

[Fibonacci]

Rubn_alq, sorry, I have completely forgotten to specify my budget. I have added my budget for the cpu in the first post (which is 200 euro's for the cpu alone)

 

[Fidgetmaster]

that is plenty for a better AMD build....but if you are wanting future proofing that's Intel all the way.

 

[Rubn_alq]

Rubn_alq, sorry, I have completely forgotten to specify my budget. I have added my budget for the cpu in the first post (which is 200 euro's for the cpu alone)

Great! this makes things so much easier, try one i5-4590 or one octacore if you really need the extra cores, I previously thought you were on a worse budget, I assume that since I don't like to overexpend other people's money.

I would still stay with the 212 cooler! you will surely like it.

BTW I assumed you won't do overclock.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

For a little over 200 EUR you should be able to buy a Xeon E3 1230 V3, based on the £185 price here in the UK.

Don't go for an APU, they're developed for small form factor PCs which can't fit a dedicated graphics card. Furthermore, because the processing power is split between a CPU and a GPU, overall performance is a compromise. When you're running VMs and multi-tasking, you don't want this.

VMs typically use one physical processor thread per virtual processor core, so a Xeon with its eight threads will let you utilise up to seven VMs simultaneously (obviously, you need to reserve one for the host computer). This is another area where the Xeon shines, as its per-core performance is much stronger than anything AMD can offer, so your VMs will be much smoother to navigate around. The Xeon also runs quieter and much cooler, making it far more suitable for a 24/7 workstation.

I wouldn't recommend an AMD processor at all, given your use and budget. The weak per-core performance, high TDP and lack of upgradeability for the AM3+ socket means that AMD simply can't compete at your level.

 

[Fidgetmaster]

Intel is definitely the better choice.....but still an 8350 Oced on water/5ghz is no slouch either.....