New mobo - PCIE 2.0 vs 3.0

[bornlivedie]

So, I'm gonna get a new motherboard soon, but i'm still deciding between AMD (FX 8320) and Intel (4670k).

With AMD, it's between the M5A99X EVO R2.0 with PCIE 2.0 and the Sabertooth GEN3 with PCIE3.0

Intel of course, has support for PCIE 3.0 on all motherboards, but I was looking at the Gryphon, just FYI.


I'm leaning towards AMD because it's is incredibly cheaper and the performance hit with videogames won't be that much. But the question is... is PCI Express 3.0 worth it? I know that right now it performs about the same (sometimes a bit worse) as PCIE 2.0 and that performance gains are only experienced while using SLI (according to some reviews) but what about in the future? Could they really improve it's performance?

I don't wanna waste a load of money on something that will leave half-way a few months later.

btw, i'm running a single GTX 760 and won't likely ever make use of SLI.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Have you considered the future performance delta between the 2 chips? AVX2 usage, like Rome 2? The huge power consumption differences? That the entire AM3+ platform is severely outdated on all fronts? Also no native USB3 on the AM3+.

As a sidenote, we are getting PCIe 4.0 in 2015.

 

[bornlivedie]

Have you considered the future performance delta between the 2 chips? AVX2 usage, like Rome 2? The huge power consumption differences? That the entire AM3+ platform is severely outdated on all fronts? Also no native USB3 on the AM3+.

As a sidenote, we are getting PCIe 4.0 in 2015.

Power consumption? My current CPU consumes exactly the same as any AMD. Haswell is going to save me, what, 20 dollars a year?

AM3+ is severely outdated? In which aspects?

USB 3.0? I don't own any devices that can take advantage of that. I doubt I ever will, at least in the near future.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

With AMD, it's between the M5A99X EVO R2.0 with PCIE 2.0 and the Sabertooth GEN3 with PCIE3.0

The Sabertooth is using a PLX chip to "fuse" the 32 PCIe 2.0 channels coming of the 990 chipset into 16 PCIe 3.0 channels. I doubt you'll see much, if any, performance increases. This has been debated a lot, but PCIe 2.0 16x is enough for any modern graphics card.

What ShintaiDK means is that you're essentially buying into a 4 year old platform that is very unlikely to see any future updates. If you're dead set on going AMD FX, a cheaper mainboard will do just as well as the Sabertooth.

 

[bornlivedie]

The Sabertooth is using a PLX chip to "fuse" the 32 PCIe 2.0 channels coming of the 990 chipset into 16 PCIe 3.0 channels. I doubt you'll see much, if any, performance increases. This has been debated a lot, but PCIe 2.0 16x is enough for any modern graphics card.

What ShintaiDK means is that you're essentially buying into a 4 year old platform that is very unlikely to see any future updates. If you're dead set on going AMD FX, a cheaper mainboard will do just as well as the Sabertooth.

I'm not dead set on anything, just trying to -objectively- see if one is better than the other or if there are any major differences. For gaming, I don't see much of a difference. Are there any serious features I'll be missing out?

ShintaiDK says AM3+ is a severely outdated platform, I wanna know why. I'm asking from ignorance, not trying to come up like an AMD defender. I'm currently using Intel.

 

[ShintaiDK]

For gaming it makes no sense to buy the AM3+ platform. And remember there is a huge difference between prescripted benchmarks and actual gameplay. Not to mention minimum framerates. AMDs CPUs are simply much slower.

You can try play Rome 2 for example and experience how much CPU you need. Not to mention its also supports AVX2.

As already said, its an old outdated platform. Everything on it is from the past. The Alink Express to the SB950 is limited. PCIe 2.0 only, no USB3, poor SATA performance compared to FM1/FM2/FM2+ or Intel and so on. And the platform is dead and will recieve no further updates.

And remember, those 20$ a year is not only money. Its also noise and heat in your room.

You should look on cheaper boards as well. And if you ant to look on AMD as an option. You should look on the FM2 platform. But next year they will be FM2+ with Kaveri CPUs.

 

[bornlivedie]

Ok, so AM3+ is a no go. I will have to save big time for a Haswell, though.

Is the Gryphon any good? I plan to overclock.

 

[bornlivedie]

For now, I'm considering this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131984 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128599

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116896

I know, non-K cpu, no overlock, but what the hell... it's not that vital

 

[ShintaiDK]

Do you live near a Microcenter? Then you can get a 4670K for 199$

http://www.microcenter.com/product/413251/Core_i5_4670K_34GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Ok, so AM3+ is a no go. I will have to save big time for a Haswell, though.

If you're budget constrained, you should take a look at either a Haswell i3 or an Athlon X4 750K/760K (both are very, very easy to get 6800K+ level performance out of, even with the stock cooler). The choice really depends on what kind of games you play.

(Total War games are kind of notorious for both requiring a strong CPU and GPU)

Should you get an LGA-1150 CPU, the B85 chipset offers 95% of the features of the Z87 (minus overclocking and SRT). Spend the savings on a bigger GPU.

 

[bornlivedie]

I have a GTX 760 OC. I like to play games on full settings, without filters.

I don't play RTS games like Total War, so I couldn't care less about them.


Also, I'm not seeing any 4670k at 199 or that B85 chipset here (I don't live in the US). The cheapest motherboards are the two I posted before. A quick Google search favored the Gigabyte over the ASUS, although the ASUS is a LITTLE bit cheaper here (5 dollars, not a lot, but...).

So, for now, it's the 4570 with that Gigabyte.


EDIT: Found one B85M-G very very cheap, like half the cost of the other two. And this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500087

It's H87, so I can take advantage of SSD Caching (I have one OCZ Vertex 4)

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I have a GTX 760 OC. I like to play games on full settings, without filters.

I don't play RTS games like Total War, so I couldn't care less about them.


Also, I'm not seeing any 4670k at 199 or that B85 chipset here (I don't live in the US). The cheapest motherboards are the two I posted before. A quick Google search favored the Gigabyte over the ASUS, although the ASUS is a LITTLE bit cheaper here (5 dollars, not a lot, but...).

So, for now, it's the 4570 with that Gigabyte.


EDIT: Found one B85M-G very very cheap, like half the cost of the other two. And this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500087

It's H87, so I can take advantage of SSD Caching (I have one OCZ Vertex 4)

4570+Gigabyte board+GTX760 sounds good. You won't regret it.

About that SSD caching, I'd advise to skip it and just use the SSD and HDD separate. The point of SSD caching is that you take a small (32-64GB) SSD and use it to speed up disk access for the mechanical drive. If you have a larger SSD there is really not much point in it.

 

[bornlivedie]

Yeah, I confused that one with "Lake Tiny". Supossedly, Z87 offers a little more performance for SSDs.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Yeah, I confused that one with "Lake Tiny". Supossedly, Z87 offers a little more performance for SSDs.

Nah, not really. All Intel SATA controllers, within a generation, are created equal. Intel actually uses the same physical chip for all PCHs (Haswell ULV SoC do have the PCH integrated, but that's a different story). The differences is down to binning, disabled features and BIOS/UEFI code differences...

 

[tweakboy]

More lanes right ?

 

[GlacierFreeze]

I recently picked up the Intel 4570. Pretty good chip that boosts to 3.6GHz. 4570 ($190) with ASRock H87 Pro4 ($87) seems to be a solid build considering I didn't feel like bothering with over clocking and not going to be adding a 2nd GPU. Might as well save money instead of spending it where it's not needed.

 

[bornlivedie]

I'll probably try to sell my current PC and go for the 4670k + Gryphon. I know I'm gonna much happier with that in the future.

 

[fixbsod]

Yeah forget srt ... see my recent thread on crashes. Apparently even an intel slc ssd is only good for 18 months. Took weeks of troubleshooting.

4570+Gigabyte board+GTX760 sounds good. You won't regret it.

About that SSD caching, I'd advise to skip it and just use the SSD and HDD separate. The point of SSD caching is that you take a small (32-64GB) SSD and use it to speed up disk access for the mechanical drive. If you have a larger SSD there is really not much point in it.

 

[bornlivedie]

Hard to find a review of ANY B85/H87 motherboard.

It's all about Z87, that's sad...

 

[Insert_Nickname]

It's all about Z87, that's sad...

It is. No one ever seems interested in reviewing mainstream boards.

 

[escrow4]

FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.

AM3+ may not be dead - no one knows for certainty at this point that the future is FMxx. Plus the above combo is just under the price of an i5 by itself. As for lesser performance, all the games I've played there is little practical difference.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

AM3+ may not be dead - no one knows for certainty at this point that the future is FMxx.

So long as a potential user keeps in mind that it could be dead, I have no problems recommending AMD CPUs.

FX6300/6350s are tremendous value.