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

 

[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.

 

[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.