Buying the best processor for the money

[timeshifter84]

Hi guys, I've been looking into processors, motherboards and RAM sticks for my new pc. Now, I cannot decide between AMD FX-4130 4-Core 3.8GHz Black Edition Box and AMD A8-6600K APU 4-Core 3.9GHz (4.2GHz) Black Edition Box ,they are similarly priced. Which would be best for a gamer? I'm on a tight budget. Also, motherboard must be really cheap yet functional and ram has to be DDR3, now I'm not sure if 1600mhz is better than 1333mhz...

Any help would be very appreciated, guys. Thanks.

 

[Vexillarius]

APUs include an integrated GPU. If you have a dedicated graphics card you're better off with the FX-4130. There are better CPUs for almost the same price though, like the FX-6300.

If you can afford it go with 1600MHz RAM, but it's not a disaster if you end up with 1333MHz RAM. The difference is quite small.

How about this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($106.01 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $238.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-16 07:51 EDT-0400

 

[timeshifter84]

That's all great, but where I come from (Serbia) the difference between FX 6300 and FX 4130 is 50 eur. That would not be much of a problem if I didn't have 200 eur total to buy these 3 components. I was looking at the best price-performance ratio, I know the components that money buys me will be entry level, but with careful research and good advice I could build a nice PC. I have a GTX 650 Ti OC Boost from MSI with 1GB Vram GDDR 5 and a chieftec PSU at 550W which should be fine. Those are from my old PC whose CPU died along with the MB.

 

[Vexillarius]

I see.

The thing is, even core-for-core there's quite a difference between FX-x1xx and FX-x3xx CPUs. Even a FX-4300 woulds be an upgrade. If you're limited to the FX-4130 and the A8-6600K though, go with the FX-4130.

If it's available and in your budget in Serbia I'd also recommend this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.65 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $250.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-16 08:28 EDT-0400

You can overclock the hell out of that Pentium with very little effort, and it'll outperform the FX-4130 and the FX-4300. This build would also give you better upgrade options.

 

[timeshifter84]

Thank you so much for all the info. I never really liked Intel, cause in my laymen eyes, the less cores it has the slower it is. Don't ask me why, I'm just weird Anyway, recently I found that FX 8320 isn't much more expensive and that it's pretty much a beast. So if I go for 4GB of ram as a starter, I can opt for that octa core Bulldozer. Now, I've been looking for a cheap MB to go with it, that has since proved a challenge to find. I found ASRock 980DE3/U3S3 to be the best suitable option for my budget PC. What do you think?

 

[DJ_Rubino]

It depends, if you are using a discrete graphics card, then go with the 4130, if not go with the a8-6600K.