AMD Bulldozer FX-4 4100 Black Edition?

ubersonic · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:31

Hi, im thinking of buying this CPU (and a motherboard to go with it), I currently have a 4ghz i3 550 that I purchased from OCUK last year as an over-clocked bundle. From the reviews I have seen of the 4100 it appears its unlocked multiplier allows you to simple crank it up to 23x and run the CPU at 4.6ghz right out of the box on the stock cooler (I wouldn't be using the stock cooler).

What will the performance difference be between a 4ghz duel core i3 and a 4.6ghz quad core bulldozer? any ideas?

Thanks.

JaffAWood · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:40

ubersonic said:
Hi, im thinking of buying this CPU (and a motherboard to go with it), I currently have a 4ghz i3 550 that I purchased from OCUK last year as an over-clocked bundle. From the reviews I have seen of the 4100 it appears its unlocked multiplier allows you to simple crank it up to 23x and run the CPU at 4.6ghz right out of the box on the stock cooler (I wouldn't be using the stock cooler).

What will the performance difference be between a 4ghz duel core i3 and a 4.6ghz quad core bulldozer? any ideas?

Thanks.

Wrong forum to ask that mate..... Unless you have an i5 2500K all you are gonna hear is "dont buy that, get a 2500K" :rolleyes:

I was in a simular situation and nearly bought one too but the 955 or 960T seemed a better option. As long as you buy an AM3+ mobo you can get the 8120 when the price has dropped some and they have sorted some issues.

Doomedspeed · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:43

After the Failure in performance of the Flagship FX-8150 (compared to the i5 2500k and i7 2600k) a lot of critics dubber the FX-4100 the most interesting of the new chip as it is at a low price point and has a decent amount of performance.

Out of your two choices i would side with the FX-4100, though i would definately consider going to Sandybridge if your budget can stretch to a i5 2500K. The 2500K can reach 4.5Ghz - 4.7Ghz relitively easily too. It has a lot better performance too, due to the architecture.

Though the FX-4100 does look interesting. I have a feeling it will be lacking in 'overall' performance compared to SB. The gaming performance is supposed to be great though. If that chip falls toward the edge of youre budget it's well worth considering.

ubersonic · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:46

JaffAWood said:
Wrong forum to ask that mate..... Unless you have an i5 2500K all you are gonna hear is "dont buy that, get a 2500K"

I was in a simular situation and nearly bought one too but the 955 or 960T seemed a better option. As long as you buy an AM3+ mobo you can get the 8120 when the price has dropped some and they have sorted some issues.

Hmm, well im not spending £160 on a CPU so the 2500K is out, the potential to upgrade to a faster bulldozer when the prices drop sounds good though.

reiyushin · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:48

i5 750 will beat it and save you monies

If you're going to invest then invest in a 1155 setup as it'll last a while and give you potential upgrades down the line.

JaffAWood · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:52

ubersonic said:
Hmm, well im not spending £160 on a CPU so the 2500K is out, the potential to upgrade to a faster bulldozer when the prices drop sounds good though.

I bought myself a 960T and couldnt be happier. Hundred quid, unlocked to hex core piece of pi$$. Now gives me 70-100 FPS in BF3 with the 6950's. (up from the 23-30 i was getting with the Athlon II 250! lol)

Doomedspeed · 23 Nov 2011 at 10:54

reiyushin said:
i5 750 will beat it and save you monies

If you're going to invest then invest in a 1155 setup as it'll last a while and give you potential upgrades down the line.

Well said,

The problem with upgrading to the AM3+ Platform is it has very little scope for future upgrade. Over the next 3 incarnations of Bulldozer, AMD themselves are predicting, a 50% increase in performance.
I would say that Sandybridge is already 20%-30% better performance now. And with Ivybridge coming the 1155 platform seems the right one to be on for the upgradibility path.

I wouldn't think about this until you have enough money to Fully upgrade though.

I agree that an i5 750 would be the best upgrade you could do now.

Threepwood · 23 Nov 2011 at 11:00

I agree that an i5 750 would be the best upgrade you could do now.

+1

Marine-RX179 · 23 Nov 2011 at 11:01

ubersonic said:
What will the performance difference be between a 4ghz duel core i3 and a 4.6ghz quad core bulldozer? any ideas?

Don't let the high GHz fools you...the FX4100 at 4.6GHz is only around as fast as a Phenom II X4 at 4.0GHz. Yea I know...new gen CPU slower than the its predecessor...ridiculous isn't it?

Like others already mentioned...the most bang for bucks upgrade for CPU would be to a 2nd hand i5 750/760.

mmj_uk · 23 Nov 2011 at 11:06

There are quite a few upgrade paths available to you that will outperform an FX4100 in the majority of cases.

On the AMD side I'd recommend X4 965 myself without having to gamble on unlocking etc but as mentioned an LGA1156 quad will be your best bet especially as they are not multiplier locked.

eddiew · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:21

Given that the i3 550 has hyperthreading, and the BD has a rather gimped version of quad cores and poor single threading, I'd be deeply suspicious they'd come out at about the same performance, or very close. Don't think it's the sort of upgrade a that would count as value for money...

I think I'd have to support the guys above saying get an i5 750. At the time they were above Phenom quads, and Phenom quads are ironically above BD quads now.

Martini1991 · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:34

JaffAWood said:
Wrong forum to ask that mate..... Unless you have an i5 2500K all you are gonna hear is "dont buy that, get a 2500K"

I was in a simular situation and nearly bought one too but the 955 or 960T seemed a better option. As long as you buy an AM3+ mobo you can get the 8120 when the price has dropped some and they have sorted some issues.

Since he has a 1156 bundle, why would he waste his money changing platform?

What he's got, since overclocked will probably match an FX4100 in games etc, his best option would be, as said, an i5 on 1156.

JaffAWood · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:42

Martini1991 said:
Since he has a 1156 bundle, why would he waste his money changing platform?

What he's got, since overclocked will probably match an FX4100 in games etc, his best option would be, as said, an i5 on 1156.

Tbh, i totally missed the bit where he said he already had the i3.... Think my brain stroked out for a little while this morning! :confused:

In this situation i agree...

Martini1991 · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:48

JaffAWood said:
Tbh, i totally missed the bit where he said he already had the i3.... Think my brain stroked out for a little while this morning!

In this situation i agree...

Advising AM3+ for a fresh buyer is a bad idea anyway.
The amount you've spent on your own set up, to still get lower performance than an 09 1156 set up at the same price cost is foolish for example.

JaffAWood · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:52

Martini1991 said:
Advising AM3+ for a fresh buyer is a bad idea anyway.
The amount you've spent on your own set up, to still get lower performance than an 09 1156 set up at the same price cost is foolish for example.

The amount i spent on my setup (excluding GPUs) is less than the cost of an intel CPU...

Plus intel can suck my balls...

Dicehunter · 23 Nov 2011 at 13:55

ubersonic said:
Hi, im thinking of buying this CPU (and a motherboard to go with it), I currently have a 4ghz i3 550 that I purchased from OCUK last year as an over-clocked bundle. From the reviews I have seen of the 4100 it appears its unlocked multiplier allows you to simple crank it up to 23x and run the CPU at 4.6ghz right out of the box on the stock cooler (I wouldn't be using the stock cooler).

What will the performance difference be between a 4ghz duel core i3 and a 4.6ghz quad core bulldozer? any ideas?

Thanks.

This is an intel fan boy forum so its the wrong place to ask, wait for the 8120/50 to drop in price

Martini1991 · 23 Nov 2011 at 14:07

DF1986 said:
This is an intel fan boy forum so its the wrong place to ask, wait for the 8120/50 to drop in price

And you're an AMD fanboy.
How is waiting for the 8120 and 8150 going to help him? He has a socket 1156 board, which can take an i5 750/760 and is by no means a slow poke.

JaffAWood said:
The amount i spent on my setup (excluding GPUs) is less than the cost of an intel CPU...

Plus intel can suck my balls...

Jesus, how the hell did you manage that, I'm impressed

ubersonic · 23 Nov 2011 at 14:33

Basically my plan was to sell my MB/CPU (well use them the next time a friend/relative asks me to build them a computer) and just get a new board/CPU. Looking on-line im seeing about £150 for a i5 760 which is almost as much as a i5 2500k.

My original reasoning with the FX-4100 was that at 4.5ghz it matches the i3 550 I have atm (at 4.5ghz) so at 4.6ghz the FX-4100 should beat the i3 at 4ghz.

Its quite ironic that in the old days we had Intel, AMD, IDT, IBM, NEC, Cyrix, etc to choose from and yet today the is only two manufacturers yet more confusion, wish they would bring back the megahertz wars lol

Martini1991 · 23 Nov 2011 at 14:40

Go second hand for an i5. I mean you can get 920 D0's for 95.
A 4.6GHZ FX4100 still probably couldn't compete with an i3 550 4.5GHZ in the majority of app's.

If you're going to sell your old stuff, and buy new, there's no alternative to the 2500k if price allows. If price doesn't allow, you could probably sell your stuff to fund a Phenom II 960T and a cheap AM3+ board, although I'd advise against it and go straight to 1155.

Muel · 23 Nov 2011 at 14:56

I'm possibly the biggest AMD fanboy there is. For years I've stuck to AMD because I like them, but I won't be going BD, and I strongly advise you don't.

Stick with your current setup until you can't stand it any longer, then go for an i5 2500k.

A 2500k will destroy anything AMD has to offer at the moment for most real world tests. i'm sure there are a few synthetic benchmarks or 8 core optimized situations when a BD chip would edge it, but overall the only thing faster than a 2500k is a 2600k (or now 2700k) IMO.