Help me to choose a CPU: FX-6300 vs FX-8320 vs i5 4440

Anthony86

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2014
8
0
0
Hi guys,

I need your help to decide a CPU for my first build. I have three options: AMD FX-6300 OC, FX-8320 and i5-4440.

My final budget is around 550 euros (I live in Spain), and I will use it for gaming, general use (Internet with lot of windows, movies…) and some Photoshop. My GPU would be a R9 270 and overclocking is not a priority.

Option 1 (for OC)

-AMD FX-6300
-Asus M5A97 R2.0
-Cheap Cooler (not decided yet)

Total: 180-190 euros.

Option 2

-AMD FX-8320
-Asrock 970 Pro3

Total: 180 euros

In this case I wouldn’t OC, because for the price of a better mobo and a cooler I prefer go with option 3. Also I don’t know if I should put a cooler even whithout OC, because I have read that the stock one ir very bad.

Option 3

-Intel Core i5-4440 (or any i5, but I have found a good deal for the 4440)
-Asrock B85M Pro4

Total: 208 euros

This would be the more expensive option, but also needs less power, so in a few years it maybe worth it.

Thanks for your help!
 

AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
14,003
3,362
136
What is the price of the FX6300 and the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 ??

Also, you can OC the FX8320 to 4GHz with the default Cooler and have the same performance as the FX8350.
 

Bolshoi Booze

Member
Mar 7, 2014
33
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0
for your specific use, I'd choose the i5
great performance for games at stock, no need to worry about OC
also, LGA1150 is a more modern platform
 

Ventanni

Golden Member
Jul 25, 2011
1,432
142
106
I'd go Core i5 all the way. The performance will be superior in just about every way. And, if your Radeon goes bad, you'll have an iGPU to use as backup until you get your card back from warranty.
 

crashtech

Lifer
Jan 4, 2013
10,633
2,203
146
The honest truth is that an 8320 overclocked to the hilt (5 GHz) will still be outperformed by the i5-4440 in any load scenario with 4 fully loaded cores or less. So as always, it comes down to usage scenarios. If you are sure that you can regularly saturate more than 4 cores, then get an 8320 and OC it to the max. If you don't foresee that kind of need, get the i5 because it will run cooler (relatively) that the max OC FX, use significantly less power, and be about 10% faster in the 4 core or less load category.
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
Preferably, you go with a i5-3xxx version. They can still overclock 400 mhz above their turbo boost I believe.
 

Ventanni

Golden Member
Jul 25, 2011
1,432
142
106
The honest truth is that an 8320 overclocked to the hilt (5 GHz) will still be outperformed by the i5-4440 in any load scenario with 4 fully loaded cores or less. So as always, it comes down to usage scenarios. If you are sure that you can regularly saturate more than 4 cores, then get an 8320 and OC it to the max. If you don't foresee that kind of need, get the i5 because it will run cooler (relatively) that the max OC FX, use significantly less power, and be about 10% faster in the 4 core or less load category.

This.

Don't get me wrong, the Vishera 8-core chips are beasts, but the single thread performance advantage of Haswell is very significant over that of Vishera (~60% faster per clock). In order to achieve Haswell-like performance, you'd need to overclock significantly, which by then all cost advantages will be lost to the purchasing of third party cooling devices and overall power consumption.

For the scenario you're proposing, the Core i5 will be a superior experience in every way. I'm not trying to knock AMD here, as I'd love to have an FX CPU in my second computer, but there really isn't much comparison.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
8,548
2
0
For the vast majority of applications, IPC matters, and AMD does not remotely compete by this metric. Therefore for most usage scenarios the i5 is just going to be the best CPU to buy - the quad core is the sweet spot area, and the IPC is far better than the AMD products as well.
 

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
It's obviously in a different price bracket, but I ended up putting a Haswell i3 in my wife's computer. The vast majority of uses for her PC are 1-2 thread heavy, sometimes lightly utilizing 3-4 threads, which an i3 fits perfectly. If I could have had an i7 for the same price it would have offered no real world benefit.

I think even better than current i5's would be an Intel chip with 3 cores / 6 threads.
 

crashtech

Lifer
Jan 4, 2013
10,633
2,203
146
I think even better than current i5's would be an Intel chip with 3 cores / 6 threads.
It does seem like there is a rather large performance gap between the i3 and the i5. Too bad something like a tri-core or even an i3-4360K will not become a reality.
 

Anthony86

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2014
8
0
0
Thanks for your help! Really useful comments!

What is the price of the FX6300 and the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 ??

Also, you can OC the FX8320 to 4GHz with the default Cooler and have the same performance as the FX8350.

Well, I have found the FX 6300 for 93 euros and the M5A97 R2.0 for 72 ($128 and $99, although prices are different here).

And about OC the 8320, I don't know, but if I was sure that the default cooler is fine even for not overclocking, I think that it would be my choice. What do yo think?

Preferably, you go with a i5-3xxx version. They can still overclock 400 mhz above their turbo boost I believe.

Yes, I also have thought in that option... The difference of price is very little, about 7 euros. Would be it really a better option?
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
I'd go 8320 with a light overclock if you're open to that and you don't keep the system on and loaded 24/7 (I assume that electric costs in Spain are pretty high compared to what I'm used to). Otherwise, the i5.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
8,548
2
0
If you're just browsing the web and watching movies, christ. Why are you even thinking about the 6300 or i5. Get a Haswell pentium or i3. That's all you need. Those are the best choices - same Haswell IPC, enough performance for basic tasks. Best part? With the money saved, you can buy a SSD which will be the REAL game changer for you.

Haswell G3220 will be MORE than enough for that. Add a dGPU for photoshop if you so desire. And here in the US, you can get a G3220 with a motherboard for a mere 110$. That's cheaper than the i5 and 6300 CPUs alone.
 

TeknoBug

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2013
2,084
31
91
IIRC the i5 4440 is identical to the i5 3550 which I have, the 3550 ran circles around my AMD CPU's (8320 @ 4.3 and 4350 @ 4.7) granted I OC'd the 3550 past its max clock (its max is 3.7, ASRock and Asus boards lets you reach 3.9), and I think the 4440 offers VT-d if you're into virtual desktops via VMware or Virtualbox.
 

crashtech

Lifer
Jan 4, 2013
10,633
2,203
146
Preferably, you go with a i5-3xxx version. They can still overclock 400 mhz above their turbo boost I believe.

If the bin overclock can be achieved, the Ivy Bridge is still starting from a 5-7% or so deficit clock for clock, so once you are done you have maybe gained again 5-7% or so over the stock Haswell. I think having the more modern 8-series platform might outweigh the very modest performance gain in most instances, but of course that's somewhat subjective.
 

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
^ That, plus to overclock an i5 3xxx you'd need a more expensive board with a Z-77 chipset.
 

Anthony86

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2014
8
0
0
If you're just browsing the web and watching movies, christ. Why are you even thinking about the 6300 or i5. Get a Haswell pentium or i3. That's all you need. Those are the best choices - same Haswell IPC, enough performance for basic tasks. Best part? With the money saved, you can buy a SSD which will be the REAL game changer for you.

Haswell G3220 will be MORE than enough for that. Add a dGPU for photoshop if you so desire. And here in the US, you can get a G3220 with a motherboard for a mere 110$. That's cheaper than the i5 and 6300 CPUs alone.

The problem is that I aren't just browsing the web and watching movies. Read my post again. It's true that much of the time I am using it for a general use, but I am also working with Photoshop/Bridge/Lightroom and gaming. And I don't want to be off very soon with the newer games.
 

escrow4

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2013
3,339
122
106
If you're just browsing the web and watching movies, christ. Why are you even thinking about the 6300 or i5. Get a Haswell pentium or i3. That's all you need. Those are the best choices - same Haswell IPC, enough performance for basic tasks. Best part? With the money saved, you can buy a SSD which will be the REAL game changer for you.

Haswell G3220 will be MORE than enough for that. Add a dGPU for photoshop if you so desire. And here in the US, you can get a G3220 with a motherboard for a mere 110$. That's cheaper than the i5 and 6300 CPUs alone.

I disagree. The last thing you want with a PC is to get the absolute minimum of any parts. This will be a general PC in use everyday, likely for years, and I would certainly go for an i5 4570 as a minimum. You want headroom. I never recommend the 4440, its clocked way too low.
 

Zardnok

Senior member
Sep 21, 2004
670
0
76
I would roll with whatever the fastest i5 you can afford would be. I wish AMD were more competitive, but alas this isn't 2004.
 

davie jambo

Senior member
Feb 13, 2014
380
1
0
You won't notice much of a difference with either of them. In fact I would be surprised if could.

Go with the 8320 and overclock it I would say
 

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
2,836
218
106
Tough one but I'd go with the highest clocked i5 you can get since OC is not a must.
The FX 8320 is a beast but needs 4.4ghz plus to compete and OC are not guaranteed and you stated you don't care much for overclock.
 

AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
14,003
3,362
136
Thanks for your help! Really useful comments!



Well, I have found the FX 6300 for 93 euros and the M5A97 R2.0 for 72 ($128 and $99, although prices are different here).

And about OC the 8320, I don't know, but if I was sure that the default cooler is fine even for not overclocking, I think that it would be my choice. What do yo think?



Yes, I also have thought in that option... The difference of price is very little, about 7 euros. Would be it really a better option?


I would consider the following two options.

Get the FX8320 and OC to 4GHz with default cooler which is the same as FX8350. You turn Turbo off and by using less voltage than default you have lower power consumption than FX8350 but almost the same performance. Later you can install a watercooling like H80i or H100i and OC to 4.6GHz+ for added performance and low noise.

Second option would be to get a Z87 motherboard(or wait for Z97) with Core i3 4130 or 4330, later upgrade to Core i7.

If you play BF4 MP go with the FX8320 OC. If you play a lot of hours everyday and Electricity cost is very high then go with the Haswell Core i5.

Also, if by going with the FX6300/8320 allows you to get a faster GPU then i would recommend that option.
 

photonboy

Junior Member
Aug 19, 2006
5
0
0
EXAMPLE system: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BeAX

Since I don't know your total budget, or the availability of parts I built a PC that is a good medium gaming PC that isn't too bottlenecked by the CPU. That's especially important if adding a better card in two years or so.

I agree with the i5-4440. In most games it actually performs within 2% of the faster i5-4670K due to bottlenecks being elsewhere. In the case of AMD there are some bottlenecks in most games even with "only" a GTX750Ti.

Parts choice:
a) Motherboard:
The most inexpensive motherboard I could find that seems to be of good quality. It's micro-ATX simply because of the cost, though most people only use the Graphics slot anyway.

b) Case:
Nice case for the cost. Front USB3 is important (and on motherboard header). Front intake fan. Most importantly, good customer feedback.
- does not support full ATX board, only micro-ATX

c) DDR3 memory:
- 8GB is optimal for gaming. More than 1600MHz unnecessary.

d) 1TB HDD:
Nice drive, good feedback. SSD is too expensive for a value PC.

e) Graphics card:
The GTX750Ti here is arguably a good value. It actually overclocks by roughly 25% over stock frequency and uses the new Maxwell GPU which consumes much less power allowing a cheaper Power Supply with only a 1x6-pin graphics power cable.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_750_Ti_OC/25.html
- *The Asus GTX750Ti has a good cooler and can overclock a little more. In early benchmarks the drivers locked overclock to 10%. This card regularly hits a 25% overclock now putting it at the performance of a stock R7-265 (see the benchmark summary).

With the i5-4440 unlikely to bottleneck much, the performance in the games in the above benchmark should be very close, though you should tweak any game where the frame rate is too low (I use a minimum 40FPS with VSYNC OFF, or lock to 60FPS using Adaptive VSync at least 90% of the time.)

f) Windows 8 64-bit:
Don't get Windows 7. This is superior in many ways. BF4 is actually coded to run better on W8.

As for the new interface, I avoid that with the program START8 from Stardock ($5 USD). I also have my Windows 8 settings to avoid the login so it now boots directly to the desktop. In Start8 I also disabled the CHARMS BAR in the settings. Basically it works almost IDENTICAL to Windows 7 but there's a link on the Start Menu to go to the new interface if I wish. (I'm actually getting used to it and would like a MERGED version with the new interface but Taskbar permanently on the bottom.)

SUMMARY:
Again, this is only an EXAMPLE and your personally tastes and budget will likely change a few things.

As others have said, I strongly recommend the i5-4440 and a suitable 1150 motherboard.