Mobo and CPU Combo?

FrankDaTank

FrankDaTank

FrankDaTank

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Joined
17 Feb 2010
Posts
236
Location
Newry
Hi guys. I have an ageing PC (see spec in sig) and I am thinking of a little upgrade. Also have new R9 280 and some newer Ram not in sig.

I was going to go for:
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
And
AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail

I spent more on my first motherboard, however I cannot see any good reasons not to jump on this one! Unless I am missing something...

I would appreciate your input on the Mobo and CPU combo.

Frank
 
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What is your max budget? I'd seriously avoid AMD, you're buying into basically a dead socket, at least with Intel there will be an upgrade path - say you went for an i3, you could go for a used i5/i7 in the future, with the 8320/8350 this option is not there
 
Shivy011 said:
What is your max budget? I'd seriously avoid AMD, you're buying into basically a dead socket, at least with Intel there will be an upgrade path - say you went for an i3, you could go for a used i5/i7 in the future, with the 8320/8350 this option is not there
Click to expand...

My budget would be around £210 for the lot.

What do you mean by buying into a dead socket? As in it won't support future CPU upgrades? As long as this will do me for gaming over 2 years, I don't see a reason not to go for it. I have been very happy with AMD for years. Unless you can suggest an alternative.

I rarely buy 2nd hand PC equipment anyway, certainly not CPU's/Mobo
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4570 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £143.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
Total : £215.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



This is what I'd be doing

Yeah, I agree the AMD chips are great price/performance, but this i5 will make mincemeat of it in most single thread applications, and will support Broadwell (rumoured to anyway) in the future - the AM3+ won't support any massive advancements in AMD CPUs

ThaReaperGuys suggestion is also excellent should you be able to spend a little more, much better performance and much more upgradeability
 
Thanks for the suggestion guys. I have never went the Intel Route. I will be giving both of your suggestions some serious thought tonight!

I think for what I need it for, mostly gaming, I could get away with AMD. In two years I should be in a much better position to upgrade my PC more regularly anyway.
 
FrankDaTank said:
Thanks for the suggestion guys. I have never went the Intel Route. I will be giving both of your suggestions some serious thought tonight!

I think for what I need it for, mostly gaming, I could get away with AMD. In two years I should be in a much better position to upgrade my PC more regularly anyway.
Click to expand...

You could "get away" with it, but why only just get away? :D When you are in that position, all you will need to do is hopefully slot in a Broadwell CPU and there you go, upgrade done. With AM3 the mobo and CPU will need to go, clearly spend the money on the intel setup and be done

Just look at these benchmarks, the Intel dominates most of the way

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/837?vs=698

For the same money it's a no brainer
 
I suggested the 4690k for 2 reasons, you can overclock it nicely after owning it longer than 2 years for added performance and it's resell value will hold a bit better than non-k chips.

Its a better investment, spending similar money on a dead setup that you're happy with completely replacing after 2 years makes no sense, spend the same on the Intel which is better in performance and will last longer + can be upgraded further with the new CPU's when they're released next year.
 
Shivy011 said:
You could "get away" with it, but why only just get away? :D When you are in that position, all you will need to do is hopefully slot in a Broadwell CPU and there you go, upgrade done. With AM3 the mobo and CPU will need to go, clearly spend the money on the intel setup and be done

Just look at these benchmarks, the Intel dominates most of the way

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/837?vs=698

For the same money it's a no brainer
Click to expand...

I see what you mean but the processor I would be going for is the 8350, that comparison shows the 8320. In the actual comparason the 8350 holds up:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/837?vs=697

Logic suggests I go Intel i suppose but with how tight the budget is at the minute and the recent development of my PC not booting up into windows I have a decision to make. You make a really good point for going with Intel!
 
The 8320 = 8350 but clocked lower, if you are going for AMD (pretty pointless) go for the 8320 and overclock it, much better value and it will match the 8350 speeds :)
 
Ah, thanks for that nugget of wisdom! I think you are right. Doing some research and I think it will be Z97x and the 4690k. Sure why not. Thanks for all the suggestions. I would have went for yours Shivy but it seems I can get the higher end stuff for around the same price as the lower budget £220 *elsewhere.

I have used OCUK for all of my equipment to date, and being from Northern Ireland no free shipping :(
 
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