AM3+ or FM2+ ?

Indigo340

Indigo340

Indigo340

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16 Mar 2013
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Hi, I'm a Linux user so not into heavy gaming. I don't do video editing/rendering and am not into (serious) overclocking.

Current set-up;
ASUS M5A 78L M LX, FX4100, 4GB Hyper X, Sapphire HD7750, Xonar soundcard and Wi-Fi card plus 2 HDD's in a TJ08e case.

My current set-up has been steady and reliable for over a year but I feel it's time to step up and get an SSD which seems easy enough but I want to be able to get the best from it, unfortunately my current mobo does not support SATA3 6GB/s.

I have a limited budget and want to stick with the M-ATX case and the GPu, soundcard & WiFi card but there lies the problem, M-ATX AM3+ mobo's with SATA3 are very scarce, in fact I have only seen 1 and it's not a very high standard and does not have 4 PCI slots.

So I considered changing to FM2+ as there is a much better selection of SATA3 boards and then I could use the Athlon X4 760K (on recommendation) but it appears that I will be taking a performance hit which is (psychologically) not ideal.

I prefer AMD to Intel for many reasons so will not consider changing to Intel, it's pointless (for my usage on Linux) to have more than 6 cores too and I'm not really looking to break any records. High performance figures are not my goal, I just want to get the responsiveness of an SSD @ 6GB/s but I would like the CPU to have plenty of overhead and not be getting near it's limit during everyday tasks.

So my question is this; Is it worth going down the FM2 route in order to get the best from SATA3 with an SSD (and accept the performance hit of the 760K) or stick with the AM3+ and maybe go for the FX4300 or FX6300 and put up with a 6GB/s SSD running at half it's potential speed ?

Suggestions/links most welcome :)
 
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FM2+ would be your best bet, if SATA3 and MATX is needed.

The 760k would probably outperform your fx41. It's missing L3 cache, but is newer tech (Richland/Piledriver core as opposed to Bulldozer). There's also an 860k on its way, which is newer still (Kaveri/Steamroller).
 
I wouldnt worry much about sata3 to be honest. if its sata2 then that's good enough - the only difference you'll see is the transfer speed, and even that only when you are transferring large files to/from the drive, but if you are intending to use it as a boot drive then its access times which are important and sata2/sata3 doesnt really affect that much at all.
 
james.miller said:
I wouldnt worry much about sata3 to be honest. if its sata2 then that's good enough - the only difference you'll see is the transfer speed, and even that only when you are transferring large files to/from the drive, but if you are intending to use it as a boot drive then its access times which are important and sata2/sata3 doesnt really affect that much at all.
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Thanks for that, it's mainly boot times and access times that I am hoping to improve.

I have read reports that the AM3+ platform is on it's way out but today I read that there are new additions coming to the Piledriver range, I just wish there was a bigger selection of motherboards, the choice of AM3+ boards seems to be reducing all the time.
 
Morfinel said:
AM3+ chip placement on mob makes it dificult to have 4 pci on matx and if you are left with am2 then I would at least consider 1150
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The onlyAM3+ board that I know of with 4x PCI slots is the M5A-78L-M-USB3 which is the newer version of the one I have (~78L-M-LX), it is certainly adequate for my needs but I was concerned about using an SSD at 3GB/s when it is possible to get twice that speed.

Intel certainly have more choice in mobo's but I have only ever used AMD in my builds so I am much more familiar with them.
Also Linux does not make use of Hyperthreading which is developed for M'soft programs so I don't want to pay for extra features that I cannot make use of. Intel uses H/T as a main feature and selling point like they spend a lot on R&D in order for it to be a main attraction and charge for it accordingly yet I have no use for it.

I know it will work just fine on Linux but an i3 is not going to give me significant improvement over my current system and is much more expensive. I'm not ruling it out entirely, I realise that it does have it's advantages (SATA3 for one) but I would only consider changing to Intel if I was guaranteed a major improvement in performance.
 
If you can use the 1x PCIe slot nearest the heatsink, you could use the attached.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M6e M.2 PCI-E 256GB Solid State Hard Drive - With PCI-E Adapter Card £169.99
Total : £179.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



It is more expensive than a 2.5" drive SSD, but at least as quick if not quicker than SATA3, saves on buying new CPU and board. It is bootable with bios, but you would need to research the Linux compatibility aspect.
 
Sandycheeks said:
Athlon x4 760K shows as being a bit better than the FX 4100 in all but memory intensive applications and is only slightly behind (0.6%) on that score.
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But the FX4300 is better again and the FX6300 goes one step higher than that.

My only reservations with the AM3+ system is that they seem to be getting near the end of their cycle and are gradually being phased out. I would usually expect something else to come along and supercede them but AMD are putting all of their efforts into promoting the APU's which I am not interested in.
 
nkata said:
If you can use the 1x PCIe slot nearest the heatsink, you could use the attached.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M6e M.2 PCI-E 256GB Solid State Hard Drive - With PCI-E Adapter Card £169.99
Total : £179.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



It is more expensive than a 2.5" drive SSD, but at least as quick if not quicker than SATA3, saves on buying new CPU and board. It is bootable with bios, but you would need to research the Linux compatibility aspect.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't have a spare PCI slot, the GPU takes the x16 slot and covers the one next to it and my soundcard is in the PCI slot nearest the CPU, the last remaining slot is taken by my WiFi card.
 
Indigo340 said:
Thanks for the suggestion but I don't have a spare PCI slot, the GPU takes the x16 slot and covers the one next to it and my soundcard is in the PCI slot nearest the CPU, the last remaining slot is taken by my WiFi card.
Click to expand...

No probs, thought as much. mATX is a problem with AM3+
 
"mATX is a problem with AM3+"

That's why I was looking at the FM2+ line but they have their own issues and TBH they really don't show big improvements over AM3+, the main benefits are the integrated graphics and slightly better board choices. I don't want integrated graphics, I am old school lol !
 
Indigo340 said:
Thanks for the suggestion but I don't have a spare PCI slot, the GPU takes the x16 slot and covers the one next to it and my soundcard is in the PCI slot nearest the CPU, the last remaining slot is taken by my WiFi card.
Click to expand...

Change wifi card for an £8 usb wireless adapter, frees that slot up then.
 
Sandycheeks said:
How much have you got to spend ?
The i3 is a good cpu.
Click to expand...

I'm really just weighing up my options at the moment and looking for idea's. I plan on upgrading the entire system over a period of a few months (which is why I want to keep the M-ATX form factor, she'll never notice ;) ) so I can be a bit flexible with budget but obviously prefer value for money over the 'mines better than yours' race.

It seems the general consensus is that the FM2+ platform is not worth bothering with right now but AM3+ offers very limited options in the M-ATX range.

I understand that the i3 is a good CPU but theres nothing wrong with the FX4300 either and the FX6300 is better again and I can use both of them in the machine I have right now.
I'm not entirely convinced that a Pentium K can do what I want it to do either without some strenuous o/cing which means I have to be very careful choosing the right board again and I'm afraid to get on that ride because I know where it can lead me (round in a circle back to where I started a few hundred pounds lighter !) There is no logical upgrade path for me with the 1150 socket, the PK seems to be the only one that does not do HT so unless Intel develop that line, it's a dead end. I realise that a CPU with HT is not a problem for Linux and won't cause any issues but as I said earlier, I don't see any benfit in paying extra for features that are useless to me.

I know AMD pretty well, I know they have a limited range compared to Intel and I understand it better than Intel, I was really only looking for advice on AMD architecture, not on the alternatives.
 
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