[Solved] AMD FX 6300 or wait for Steamroller

[BigChickenJim]

@bigChickenJim I inquired the cost of Radeon HD 7870. They are costing me well over $300. Over my budget. Bit-tech was able to overclock this card to 1050 Mhz for the GPU on stock cooling so this has some overclocking potential even for me. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/11/05/msi-radeon-hd-7850-1gb-review/9

Also, Radeon HD 7870 is better but not better enough to justify paying $100 more. I can use that budget on CPU + motherboard cos even then I will be playing games at 1600x900 only.

Assuming I have finalized on Radeon HD 7850 only, what do you think of this graphic card in terms of temperature and cost of $ 205?

I agree that it isn't worth the step up if the 7870 will cost $100 extra. Here in the U.S. $205 is a little steep for a stock 7850, but it seems as if you are operating in a price-inflated market I'm unfamiliar with. If it seems like a good deal by your standards, I guess it's a good deal. Man, it sucks to live in India if you're a PC builder...

I took a brief look at the review for that particular card. It looks pretty good, although the overclocking performance gains wouldn't be worth the trouble to me. Still, for what you will be using the rig for I'd say it's a good partner for the FX-6300.

The thermal stats also look good, although Bit-Tech annoyingly used a delta T graph and then neglected to tell me what their ambient temperature (and more importantly their case delta T) actually was. I suppose we will assume linear scaling even though that isn't always 100% accurate, so you'll just need to add 38C to your local ambient in order to determine what your max load temp will be. You don't want it to be over 80C since I believe that's the point at which 7xxx cards begin to downclock. If it works out to be higher, you may want to look for a card with better cooling.

Also, if you are going to be operating the system in a high-ambient environment (I assume it's HOT in India) you may want to do some research into VRM temperatures under load. I know MSI motherboards are notorious for having cheap VRMs that shouldn't be pushed too hard, but I'm not sure if the same is true for their GPUs. I believe that card has a custom cooling solution; if so, it's possible that the VRMs are not being properly cooled and could be an issue under stress in high ambient temperatures.

Finally, is 1GB of VRAM sufficient for you? It's definitely low for gaming, but I don't have any point of reference for how much VRAM you might need during the work you do.

 

[gx_saurav]

I agree that it isn't worth the step up if the 7870 will cost $100 extra. Here in the U.S. $205 is a little steep for a stock 7850

This GPU has a modest 40 MHz overclock. Nothing to talk about though I think.

I took a brief look at the review for that particular card. It looks pretty good, although the overclocking performance gains wouldn't be worth the trouble to me. Still, for what you will be using the rig for I'd say it's a good partner for the FX-6300.

Like I have said earlier, I prefer to run things at stock and will use at stock until games and apps tend to get slow in future.

The thermal stats also look good, although Bit-Tech annoyingly used a delta T graph and then neglected to tell me what their ambient temperature (and more importantly their case delta T) actually was. I suppose we will assume linear scaling even though that isn't always 100% accurate, so you'll just need to add 38C to your local ambient in order to determine what your max load temp will be. You don't want it to be over 80C since I believe that's the point at which 7xxx cards begin to downclock. If it works out to be higher, you may want to look for a card with better cooling.

Also, if you are going to be operating the system in a high-ambient environment (I assume it's HOT in India) you may want to do some research into VRM temperatures under load. I know MSI motherboards are notorious for having cheap VRMs that shouldn't be pushed too hard, but I'm not sure if the same is true for their GPUs. I believe that card has a custom cooling solution; if so, it's possible that the VRMs are not being properly cooled and could be an issue under stress in high ambient temperatures.

Room temperature is around 28C usually in my room and in winters, it goes to as low as 15C. Still, that is higher in terms of USA or other cold countries.

I remember this, last year in December https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151602131513957&l=730491290c

Finally, is 1GB of VRAM sufficient for you? It's definitely low for gaming, but I don't have any point of reference for how much VRAM you might need during the work you do.

I have been reading and asking people about it. They said 1 GB should be enough at my preferred choice of resolution 1600x900. Going to try testing at a friend's PC over the weekend though to see how it performs.

 

[frozentundra123456]

This GPU has a modest 40 MHz overclock. Nothing to talk about though I think.



Like I have said earlier, I prefer to run things at stock and will use at stock until games and apps tend to get slow in future.



Room temperature is around 28C usually in my room and in winters, it goes to as low as 15C. Still, that is higher in terms of USA or other cold countries.

I remember this, last year in December https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151602131513957&l=730491290c



I have been reading and asking people about it. They said 1 GB should be enough at my preferred choice of resolution 1600x900. Going to try testing at a friend's PC over the weekend though to see how it performs.

How much more does a 2gb 7850 cost? If the price difference is small, I think a 2gb card might be worth it in case you decide to move up to 1080p.

Edit: again depending on prices, if you are willing to stick to 900p and 1gb memory, I think a HD7790 would be a good choice if it is significantly cheaper than a HD7850.

 

[gx_saurav]

Edit: again depending on prices, if you are willing to stick to 900p and 1gb memory, I think a HD7790 would be a good choice if it is significantly cheaper than a HD7850.

I started thinking about 7790 even before 7850 but since I want to keep a card for 2+ years, I decided to go with 7850.

Well, another seller on eBay India just listed a Radeon HD 7850 from Global EasyBuy at $185. This time, this card http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7850-Twin-Frozr-2GD5-OC.html

Must be my lucky day. Just asked him about warranty and if available, I will go for this. 900 MHz overclock, dual fan and 2 GB RAM at lower price then 1 GB version.

 

[BigChickenJim]

I started thinking about 7790 even before 7850 but since I want to keep a card for 2+ years, I decided to go with 7850.

Well, another seller on eBay India just listed a Radeon HD 7850 from Global EasyBuy at $185. This time, this card http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7850-Twin-Frozr-2GD5-OC.html

Must be my lucky day. Just asked him about warranty and if available, I will go for this. 900 MHz overclock, dual fan and 2 GB RAM at lower price then 1 GB version.

That is an awesome card and a decent price. Buy it. Buy it now.

 

[gx_saurav]

Well, there was a catch. This is a box opened card. Here is the listing http://geb.ebay.in/g/ImportHubViewI...win-Frozr-2GD5-OC-2GB-GDDR5-Graphic-Card-106B

If I wanted to go with this deal, I would rather prefer Amazon. Still, I have asked him for warranty and will buy if it gives manufacturer warranty.

Edit: Found another deal. Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 at stock speeds but dual fan so I think I can overclock to 900 MHz easily. This also has a sweet 3 year warranty in India. http://www.flipkart.com/sapphire-amd-ati-hd-7850-1gb-gddr5-1-gb-graphics-card/p/itmddu7gyykzdfeu Approx cos in India is $215. If all other deals fail, I will just buy this. What do you guys think of Sapphire? I used to have a Radeon HD 3650 from Sapphire some years ago and had no trouble using it.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Well, there was a catch. This is a box opened card. Here is the listing http://geb.ebay.in/g/ImportHubViewI...win-Frozr-2GD5-OC-2GB-GDDR5-Graphic-Card-106B

If I wanted to go with this deal, I would rather prefer Amazon. Still, I have asked him for warranty and will buy if it gives manufacturer warranty.

Edit: Found another deal. Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 at stock speeds but dual fan so I think I can overclock to 900 MHz easily. This also has a sweet 3 year warranty in India. http://www.flipkart.com/sapphire-amd-ati-hd-7850-1gb-gddr5-1-gb-graphics-card/p/itmddu7gyykzdfeu Approx cos in India is $215. If all other deals fail, I will just buy this. What do you guys think of Sapphire? I used to have a Radeon HD 3650 from Sapphire some years ago and had no trouble using it.

The Twin-Frozr MSI card looks to be in pretty good shape. There's always a little risk involved in purchasing a used card, especially one that's been overclocked in a system you know nothing about. I think you're wise to be looking for a warranty. Unfortunately, the listing you provided makes it pretty clear that the original box--and thus likely the receipt--is not included with the card. That would likely be an issue if you needed to return it under warranty. Regardless, the overclocking may have voided the warranty to begin with. I still think it's a good deal, but it is indeed a risk.

The Sapphire card you linked to looks decent. I've never used Sapphire products, so I can't comment on their quality. I can, however, provide this as a way to gauge the card's quality. Newegg user reviews have saved my skin on more than one occasion.

I think that if you can swing it a 2GB card is the better bet. 1GB is already lagging pretty badly in most graphically intensive situations, and even though you may not think you need it now you could change your mind in the future. Spending a little more today could very well save you quite a bit in a year or two.

 

[gx_saurav]

The Sapphire card you linked to looks decent. I've never used Sapphire products, so I can't comment on their quality. I can, however, provide this as a way to gauge the card's quality. Newegg user reviews have saved my skin on more than one occasion.

Thanks for this. Real world feedback help a lot. I also checked PCpartpicker and people using this GPU there, they had good things to say to. Many of them have overclocked easily to 900 Mhz on default voltage. Sapphire has a utility like MSI Afterburner called Trixx which automatically overclocks so I think there will be some headroom for me using that if needed.

There are mixed reviews about some cards having noise fan and some having very quite and good fans. I believe this could be due to faulty units so if I have a card with noise issue then at least I can rectify it using 3 years Indian warranty.

I think that if you can swing it a 2GB card is the better bet. 1GB is already lagging pretty badly in most graphically intensive situations, and even though you may not think you need it now you could change your mind in the future. Spending a little more today could very well save you quite a bit in a year or two.

The best price I am getting for Sapphire 1 GB card is $ 210. The best price I am getting for 2 GB variant is $ 265. That is a big difference for me.

Edit: Powercolor & MSI just replied. They said they don't give international warranty.

Gigabyte said in case of a fault, I will need to send the GPU to Amazon USA on my expanse and they will send to Gigabyte for repairs. However, when I try to buy the 2 year warranty from Amazon for this card during checkout it says the "warranty" cannot be shipped to India. Funny, how do you ship warranty. . Anyway, that is sure to take a lot of time to repair if I send the GPU to Amazon USA.

So that leaves Asus. Just waiting for them to reply with warranty information.

Sapphire I can buy locally if all else fails. Also looking if that original MSI GPU is available somewhere else in India.

 

[gx_saurav]

Well, I am not able to find that MSI GPU here anywhere else. The Twin Frozer is more costly.

I am going with Sapphire. Got a good deal on this for $ 230. http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&pid=1472&psn=&lid=1&leg=0#

• Stock clock and RAM speed. Two fans so I can try overclocking to 900 Mhz with Sapphire Trixx.
• 2 GB RAM
• Takes 1x6pin PCIe connector.
• 3 years Sapphire India warranty.

Best part, I am getting free 3 months EMI on this card with my Credit card so the pinch will be low when loosing money.

What do you guys think? Should be enough for gaming at 1600x900 for 2 years easily and I can still sell it after that with 1 year warranty left. I think this is best choice considering what is available here.

 

[escrow4]

This is the AMD box I built for myself:

- FX 6300
- Asus M5A97 R2
- MSI Sapphire 7870 OC

Reused a case, PSU and RAM I had lying about along with a 2TB HDD. I aim to replace the 7870 next year if required, no point buying a high end GPU now with newer cards coming. Perfect for 1080p gaming @ 40-50FPS settings mostly High.

As to the mobo, I'd get the EVO if overclocking, simply because it has 6 phases, the standard one only has 4.

 

[gx_saurav]

I aim to replace the 7870 next year if required, no point buying a high end GPU now with newer cards coming. Perfect for 1080p gaming @ 40-50FPS settings mostly High.

Well, you already have a 7870 OC so for you it makes sense not to buy another or upgrade right now. I got none. Besides, all benchmarks suggest over 40 FPS with high settings easily at 1600x900 with 7850. The lows don't go under 35 fps usually.

Also, in the beginning only high eng GPUs arrive in market and next gen mid-range GPU will arrive in Dec-Feb and then to India after that at high prices. I don't want to wait for so many months so I purchased 7850 right now. I looked at 7870 too but cost difference is over $100. If needed I will just buy another 7850 down the line and play games in CrossFire X.

This is the AMD box I built for myself:

- FX 6300
- Asus M5A97 R2

As to the mobo, I'd get the EVO if overclocking, simply because it has 6 phases, the standard one only has 4.

I am getting good deals on this combination here too. How is your experience with this combo? Any problem using 6300 in day to day usage? Whats your CPU & GPU temperatures? Have you overclocked?

I checked the EVO and it has the following benefits over M5A97 R2.0

Digit VRM, 6 +2 phase power supply, eSATA and Firewire port. Only 6 phase power supply concerns me and even M5A97 2.0 supports 140W CPU so I believe there might be some headroom to overclock even with this board. I don't know though as I don't overclock. Others might be able to tell me better.

 

[escrow4]

No problems. Board came with an outdated BIOS from January, so I flashed the August one, temps are 40-50 celsius stock at load, usually around 40. Don't think I'll bother overclocking. System has enough juice now for gaming. Prices in India are pretty poor though: the 7850 here in Australia is around 200+, 7870 is $230, 7950 is $340+.

 

[gx_saurav]

Temps are 40-50 celsius stock at load, usually around 40.

Is that with stock cooler? I am using a Cooler master Hyper TX3 with 92mm PWM fan. Regular temperature for my APU is 20 C and load is about 35. Keep in mind that APU has a GPU in it too.

Regular temperature reduced to 4C last December in idle and 11 in load due to the cold ambient temperature. Or maybe my motherboard was giving wrong info.

Don't think I'll bother overclocking. System has enough juice now for gaming.

True. Enough performance for right now and if needed then this combination gives headroom to overclock. I am thinking to do the same.

Prices in India are pretty poor though: the 7850 here in Australia is around 200+, 7870 is $230, 7950 is $340+.

Prices in India are cheaper for other things like rents, cost of living etc so it evens out. We tend to do a lot of savings. I invest in shares too so the money I use to buy all this hardware is usually from the profits I make in share market.

I was getting Asus Radeon HD 7850 Direct CU for $ 144 on Amazon. It was coming to around $180 after custom duty and shipping but without international warranty so had to skip.

 

[gx_saurav]

By the way, how does this Athlon 2 651K CPU looks like?

It supports AMD FM1 socket so I can use in my existing motherboard. I am getting it for $ 70 after selling my existing AMD A6-3500 APU + existing motherboard. Is it wise to go with this and upgrade to something better after a year or directly upgrade to FX 6300 + new motherboard this year by December? I am not able to make up my mind for another upgrade within a year.

 

[gx_saurav]

By the way, just found this deal. Zotac GeForce 650 Ti boost is costing me $196 here. http://www.flipkart.com/zotac-nvidi...-card/p/itmdkj3ncx6ehmnt?pid=GRCDKJFTFUEDPBTR

How is this card compared to Radeon HD 7850? I can still cancel my 7850's order. This GPU does seem to eat more power though reading by the reviews. The difference in performance isn't much. Sometimes Geforce trumps Radeon and vice versa. Just that the cost is $34 less.

 

[wilds]

Anandtech Bench is a good source:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/778?vs=782
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU13/599 (Never gets this high in games)
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU13/602 (Most likely different real world results)

I don't think either is a bad choice. I traditionally buy NVIDIA because I prefer the driver experience. However, the 7850 is a great card as well. They are very similar and both would provide you a good gaming experience.

 

[gx_saurav]

Ok, you are right. The performance is more close then I expected. I can save the money by going with GeForce but it seems Radeon will be better choice considering games are going to be more optimized for AMD due to next gen consoles.

Power and heat level of Radeon is low. I am just going to keep the Radeon.

Will let you guys know when my 7850 is delivered and how is my experience with it.

 

[Jimzz]

By the way, how does this Athlon 2 651K CPU looks like?

It supports AMD FM1 socket so I can use in my existing motherboard. I am getting it for $ 70 after selling my existing AMD A6-3500 APU + existing motherboard. Is it wise to go with this and upgrade to something better after a year or directly upgrade to FX 6300 + new motherboard this year by December? I am not able to make up my mind for another upgrade within a year.

Its a good Llano based CPU without the videocard. Its also unlocked so you can overclock very easy.

The 6300 and a good AM3+ board would be better IMO.

 

[gx_saurav]

Thanks for the advice. I will go for AMD FX 6300 system only. Its better to wait for everything to deliver and then upgrade. My HD 7850 is in transit right now.

By the way, I have a curious question. Since many of you are also using 8 GB RAM in the system while most games I have played are only 32bit, do they get to use more then 4 GB RAM per process?

I am going to run a logging test to see how much RAM a particular games eats for a certain duration of time. I think games don't reach more then 4GB RAM. I am using 8GB Crucial ballistix tactical with Windows 8 pro 64bit.

 

[cytg111]

Thanks for the advice. I will go for AMD FX 6300 system only. Its better to wait for everything to deliver and then upgrade. My HD 7850 is in transit right now.

By the way, I have a curious question. Since many of you are also using 8 GB RAM in the system while most games I have played are only 32bit, do they get to use more then 4 GB RAM per process?

I am going to run a logging test to see how much RAM a particular games eats for a certain duration of time. I think games don't reach more then 4GB RAM. I am using 8GB Crucial ballistix tactical with Windows 8 pro 64bit.

2GB per process right? And the answer would be no, 32bit, you get 2GB max per process. Edit: sry didnt know it was actually 4GB on a 64bit OS.

 

[gx_saurav]

I am also going for a Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler for the CPU. Currently I have a Hyper TX3 with 92mm PWM fan which gets noisy after 2200 RPM. Hyper T4 has a fan which runs at maximum of 1800 RPM so at stock speed I think it should runs easily at 1500 RPM and still work fine.

What do you guys think? Hyper 212 X is also available but for $10 more but I hardly find any temperature difference.

 

[gx_saurav]

I received my Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 today. I am still in office so will need to wait to reach home and install this. I will post pictures of this installed then.

I have decided to go for AMD FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.0 + Cooler Master Hyper 212X next month. I can go for it this month too but would prefer to buy next month. A lot of money was spend this month on Cabinet + PSU + GPU.

I am still confused about the mother board though. MSI 970A-G43 is $25 cheaper and has everything I want but doesn't have heatsink on VRM. I don't know how much of a problem that will be on stock speed and when overclocked. Does anyone have an experience with it?

On the other hand, since this is a one time buy for 3 4 years and most likely this is the last AMD FX CPU with last AM3+ motherboard, I should just spend that $25 and have peace of mind as I won't be getting anything new for 2 3 years at least.

 

[Stransky]

Hi
Have been following your thread and hope you enjoy your new build when completed. I am currently running the FX6300 @4.2Ghz, no voltage addition or FSB increase, just on the Multiplier, and my Mobo
(MSI 870-G54(FX) is not as good as the one you will be using.
Also I have an older Radeon card HD5870 1GB DDR5 and have no problems playing Crysis, Crysis2 and Skyrim with my combo @1920x1080 so you should have no problems playing games at 1600x900 with your combo.

Stransky

 

[NTMBK]

I received my Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 today. I am still in office so will need to wait to reach home and install this. I will post pictures of this installed then.

I have decided to go for AMD FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.0 + Cooler Master Hyper 212X next month. I can go for it this month too but would prefer to buy next month. A lot of money was spend this month on Cabinet + PSU + GPU.

I am still confused about the mother board though. MSI 970A-G43 is $25 cheaper and has everything I want but doesn't have heatsink on VRM. I don't know how much of a problem that will be on stock speed and when overclocked. Does anyone have an experience with it?

On the other hand, since this is a one time buy for 3 4 years and most likely this is the last AMD FX CPU with last AM3+ motherboard, I should just spend that $25 and have peace of mind as I won't be getting anything new for 2 3 years at least.

I guess it depends how hard you're going to push that overclock. Are you going to be really cranking up the voltage and trying to eke that last 2% performance out? Or will you be happy with a midrange overclock?

And don't forget, this is only a 6 core processor- those motherboards are meant to handle an 8 core 130W processor, overclocked.

 

[gx_saurav]

I am currently running the FX6300 @4.2Ghz, no voltage addition or FSB increase, just on the Multiplier, and my Mobo.

Wow, 4.2 GHz just by the multiplier. Which CPU cooler are you using?

I guess it depends how hard you're going to push that overclock. Are you going to be really cranking up the voltage and trying to eke that last 2% performance out? Or will you be happy with a midrange overclock?

I will be happy with midrange overclock. I won't be overclocking right now anyway as the stock core speed is more than enough for all tasks right now. I will overclock only after a year or two if needed.

I might not overclock at all and stick with default speed. I prefer to have a safe and stable machine then risky and unstable.

And don't forget, this is only a 6 core processor- those motherboards are meant to handle an 8 core 130W processor, overclocked.

I was thinking along the same lines. If MSI made this motherboard without heatsink then they must have checked performance and heat without it. They are not likely to send a motherboard to market with high heat just to face RMAs in future.

There will be a side fan pushing cool air from outside directly at the VRM and GPU in my cabinet. So I believe that going with a heatsink based motherboard is just to be on a safer side & peace of mind.

I checked the reviews on Newegg for this motherboard. People are reporting issues that the motherboard burnt. But then people are reporting issues with Asus M5A97 too. Nothing is fully safe.

Anyway, right now for 1 month I am going to stick with current APU only and will see what is available next month and how much money I have to buy new components.