Impressed with FX-8350 and the new article at Anand

[Vesku]

He did include a date of expiration on the extra discount, more than what most people do when quoting in store only microcenter prices. Is "In-store only at Microcenter" just too much typing?

Also while NewEgg has their limited time discount it's very likely other retailers will float around the $155-160 mark due to recent AMD price reductions:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-cpu-apu-price-cut,22371.html

Superbiiz has it listed at $160, $7 off code playoff7 expires 5/13 offsets shipping for a total of $157.

I haven't seen the 3570K lower than $200 from regular discounts although I believe I've seen it very occasionally around $180 from a few places particularly Tigerdirect, sometimes pure discount sometimes as rebate. Rare to see it drop below that $200 mark, though.

Personally I'm keeping an eye out for a good price on a 2600K before they become scarce.

 

[Yuriman]

AMD FX8320 = $174,99 + 10% off promo (until 5/15) = $157,49

Core i5 3570K = $219,99

Difference = $62,5

I can put that money in to a WaterCooling kit(or high-end AIR Cooler) and OC the FX8320 to 4.6GHz easily when Core i5 3570K will stick to 3.5GHz (4 cores) with the default cooler due to throttling.

or add a 64-90GB SSD,

or get a better GPU

or faster and more ram

or another HDD

or a bigger/better Monitor

Nobody cares if after 3-5 years they will spend $40-60(due to higher power usage) more going for the FX when they will enjoy more speed/fps or have a better monitor for all those years.

FYI you can hit around 4.3ghz on all 4 cores with the stock cooler on a 3570k, safely, even when using an overclocked iGPU. You probably have a bit more headroom with the iGPU disabled. Aftermarket or even watercooling buys you 2-300mhz tops, voltage requires rise sharply above 4.5-4.6ghz.

 

[SPBHM]

I can put that money in to a WaterCooling kit(or high-end AIR Cooler) and OC the FX8320 to 4.6GHz easily when Core i5 3570K will stick to 3.5GHz (4 cores) with the default cooler due to throttling.

are you sure the 3570k will throttle with any OC for gaming? I doubt it.

anyway, in that case, since you want to use the 3570K at stock clocks you can buy an $60 b75 motherboard (or you can buy a cheap z75/z77 board for around $80-90 and run the CPU at 4.2GHz+, and that's already 700MHz of OC), while for a 4.6GHz fx you will need a more expensive board for stability I think, so your price difference goes away, and the power usage difference will be much worse... while the stock 3570 can still beat the OCed FX in most games.

 

[Yuriman]

My watercooling pump went out on me recently and I was forced to use the stock cooler. I was able to run Linpack + furmark (iGPU, I pulled my 7850 out too) at 4.3ghz with the stock heatsink without throttling, nevermind gaming.


Additionally, you can still overclock non-K chips 400mhz over stock (given you got a Z chipset), which is easy on the stock cooler. You can get a cheaper i5 on Amazon for $170.

I'm not saying the FX-83xx doesn't have value, I think it's a great chip, but it's misinformation that you can only overclock K-series or that they throttle with the stock heatsink.

 

[svenge]

I'm not saying the FX-83xx doesn't have value, I think it's a great chip, but it's misinformation that you can only overclock K-series or that they throttle with the stock heatsink.

AMD fans simply can't win based on the facts, thus their over-reliance on misinformation.

 

[galego]

So whats the general consensus? FX is indeed a good CPU and more future proof

For many of us yes

 

[itsmydamnation]

AMD fans simply can't win based on the facts, thus their over-reliance on misinformation.

I would say generally its the opposite, AMD hates ( not intel fans there is a big difference) generally underestimate piledrivers performance especially when you start talking real world usage scenarios.

my home server(ESXi) is a 8350 ( would have got 8320 if it was in stock) because it offers better performance in an absolute sense vs a 3770 and destroys it when you look at perf per $. My gaming rig is a i7 920 with 6970 which at the moment as much as I wish it wasn't true i see no reason to upgrade. Maybe the new console gen will change that.

 

[galego]

I would say generally its the opposite, AMD hates ( not intel fans there is a big difference) generally underestimate piledrivers performance especially when you start talking real world usage scenarios.

my home server(ESXi) is a 8350 ( would have got 8320 if it was in stock) because it offers better performance in an absolute sense vs a 3770 and destroys it when you look at perf per $. My gaming rig is a i7 920 with 6970 which at the moment as much as I wish it wasn't true i see no reason to upgrade. Maybe the new console gen will change that.

+1.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

I would say generally its the opposite, AMD hates ( not intel fans there is a big difference) generally underestimate piledrivers performance especially when you start talking real world usage scenarios.

my home server(ESXi) is a 8350 ( would have got 8320 if it was in stock) because it offers better performance in an absolute sense vs a 3770 and destroys it when you look at perf per $. My gaming rig is a i7 920 with 6970 which at the moment as much as I wish it wasn't true i see no reason to upgrade. Maybe the new console gen will change that.

Exactly, if money is no object then Intel is the clear choice, but when someone has a fixed buget, the money can be better spent elsewhere. That savings can be the difference between a 7870 and a 7950 (or 670 and 680...ect ect...) where the difference will be much more substantial.

 

[Rvenger]

Exactly, if money is no object then Intel is the clear choice, but when someone has a fixed buget, the money can be better spent elsewhere. That savings can be the difference between a 7870 and a 7950 (or 670 and 680...ect ect...) where the difference will be much more substantial.

When your parents pay the electricity, AMD all the way!

 

[Chiropteran]

When your parents pay the electricity, AMD all the way!

Yeah, that $8 per year premium for running AMD is a serious killer.

 

[Ken g6]

I'm convinced...that an FX-4300 is a better choice for the budget builder than a current i3.

When Haswell i3s come out, if games start taking advantage of AVX2, I may reevaluate that position. (And I expect to.)

 

[Gikaseixas]

What I have come to observe is that people who want to have some justification to recommend AMD over Intel will find their justification by way of arguing power consumption is irrelevant

The same applies to people who don't want to recommend AMD, they'll go straight to power consumption figures trying to convince others it is horrendous when we're in enthusiast forum. Silly no???

 

[Gikaseixas]

Power savings IS important. In my case as to choice of cpu it had almost nothing to do with it.

Thanks. It makes a tiny difference at the end of the day. Many didn't care how much more power an i7 920 consumed given they were satisfied with it's performance.

 

[toyota]

The same applies to people who don't want to recommend AMD, they'll go straight to power consumption figures trying to convince others it is horrendous when we're in enthusiast forum. Silly no???

oh so enthusiasts dont care about power consumption? sorry but if building from scratch and looking at all factors it does matter to many. why in the heck would I buy an equal or slower cpu that uses noticeably more power? only a few watts would be no big deal at all but consumption goes through the roof when overclocking to match a 3570k in gaming. on the other hand a 3570k uses less power for a typical oc than the stock 8350. many people here build single card systems like mine that only use around 250 watts so why in the heck would we want to use another 100 watts for the same performance?

 

[Gikaseixas]

Toyota slower in what? The FX is faster than the 3570K half the time, they split the advantage so your point exactly? I don't game all the time, i do a lot more with my PC and to my needs specifically the FX is great, much better choice than the 2500k i was considering when i was buying. I often game on my i7 rig because most of the games i have run better on it (older games)

 

[toyota]

Toyota slower in what? The FX is faster than the 3570K half the time, they split the advantage so your point exactly? I don't game all the time, i do a lot more with my PC and to my needs specifically the FX is great, much better choice than the 2500k i was considering when i was buying. I often game on my i7 rig because most of the games i have run better on it (older games)

I know people have other needs so that's why I specifically said gaming.

 

[Gikaseixas]

So think a bit before asking me

oh so enthusiasts dont care about power consumption?

Again, I do a lot more than just game

 

[toyota]

So think a bit before asking me


Again, I do a lot more than just game

all I did was give you an example since you were acting like enthusiasts do not care about power consumption...

 

[Gikaseixas]

IMO they shouldn't care to pay $5-8 more per year since they buy stuff first and foremost for performance purposes no? Your point was poorly applied still.

 

[toyota]

IMO they shouldn't care to pay $5-8 more per year since they buy stuff first and foremost for performance purposes no? Your point was poorly applied still.

in other words only your opinion matters.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Never said that dude. Peace

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Power consumption is not just about a few extra watts being used by the computer. It's also about:

• The extra watts you have to pay to air condition the room the computer is in, which applies to most people. Or the extra discomfort you have being in a room with a hot computer that's not air conditioned.
• The additional noise from extra fans that have to run. Many people prefer quiet operation.
• The extra cost of beefed up coolers to deal with the heat.
• The stress that heat puts on hardware -- not just the CPU but other components as well, which reduces their longevity and increases the chance of having to waste time and money fixing them.
• The environment. Some of you may not have noticed that we now live in an era where people try to be environmentally responsible. People care about wasted power, the fuel it wastes to generate it, the fuel wasted to cool the heat, the CO2 generated by the entire process.

I prefer to use devices that are efficient, not ones that brute-force their way around their design flaws by maxing out power limits. If you prefer to use inferior technology to save a few bucks, go for it. There's a reason why AMD can only compete on a performance-per-dollar basis, and it's not because their CPUs are great.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Power consumption is not just about a few extra watts being used by the computer. It's also about:

• The extra watts you have to pay to air condition the room the computer is in, which applies to most people. Or the extra discomfort you have being in a room with a hot computer that's not air conditioned.
• The additional noise from extra fans that have to run. Many people prefer quiet operation.
• The extra cost of beefed up coolers to deal with the heat.
• The stress that heat puts on hardware -- not just the CPU but other components as well, which reduces their longevity and increases the chance of having to waste time and money fixing them.
• The environment. Some of you may not have noticed that we now live in an era where people try to be environmentally responsible. People care about wasted power, the fuel it wastes to generate it, the fuel wasted to cool the heat, the CO2 generated by the entire process.

I prefer to use devices that are efficient, not ones that brute-force their way around their design flaws by maxing out power limits. If you prefer to use inferior technology to save a few bucks, go for it. There's a reason why AMD can only compete on a performance-per-dollar basis, and it's not because their CPUs are great.

Talk about supercomputers that are using megawatts of power? They aren't exactly very efficient, either. They are just beefed up for the task. To each their own

 

[ShintaiDK]

Talk about supercomputers that are using megawatts of power? They aren't exactly very efficient, either. They are just beefed up for the task. To each their own

And they are replaced fast due to power inefficiency. Simply because the running cost is too high.