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Best value AMD setup?

L

lsquare

Senior member
What is the best value AMD CPU and motherboard setup at the moment? I intend to add a Radeon 6950 to it and play Battlefield 3, but most of the time this computer will be used for office related work and media encoding.

I heard that Battlefield 3 isn't CPU intensive so I don't need the best CPU as the GPU will handle it. I do intend to overclock it though.

I already have the Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB 4X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 RAM. The motherboard needs to be able to not only accept 4 modules of RAM, but also be able to give me a decent overclock with it. I don't need the top of the line motherboard, but one that offers good value and decent overclocking potential.

Thanks!
 
A x4 955 would be the bare min for BF3.

BF3 eats my oced e8200 for breakfast...downclocking my gtx560 non ti to the performance of a gtx550ti to see if my cpu bottenecks it still and it does...

Can't say it enough that a quad is a must for multiplayer.
 
I overclocked my X4 955 from 3.2 to 3.7 on a Xigmatek Cobre D984 fan (92mm) on stock voltage. simply uped the multiplier to 18.5 and 4 seconds later I had X4 980...which at the time I got the 955, the 980 wasn't even released 😛

It's a good CPU, cheap, cool and runs everything out at this time and coming.
 
SLK said:
BF3 is CPU intensive.
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BF3 plays extremely well @ 1920x1200 on the box in my sig. No slowdown, no stuttering, completely fluid all the time. Couldn't be happier.

The 965 is supremely cheap right now for what you get out of it.
 
Best "Value" AMD CPU? Probably the OEM Phenom 2 830 deal this week from Microcenter. $50 for a 2.8ghz Deneb. It should overclock to somewhere in the mid 3ghz range. Of course, you need to already have a cooler, because it doesn't come with one. Microcenter is also selling an AM3 mobo for $30 after MIR.

Now, that being said, I bought the 830, because I had an AM2+ setup that needed a CPU. If I was building new today, and especially if I'd already dropped significant money on a GPU and RAM, I'd go for a 2500K setup.
 
If its gaming your looking for, plus good overclocking, the Ph II 955 options other people posted is a good plan. If you must do AMD, thats the option I would suggest.

Otherwise, a i3 2011 + MB (cheap option) or 2500k+ P67 board will OC like crazy and game the best. I only bring this up because you also need a new MB, and it's tough to recommend AMD unless you already have a AM3 board and just need a good drop-in.
 
Phenom II x6, imagine if Intel had kept a budget line of Q9xxx series going and today was selling a 6 core variant for ~$160 that could clock up to 3.8-4GHz consistently. That said, step up to a 2500K if you can afford it. Actually some nice Z68 motherboards in the ~$130 price range.

Encoding is one of the areas where 6 core Phenom II looks decent compared to 4 core Sandybridge.
 
gevorg said:
X6 + your favorite mobo brand from MicroCenter's AMD combo, if you don't mind driving down to Santa Clara:

http://www.microcenter.com/specials/...ndlePROMO.html
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I can't decide between a X4 or a X6. I would go with Intel, but Ivy Bridge is right around the corner and I rather not spend more than I have to since AMD's chips are more than capable for this generation of software. I intend to pass down this build to my youngest brother when I migrate to Ivy Bridge next year.

I guess it's going to be either a X4 955 or a X6 1055T. Which one would offer the best bang for the buck?
 
lsquare said:
I can't decide between a X4 or a X6. I would go with Intel, but Ivy Bridge is right around the corner and I rather not spend more than I have to since AMD's chips are more than capable for this generation of software. I intend to pass down this build to my youngest brother when I migrate to Ivy Bridge next year.

I guess it's going to be either a X4 955 or a X6 1055T. Which one would offer the best bang for the buck?
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SB now and IB later? Why not get a MB that supports both...
 
Vic Vega said:
BF3 plays extremely well @ 1920x1200 on the box in my sig. No slowdown, no stuttering, completely fluid all the time. Couldn't be happier.

The 965 is supremely cheap right now for what you get out of it.
Click to expand...

The 965 cost more than the 955. Am I going to get that much more out of the 965 instead of the 955?
 
ExarKun333 said:
SB now and IB later? Why not get a MB that supports both...
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I've already said I'm going to pass this down to my youngest brother. A SB build will cost quite a bit more and an AMD setup will be more than capable of handling my needs right now.

I also don't want to buy an expensive or top of the line Z68 board at the moment because Ivy Bridge boards will come with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 as a native interface. I rather spend the money then.
 
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ExarKun333 said:
If its gaming your looking for, plus good overclocking, the Ph II 955 options other people posted is a good plan. If you must do AMD, thats the option I would suggest.

Otherwise, a i3 2011 + MB (cheap option) or 2500k+ P67 board will OC like crazy and game the best. I only bring this up because you also need a new MB, and it's tough to recommend AMD unless you already have a AM3 board and just need a good drop-in.
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What's so tough about recommending AMD at the moment? I'm not hell bent on going with AMD, but the price is good and more than capable of handling my needs at the moment. There is at least a $100 price difference between a decent AMD setup and a Intel 2500K setup.

I don't see a reason why I would spend more on an Intel SB setup when I intend to move up to Ivy Bridge next year. I intend to pass this build down to my youngest brother, but even then, is the AMD setup 50% slower than an equivalent Intel setup? If so, then there's a reason to move up, but if not, then it's tough given the factors at play.
 
lsquare said:
The 965 cost more than the 955. Am I going to get that much more out of the 965 instead of the 955?
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No, they are the same process and same stepping / specs. All you get is a higher stock speed, but both will hit into the same 3.8-4.0ghz range with proper tuning and a cheap tower cooler.
 
lsquare said:
What's so tough about recommending AMD at the moment? I'm not hell bent on going with AMD, but the price is good and more than capable of handling my needs at the moment. There is at least a $100 price difference between a decent AMD setup and a Intel 2500K setup.

I don't see a reason why I would spend more on an Intel SB setup when I intend to move up to Ivy Bridge next year. I intend to pass this build down to my youngest brother, but even then, is the AMD setup 50% slower than an equivalent Intel setup? If so, then there's a reason to move up, but if not, then it's tough given the factors at play.
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I have a 2500k and love it. I actually replaced a 955BE with it. That said, it really isn't twice as good as the 955, and I'm much more often limited by my GPU than by the CPU. My single 6950 2GB would probably net similar results in most games with my old 955. I got a good deal selling my old setup in a box for a friend, so took the chance to go 2500k.

I'd say that 2500k and above pay off when you're matching it with very high end GPUs and multi-GPU setups, as that exposes much more limitations of CPUs. But for a single-midrange GPU like my 6950, the 2500k is mostly overkill.
 
lsquare said:
Does the ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 utilize the latest AMD chipset at the moment?

Is this one of the best value boards with decent overclocking potential? Remember, I intend to populate all 4 DIMM slots with 16GB of RAM.
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It is the latest non AM3+.

If you want to overclock make sure you get a black edition CPU and then switch to this motherboard.

The main thing to look for in an overclocking AM3 motherboard is to check and see if it has the 8 pin CPU power hookup.
 
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