Upgrade Path's

[Mike0409]

So it's come time to upgrade, I've been limping along with parts I've scavenged. Looking to keep this next setup for the next 3-5 years if possible. I've hit snag as to which path to go down. I'm looking at grabbing a few things very soon, especially with Cyber Monday around the corner, so I'm hoping some of these go on sale even more.. but you never know.

My current build is as follows:

i5 -760
Asus Gene III
16GB Corsair Vengeance Memory
GTX 480
Random Disk Drives, which will be swapped for WD Black Drives hopefully soon (Praying for sales on Monday)
New 128GB Vertex Drive just ordered off of Amazon Lightning Deal


I'm looking at the following two setups:


AMD FX8350
Asus Crosshair V - Combo Deal - $436
DC2 GTX 680 $539

Total - $976.97

This setup was considered due to the Piledriver architecture performing better with Windows 8. (Which was purely rumor, I have yet to find a real review confirming this or debunking it, anyone have a good source?) I don't LIKE Windows 8 and I don't plan on using it (Sticking to Windows 7 Ultimate) but if future releases of Windows actually do, I would like to future proof this. Also I believe USB 3.0 is native unlike the Intel build below, or has Intel finally addressed that issue?

or

Intel 3770K - Currently $299 - Black Friday Deal
ASrock Z77 - $239 - With 8GB memory free (Which I would sell, no need for memory)
DC GTX 670 - $420 - (-$20 MIB - $399)

Total - $939.97

My other option is to keep my GTX 480 and just upgrade system board/proc and ignore the 680/670 purchase as of right now. Since everything I throw at this card it pretty much chews up and spits out...It just sounds like a jet turbine when it does it.

I'm leaning toward the i7 3770K build, but I have never used an ASRock board but have heard good things. Thoughts and opinions are welcome, looking to pull the trigger on this today or tomorrow based on Cyber Monday sales. If anyone has alternatives based on what you currently have used or are using please share them.

[Aquinus]

The 3770k is most likely the faster system you can build with the cash, depending on what you're doing. If you're gaming, the 3770k is a bit better however for multi-threaded tasks the 8350 is pretty awesome. Also keep in mind that skt1155 is EOL. Haswell is going to be on skt1150 and that is confirmed so any rig with a 3770k will never see a faster processor. AM3+ on the other hand is like AMD's last sockets has some level of backwards compatibility. Not that we can say this for a fact, but it seems likely that any processor that AMD releases within the next year will either be on a new socket and/or will work with current AM3+ sockets. IVB chips are also a little more power efficient than AMD's lineup.

Both options are good imho. It just depends on what your priorities are.

The 8350/Mobo bundle there is a pretty nice bang for your buck option though.

Edit: Do you game with your computer? What do you use it for?

[de.das.dude]

My advice is, if you dont really feel that your system is restricting in what you do with it, dont upgrade. You will regret the spending later


If you do go forward, go for the amd setup since its got the 680. true the 670 can be OCed pretty well, but you can OC the 680 even more. So more grunt for gaming.

[TRWOV]

I would go 3770+670. The 8350 will bottleneck the 680 rendering its advantage moot.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

The 8350 will bottleneck the 680 rendering its advantage moot.

Source? It's not that big of a margin iirc.

[TRWOV]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Source? It's not that big of a margin iirc.

Not a straight comparison but here you can see some gaming benchmarks being run at lowest settings to remove GPU bottlenecks:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/...overclocking/5

As you can see the 8350 yields lower fps. Note that all CPUs are clocked at 4Ghz. Taxing the GPU makes the difference smaller but is still there.



Anyway OP, now that I think about it, unless you have a 120hz monitor maybe it doesn't really make any difference as long you hit >60fps which any of the two setups should be capable of.

[Mike0409]

Edit: Do you game with your computer? What do you use it for?

I mainly use it for gaming, video encoding, and tinkering.

[de.das.dude]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

Note that all CPUs are clocked at 4Ghz

how is that fair and just? everyone knows that pile driver has poor performance for clock.

[cdawall]

I would go fx 8350 with the GTX 680. In today's actually multithreaded games it will perform better. In the games that are not multithreaded well you are good off buying an I3 as the I7.

Originally Posted by TRWOV

I would go 3770+670. The 8350 will bottleneck the 680 rendering its advantage moot.

Why? In everything actually multithreaded the fx 8350 competes with and often beats the 3770K. Most new games made by developers that don't suck are multithreaded. Why go with the weaker video card with a cpu that's roughly as good in the new stuff coming out.

Originally Posted by TRWOV

Not a straight comparison but here you can see some gaming benchmarks being run at lowest settings to remove GPU bottlenecks:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/...overclocking/5

As you can see the 8350 yields lower fps. Note that all CPUs are clocked at 4Ghz. Taxing the GPU makes the difference smaller but is still there.



Anyway OP, now that I think about it, unless you have a 120hz monitor maybe it doesn't really make any difference as long you hit >60fps which any of the two setups should be capable of.

That's a piss poor biased review. Take an I3 560 running at 4ghz abusing his terribly one sided benchmarks it to will outperform the fx 8350. Read back a couple of reviews and notice how slowly and steadily all of he heavily multithreaded apps disappeared.

[MikeGR7]

I have to agree with cdawall. CPU performance is really good with either. Having a gtx 670 myself i assure you that it's as fast as it gets! Take 8320 + 670 and spend the savings on an ssd like Sammys 840 pro! You WILL see the benefits of this setup! Vertex 128 is Vertex 4? Take 256.

[Iceni]

he already has an SSD why by another unless he's getting a revodrive?

In all honesty both rigs will perform. I'd probably swing intel i5 if you want it for gaming. I am heavy biased having an i5 myself. Likewise cdwall is AMD biased.

The difference in performance of the i5 to the i7 only applies to multi threaded games and apps. For single or dual core applications the i5 and i7 are equals, and both will give more performance per core in those apps than an AMD. Multicore AMD can steal back a lot on the i5, the i7 will hold it's ground a lot of the time.

This all boils down to how you plan on using the system. For games more importantly single threaded games (most are) you should be looking at an i5K and overclocking it. The money you save should be put back into cooling to keep everything running sweet. The i7 is too costly, and the AMD looses performance per core. You always have the option to go with an i7 later in the computers life.

Good cooling options would be an after market cooler, or a decent closed water cooling loop. Something like the H100.


Graphically I can't fault either of your choices. Both are solid cards. Perhaps a touch on the costly side when compared to AMD's offerings.

The motherboard however I would go with something cheaper. Saving $140 on a mother board. With that saving and the i5 you basically save enough to get 2x 7950's or 2x 670's.


The 7950 build

His 7950 3Gb $300 x2

Cheaper Z77 motherboard MSI $90

i5 3570k $220

Total $910 leaving room for a cooler. And a $10 mail in rebate.

Or the 670 build.

MSI 670 $370 x2

MSI Z77 $90

i5 3570k $220

Total $1050 with $50 mail in rebates.

I am a cheapskate tho!

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Iceni

he already has an SSD why by another unless he's getting a revodrive?

In all honesty both rigs will perform. I'd probably swing intel i5 if you want it for gaming. I am heavy biased having an i5 myself. Likewise cdwall is AMD biased.

The difference in performance of the i5 to the i7 only applies to multi threaded games and apps. For single or dual core applications the i5 and i7 are equals, and both will give more performance per core in those apps than an AMD. Multicore AMD can steal back a lot on the i5, the i7 will hold it's ground a lot of the time.

This all boils down to how you plan on using the system. For games more importantly single threaded games (most are) you should be looking at an i5K and overclocking it. The money you save should be put back into cooling to keep everything running sweet. The i7 is too costly, and the AMD looses performance per core. You always have the option to go with an i7 later in the computers life.

Well he currently has has an i5 760 so the improvement in games going to the i5 3570K hardly is a big one.

Most new games are not single threaded. Crysis 3 isn't, Battlefield 3 isn't, COD isn't, MOH isn't, DiRT isn't, want me to keep going? Or are you one of those Skyrim guys? Like I said any modern game from a good developer uses multiple threads. The 8350/8320 is WELL worth it over a 3570K for any of the new games on the way out.

Not to mention if you want to talk updatability 1155 is already dead. EOL hits when Haswell hits the market why on earth would you buy a dead socket.

[Mike0409]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm trying to steer clear of the ATI video path, I know they offer some competitive pricing but I have had some horrible experiences driver side with them. I had a lot of difficulty running 6950's and unlocking them back in the day, and I also enjoy having the Physx option the Nvidia cards offer.

Unfortunately I do not plan on overclocking, the ability is there if I want to but I have lost the time and patience to do so.

A lot of people keep mentioning 1155 being a dead socket, can I expect AM3+ to stick around for the next 3 years? I see that being unlikely.. Also the new Vishera chip is 2.0 Vishera which was there 2013 roadmap, I would expect another chip for 2014 perhaps using a new socket? As I said this build plans to last me well until 2016-2017 that is unless the zombie apocalypse happens first.

[cdawall]

AM3+ is slated to have steamroller on it. 3 years from now no AM3+ will not be the top dog, but that being said the latest chips should drop into it just like AM2+ with Phenom II series chips.

[Mike0409]

Thanks cdawall. Seem's like you've been doing your homework on the new 8350.

What would you recommend for an AMD board? I have always had good luck with Asus boards, I had the older AM3 Crosshair board.. As a matter of fact I still have it in my closet, and it worked great with a 1090t. Any other brands you would recommend? I was looking at an MSI UD7 as well.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Mike0409

Thanks cdawall. Seem's like you've been doing your homework on the new 8350.

What would you recommend for an AMD board? I have always had good luck with Asus boards, I had the older AM3 Crosshair board.. As a matter of fact I still have it in my closet, and it worked great with a 1090t. Any other brands you would recommend? I was looking at an MSI UD7 as well.

As far as high end go the sabertooth, crosshair V, gigabyte UD7, not an MSI fan so that's about were I stop. I have had good luck with crosshair series having owned all except the IV Extreme.

[MikeGR7]

My vote goes to SaberTooth. Also GTX 670 is a great card. Great for sli too!

[Mike0409]

Well the orders in! I ended up going AMD - and added a Corsair H80i liquid cooler as well to the bundle.

Expect to see some budget PC parts on the FS thread for cheap in the coming weeks.

Thanks to all the responses, and thanks for not making this a troll thread of AMD vs Intel that they usually turn into!