How to convince first-time builder of gaming system to stay away from AMD FX-8320

[Bobsy]

Hello all,

I'm giving advice to a young lad who wants to build his first gaming computer. His budget is around $700 (Canadian dollars). His CPU choice at the moment is the AMD FX-8320. I read everywhere that it is outdated and obsolete, however I can't find a suitable alternative at a similar price point. Most games seem to require at least a quad-core processor (for example, Fallout 4 requirements: "Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz/AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0 GHz or equivalent.") so the i3 is not an option.

Should I tell him to go ahead with the FX-8320 or is there any other viable option out there? Thanks.

 

[frozentundra123456]

700 dollars Canadian is really low for a gaming system. What gpu are you looking to get? Do you need a copy of windows, do you already have any parts that you can use.

 

[Bobsy]

No need for Windows. Monitor and peripherals are outside outside of this budget. He was going with the GTX 960, but I personally think he should aim for the RX 480, or the GTX 970, or drop down to the GTX 950. The GTX 960 (which is the card I have!) does not offer the best bang for the buck.

 

[MajinCry]

Ebay. See how much an i5 2500k and a decent 1155 motherboard runs ya. Who knows, might cost the same as a new fx 'n' mobo.

Could always try looking for a Sandybridge Xeon and a cheap 2011 motherboard instead, if not being able to OC is no biggie.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Could show him some results where amd cpu's don't perform well.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36645076&postcount=64

The 8320 is fine in many games, but terrible in others.

If I were to suggest something. i5 6500, H110 board, 16GB ddr4. Buy a used gpu (290 or something) if money is tight.

 

[whm1974]

Have him build the system around the i3-6100. Games that require a quad core CPU will see it as one.

 

[guachi]

How many parts in the system need to be purchased?

 

[frozentundra123456]

No need for Windows. Monitor and peripherals are outside outside of this budget. He was going with the GTX 960, but I personally think he should aim for the RX 480, or the GTX 970, or drop down to the GTX 950. The GTX 960 (which is the card I have!) does not offer the best bang for the buck.

480/1060 are the obvious choices for gpu, but availability is tight now, and hard to find one at retail. The 4gb 480 is probably the best value for the money at 200.00, but I doubt you will be able to find one in stock at that price.

I would wait for the 470 and see the price/performance/availability. (think it should be out in a week or 2) I agree, 950 is a better value for the money than the 960, especially if you can find one on sale/closeout since the new models are coming out.

As another poster said, the 8320 is decent to good in some games, and terrible in others. What are the prices in your area for an 8320 vs i5 6500? Just remind your friend that a cpu these days should last for several years, and a part of the additional cost of the 6500 will be made up in energy savings.

 

[Sheep221]

Why you want to actually convince someone? If they are too hardheaded it's their problem. If you do have hard time convincing someone to buy i5 over fx,then I guess they pretty much can't be helped at this point.

 

[DrMrLordX]

i3 will be fine for Fallout 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=Ev7yfNw0g30&v=kOckcWuKnY0

And that's an old Haswell i3 with an old video card and only 8 Gb of RAM.

 

[Bobsy]

How many parts in the system need to be purchased?

He needs everything. He is a console player at the moment.

 

[whm1974]

I haven't looked at CPU benchmarks lately, but IIRC doesn't the current Skylake Pentiums outperform AMD's FX CPUs in most areas?

Hell I would recommend the Pentium G4500 if it wasn't for the quad thread requirement of some newer games.

 

[Bobsy]

Over here, the i5-6500 is 266 CAD, whereas the FX-8320 can be had for 200 CAD. The AMD motherboard is also cheaper. When you only consider $/core, Intel does not look good. I'll keep trying to convince him to throw an extra hundred dollars on his computer. Arguably, if he wants to play the latest games now, he'll want to play them next year as well. He should really get something that's more future-proof.

 

[Bobsy]

i3 will be fine for Fallout 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=Ev7yfNw0g30&v=kOckcWuKnY0

And that's an old Haswell i3 with an old video card and only 8 Gb of RAM.

Thank you, this is very helpful!

 

[VirtualLarry]

If he wants to build an AMD FX gaming rig, let him. Then, in a year or two, he'll come crawling back to you, when he's unable to play the newest games. Then you can recommend an Intel rig (of the day, probably Kaby Lake-X).

Or, maybe, with DirectX 12 games, the FX will actually put up a decent showing, and he'll have no issues.

 

[Ken g6]

Fallout 4 requirements: "Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz/AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0 GHz or equivalent."

i3 will be fine for Fallout 4:

And if he still doesn't want an i3, tell him the i3-6100 is [thread=2452438]equivalent to an i5-2400[/thread].

If he still wants AMD, suggest an FX-6300. It's cheaper, and the fewer cores you get, the faster you can overclock them, in general.

He was going with the GTX 960, but I personally think he should aim for the RX 480, or the GTX 970, or drop down to the GTX 950. The GTX 960 (which is the card I have!) does not offer the best bang for the buck.

The upcoming RX 470 looks like a really good bang for the buck.

 

[AtenRa]

I can post here countless youtube videos with the FX8320E playing older and current games just fine.

Here are a few with Fallout 4

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fallout+4+fx8320e

And DOOM with FX 8320E + GTX 1070.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJzoBI11YFY

But currently the FX6350 + Wraith Cooler at $165 Canadian is the sweet spot, just OC to 4.4GHz and pair it with RX 480 and you are set for many years of gaming.

A nice mobo ASUS 970 PRO GAMING/AURA AM3+ at $139,99 AR

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132713

 

[escrow4]

An H170 mobo for $150 would blow away any AM3+ mobo which is the definition of obsolete. FX is a joke mid 2016. Buy an i5 at the very least. An extra $200 over the life of a desktop is irrelevant.

 

[AtenRa]

Another alternative will be the Core i3 6100 at $150 +

ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 at $80 after $30 rebate
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157683

This is cheaper with the ability to upgrade to Core i7 later.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I haven't looked at CPU benchmarks lately, but IIRC doesn't the current Skylake Pentiums outperform AMD's FX CPUs in most areas?

Hell I would recommend the Pentium G4500 if it wasn't for the quad thread requirement of some newer games.

There is no way. I had a G3258 at 4.4 GHz and it was terrible for gaming on, really bad frametime spikes that happened regularly (eg every couple of seconds). I'd much rather game on a PS4 than a Pentium.

 

[SpaceBeer]

FX (AM3+) and GTX 960 in mid 2016??? What a waste of money.

i3 (6100) will do just fine. Usually better, certainly not worse than old FX. Plus RX 470 (if 480 or 1060 is out of budget).

 

[imported_bman]

Tell him that Zen is coming and that AM3+ is dead end platform and that with the i3-6100 he will have multiple and significant upgrade paths when he has more money.

 

[Abwx]

I can post here countless youtube videos with the FX8320E playing older and current games just fine.

Actually i find that Intel s so called superiority in games is more than exagerated...

FX 8370 vs i5 6400 at stock and overclocked :

http://wccftech.com/fx-8370-i5-6400-gaming-comparison/

The same with FX 8370 vs i5 6600K vs i7 6700K :

http://wccftech.com/intel-skylake-6700k-6600k-amd-fx-8370/

Frankly the Intel s are not that fantastic, too bad they didnt put an i3, but i guess that it would have been irrelevant given that the present CPUs are
already struggling here and there..

 

[DrMrLordX]

You can game on an FX or an i3. Point being, there are some cases where the i3 is cheaper/easier/has better upgrade options etc. I agree that an FX-6300 would be a better pick in most cases than the FX-8350, and so would an 880k or a 7860k.

Main reason not to go AMD is that you have to be very picky about which board you get based on your clockspeed target. If you get a locked Intel chip, picking a board is more about getting the features you want than anything else. It's hard(er) to get a genuinely bad Z170 board, for example.

 

[Loser Gamer]

I game on a AMD 960t unlocked to a 6 core just fine and that's the generation before the FX series. Granted I only play at 1080p but still.

GTA5, CSGO,COD, I can play whatever. People get their panties in a knot with AMD cpu's for no reason.

But whatever you do make sure you get him a SSD. Do not get a spinning hard drive for the OS. if you get a spinner use it as a storage drive