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Which AMD CPU for 2014 gaming

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2010
Posts
12,853
Hi,

So with the confirmation that desktop Steamroller is a while off I've decided to upgrade my AMD 965

I've bought so far -

Corsair 540 Air
Gigabyte 970A UD3P Motherboard
Be Quiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler

I'll be using from my existing setup

8GB 1600 RAM
Gigabyte 760 GTX
Sea Sonic X-750 PSU
Samsung SSD
120HZ 27" Monitor

The idea is to get 60+FPS at 1080P on Ultra settings in games like BF4 and whatever comes out in 2014 (I'll swap out my GPU in May if I have to)

I was all set for an 8350 but Toms Hardware gaming CPU guide recommends that anything above an FX-6300 isn't really worth it for a gaming PC, I want the best I can get for my money but I don't want to waste money on something I wont use

What do you think?

Thanks
 
Most games that are coming out now do benefit from the 83x0 and the extra cores are becoming increasingly important.

There may never be an 8 core steamroller. However, the 4 core kaveri in Jan will probably spank an FX in less well threaded games (ie older / indie games). It may be worth seeing how good kaveri is before choosing.
 
Get an 8320 and overclock it!
I've got a 6300 and I would have spent the extra if my motherboard would support it, oh well its an excuse to go haswell hey lol
 
That Toms Hardware guide is probably giving that recommendation based on the prev gen of PC games, where a massive amount still don't even support quad core. Since the PS4 and Xbox One both have much more of a PC hardware setup and have 8-cores, you'd probably see a massive rise in the number of games that support 8 or more cores, that will be probably be programmed for PC and ported to the consoles. I would recommend going with an AMD 8-core CPU that has good overclocking abilities and get a good cooler to go with it. You don't have to overclock right away, but its always a good option especially considering the possible performance with future software.

The 760 isn't that fast to try and get 60+ FPS in 1080p on MAX settings (with AA) in all games, but I would also definitely hold off on a GPU upgrade until you see what Mantle turns out like, so upgrading in May sounds like a good idea.
 
ajezard said:
The 760 isn't that fast to try and get 60+ FPS in 1080p on MAX settings (with AA) in all games, but I would also definitely hold off on a GPU upgrade until you see what Mantle turns out like, so upgrading in May sounds like a good idea.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm thinking, I'm waiting to see how Mantle pans out to decide on my next GPU

I'm still up for buying an 8350, the dilemma here is if an 8350 is a waste of cash over an 8320 or even 6300

I'm not a huge overclocker, I would rather spend the extra than spend ages tweaking like I did with my 965
 
Do you already have the board, as it's not really suitable for overclocking, while the cooler is more than fine.

The 8320 is the best one to go for unless you're aiming for really high clocks, which would need a top end board.
 
The fxs do need overclocking to a decent level to be effective. If you want an easier time, and something that just kicks are out of the box, go for an i5 or i7
 
i5 will still be better in 99 percent of games. people are just guessing amd 8 cores will do better because of mantle.

i5 is still faster and mantle will be as fast or faster on i5 anyway. funny thing is people are not looking at the games supported either ;) .
 
Relentless81 said:
Hi,

So with the confirmation that desktop Steamroller is a while off I've decided to upgrade my AMD 965

I've bought so far -

Corsair 540 Air
Gigabyte 970A UD3P Motherboard
Be Quiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler

I'll be using from my existing setup

8GB 1600 RAM
Gigabyte 760 GTX
Sea Sonic X-750 PSU
Samsung SSD
120HZ 27" Monitor

The idea is to get 60+FPS at 1080P on Ultra settings in games like BF4 and whatever comes out in 2014 (I'll swap out my GPU in May if I have to)

I was all set for an 8350 but Toms Hardware gaming CPU guide recommends that anything above an FX-6300 isn't really worth it for a gaming PC, I want the best I can get for my money but I don't want to waste money on something I wont use

What do you think?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you have that board, either FX8320 or FX9370. For no other reason other than, you can get the 8320 to 8350 speed, but I believe you cannot get the 8350 to 9370 with it.

If in reality you haven't bought the board yet, or you can return it. Get an i5 4670K. It costs almost the same as the 8350, you will see more performance on games "NOW", with the GTX760 including BF4. Not something impressive but you will see difference. Also you can upgrade to 4770K. And even the worst 4670 can get to 4Ghz. To benefit from Mantle you will need a GCN card, but pure grunt power counts.
 
Panos said:
If you have that board, either FX8320 or FX9370. For no other reason other than, you can get the 8320 to 8350 speed, but I believe you cannot get the 8350 to 9370 with it.

If in reality you haven't bought the board yet, or you can return it. Get an i5 4670K. It costs almost the same as the 8350, you will see more performance on games "NOW", with the GTX760 including BF4. Not something impressive but you will see difference. Also you can upgrade to 4770K. And even the worst 4670 can get to 4Ghz. To benefit from Mantle you will need a GCN card, but pure grunt power counts.
Click to expand...

You actually don't, at least not when/if Nvidia support it.
 
I do not get the point of your comment :/

I actually said that the 4670K will provide more power with the GTX760 and he shouldn't worry about Mantle etc and the benefits of it, because his CPU going to have more grunt at the end of the day, compared to an FX.

However if he gets the FX, he should be looking for Mantle to benefit from it. And as things are atm only AMD GPUs support it. No word from Nvidia, so speculation shouldn't be considered where money is spent.
 
A 760 may well work with Mantle, depending on Nvidia, that was the point.

But he's not buying a GPU, so it's very relevant.

You're also not likely to see much difference at all with BF4 and a 760 with i5 4670K over an FX8320.

I'd pick the i5 4670K over the FX83 every time though.
 
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An FX8320 and a GTX760 will be fine. My mate uses an FX6300 at 4.3GHZ and an overclocked HD7870XT. He seems fine with the games he plays,and not all are FPS games either. A number of them are online games and the like too and he has over 600 games.

Most reviews are running Geforce Titans and the like at silly low resolutions to emphasise any difference between the CPUs. Once you hit 1920X1080,the differences are not always anywhere as big,as the GPU usually ends up being the issue,or alternatively,both are producing high enough framerates.

I am not saying a Core i5 4670K or Core i7 4770K are not more powerful overall,but I think at times it is overstated somewhat.
 
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Firstly dont trust TH as gospel.

Second, if your that inclined save up for an i7, I wouldn't bother with an i5 tbh.

If you want a temporary fix go with Cat's post #12.
 
teppic said:
Do you already have the board, as it's not really suitable for overclocking, while the cooler is more than fine.
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8+2 power delivery and Load Line Calibration - why wouldn't the board be at least a decent overclocker? Should be approximately in line with the rev 4.0 990fx ud3, surely?
 
cheesyboy said:
8+2 power delivery and Load Line Calibration - why wouldn't the board be at least a decent overclocker? Should be approximately in line with the rev 4.0 990fx ud3, surely?
Click to expand...

I was confusing it with the 970A-DS3P. Not sure about this one. Gigabyte's reputation with AM3+ boards and Piledriver isn't great.
 
Intel is irrelevant as i have am3 board and its staying

I think im going to stick with the 8350 and overclock it slightly which the board is more than capable of, i think some people are confused with the older 970 boards which didn't didn't support piledriver out if the box, this one does which is why i went for it

GPU i want to see how it performs with the new cpu, if it doesn't do 1080p in ultra at 60fps then its getting swapped out in may, amd or nvidia im not bothered as long as i get the best performance for my money
 
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