FX 6300 vs i5 4440

[KelDG]

Hi all

I am thinking of jumping from Intel to AMD for a budget gaming machine. It will be playing newer MMOs (hopefully optimised for multiple cores). The i5 4670K I had in mind was overkill and ended up way too expensive. So I was looking at the i5-4440 with a cheap B85 motherboard.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £131.99
1 x Gigabyte B85M-D3H Intel B85 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £56.99
Total : £198.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



But it seems so much cheaper for similar performance to get the FX 6300. I know you have to spend a bit more on motherboards if you want to "Clock the nuts off it". Im not too bothered about that, maybe a small bump up to 4.0GHz if and when I get better cooling. Would something like this be appropriate? It says it can handle up to 140W CPU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £55.99
Total : £149.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



1,Is this setup OK for a good 520W PSU when paired with a 5850 and eventually something like a R9 270X?

2,Is AMDs provided cooler OK for stock settings? (sounds stupid but I have heard some odd stories).

3,This processor seems pretty good compared to the i5-4440 but is seriously cheaper, what am I missing here?

Thanks Guys.

Kel

 

[Russell2014]

That AMD processer is very good value and it has a lot of overclocking headroom u can get it clocked up to 5ghz if u wanted to, also the AMD stock cooler is fine providing you are not planning to overclock to far.

 

[Smoogels]

Both processors will perform pretty similar to be honest in games however, the i5 will be better in games like MMOs. If you play games like MMOs, older games and ones which don't use many cores I'd probably get the i5. If you plan to play games like BF4 then I'd grab the 6300. I'd also lean towards the 6300 more for the fact you can overclock it in the future, even by just a little.

Though your questions:

1) Yes a 520W is plenty. What brand is it? My overclocked 8350 and 280X pull 400W in BF4

2) The stock cooler is fine for stock settings

 

[William-Mathew]

Hi

1. That PSU should be fine
2. Stock cooler is fine for the CPU at stock, i have a 6350 with the stock cooler on and its temps are fine.
3. The i5-4440 has a slight edge over the 6300, but if you went with AMD it would save you about £50.


I would go with a AMD build if you are on a budget and overclock the CPU at a later date. If you wanted to spend a little bit more you could go with this CPU:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £113.99
Total : £122.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

 

[KelDG]

Thanks Smoogles

Its a Corsair HX520, when Seasonic used to make them as far as I recall. It wont be used to play older games at all really. Do you think this processor would bottleneck a 270x?

 

[KelDG]

Cheers William

I'm going to stick with the 6300 though, its all about the pennies at the moment.

I'm mostly bothered about my choice of motherboard now though, I know AMD can be a bit of a minefield in that department.

 

[William-Mathew]

The motherboard looks fine to me.

 

[pastymuncher]

You want a better motherboard with vrm cooling. The one you picked has none at all. It also only has a 4 pin power socket for the cpu which could potentially limit clocking with Piledriver (especially if you stick a 8320/8350 in there). The Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 at £75 gets recommended a lot on here and seems to be a good balance of value and performance. Good vrm cooling too which is very improtant with Piledriver cpu's.

 

[KelDG]

You want a better motherboard with vrm cooling. The one you picked has none at all. It also only has a 4 pin power socket for the cpu which could potentially limit clocking with Piledriver (especially if you stick a 8320/8350 in there). The Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 at £75 gets recommended a lot on here and seems to be a good balance of value and performance. Good vrm cooling too which is very improtant with Piledriver cpu's.

Cheers pasty, was just reading about the cooling on the boards because of your post, thanks. Ill look for a 4+2 one aswell.

 

[adam98150]

Gigabyte 970A-UD3P (EDIT: power phase 8+2 which is awesome for the price, the M5A97 is only 6+2)

I'd take that over the M5A97. Dual bios and enough power for the FX8350 if you were wanting to upgrade down the line. And I seriously doubt the FX6300 would bottleneck a 270x, perhaps a 280x but only a tiny bit and that's what overclocking is for.

Edit: The mobo is under 70 most places

 

[gazzaa]

Im using the cheap ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 AMD 970 to run my 6300 chip and its overclocked to 4.5 with no problems ran prime for hours rock solid temps around mid 50s using a corsair a50 cooler im also using a msi 280x without problems

 

[JonSmith]

The Gigabyte board uses analogue VRMs (which are less efficient than the digital VRMs on ASUS boards) and also has less cooling on them. The 6+2 digital implementation is therefore superior to the 8+2 implementation on the Gigabyte boards.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you are overclocking the EVO would do the job. I know loads of people using the EVO and the earlier PRO version,and one of them has had the EVO going 24/7 for months with a Phenom II X6 at near 100% for a project he is running,and it has been fine.

If you are not overclocking(or if it is just a slight bump) that then you can get away with a lower end 970 motherboard,but one with VRM cooling.

 

[cheesyboy]

The Gigabyte board uses analogue VRMs (which are less efficient than the digital VRMs on ASUS boards) and also has less cooling on them. The 6+2 digital implementation is therefore superior to the 8+2 implementation on the Gigabyte boards.

Pretty sure the newer Gigabyte boards, such as the 970a-UD3P use digital VRMs. That's what I take from this marketing rubbish on their site, anyway;

GIGABYTE Digital Power Engine

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable motherboards take advantage of an exclusive Digital PWM controller array, to deliver maximum and stable power to latest processors. Using digital controllers means that more precise power delivery to the motherboard's most power hungry and energy sensitive components is possible. This Digital Power system, with Precise Auto Voltage Compensation to make real-time adjustments and deliver a steady flow of power to the system, no matter the loading. This all new, digital power system provides enthusiast users with exceptional control over the overclocking potential of their GIGABYTE motherboard.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

My mate has the earlier UD3 with a FX6300 at 4.3GHZ or 4.4GHZ IIRC,but the main limitation was the lack of a LLC equivalent which the UD3P has I believe.