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Xanadu
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Birmingham, AL

Xanadu

Premium Member

Should I get an i5, or Xeon, or stay with AMD?

Here's my specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
AMD FX Eight-Core Processor FX-8350 4.0GHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3P AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
GIGABYTE|GV-R929WF3-4GD R9 290 Graphics card

I just got the CPU & Video a few days ago, but I'm thinking that I should have gotten an i5 instead. Costs is not too much of an issue as it were during the time of getting the AMD CPU, so I have the cash to get a new motherboard and Intel CPU.

I will sell my new FX-8350 back on eBay.

I'm thinking about an Intel Core i5-4690K with MSI Z97 PC Mate LGA 1150 motherboard. However, last night I was doing some reading about the 8350 vs 4690K, and someone also recommended an Intel Xeon E3-1230v3 because it's "essentially an underclocked i7-4770, and for the price, it is simply unbeatable. It has 8 threads like the FX-8350, yet out performs it in every task."

Will I gain a significant benefit buy getting i5/Xeon, or with my new video card + my new CPU work almost as well?

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

4 edits

SysOp

Member

Simple. Is your CPU at 100% 24/7?

If yes: You need more CPU power or even scalability.

If no: You have the upgrade bug.

I've got 4 rack servers; two dual quad core wink3 and two dual hex win12 serving 12 retail stores and 2 processing plants supporting 100-200 people at the same time, along with 26 printers. CPU load is never 100%.

8 core 4ghz *should* be fine for a single user workstation doing just about anything.

At home I've got a hex core AM3 cpu for my desktop. Games run maxed out with no issues. My CPU waits for me most of the time rather than me waiting for it.

What issues are you having? Games? Rendering?

Xanadu
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Birmingham, AL

Xanadu

Premium Member

I'm just trying to make a system that should play [the soon to be out] GTA 5 with good FPS @ 1920x1200 with max AA & AF enabled. I *guess* my setup should do it, but if I can get better game play with the i5, I'll be more inclined to switch. The game won't be out for over a month. As you know, it's hard to know what component should be at its best when the game it's for isn't even out. I know I should wait, but a month from now I don't know if I'll have the cash to make the i5 switchover. I want to do everything now if necessary. Also, I don't upgrade often.
lawsoncl
join:2008-10-28
Spirit Lake, ID

lawsoncl to Xanadu

Member

to Xanadu
The recommended specs which say your 8350 is fine. I'd be more worried about the GPU.
»www.rockstargames.com/ne ··· em-specs

Money's just burning a whole in that pocket eh?

Xanadu
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Birmingham, AL

Xanadu

Premium Member

Yeah, I know my new CPU is within the recommend specs. It's just that when you hear all this negative talk about your new CPU (even if you known about this negative talk before you got the CPU) you just start thinking that you should have gotten the other one. But all of this decisiveness came when I surprisingly received a good sum of cash [on the day after installing the AMD], that will allow me to get an i5 and new motherboard. Now I am in limbo...

The video card wasn't cheap (it's $300 on newegg [but I got an 'open box' for $230.]). So it better do its part at processing/running games.

I do still have a spending bug. But if I want to feed that bug, I could upgrade my hard drive (considering the game requires 65 freaking gigabytes. And I could pay for the pre-order of the game.

Ha! I guess those two will satisfied my needs. And I just realized that my upgrades will allow me to play Watch Dogs.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean to Xanadu

MVM

to Xanadu
I've seen some or at least one brand of R9 290X video cards going for under $300 USD. The lowest price I came across was ~$279 new after rebate.

As I understand it, you're simply second guessing a new hardware aquasition and I don't see that as a hardware upgrade bug in and of itself. You'll probably be more then fine with your current choice but wondering what might have been is natural.

Regardless of what you do now, in the future you might find it easier to simply go for the higher-end option rather then questioning the decision down the line.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp to Xanadu

Member

to Xanadu
I've always thought the GPU is what matters the most for gaming.
If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket get the R9 295x2!

quitaccount
DSLR sucks cocks
Premium Member
join:2000-11-13

quitaccount to Xanadu

Premium Member

to Xanadu
said by Xanadu:

do still have a spending bug. But if I want to feed that bug, I could upgrade my hard drive (considering the game requires 65 freaking gigabytes. And I could pay for the pre-order of the game.

if ya got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, grab an intel 730 series SSD. should cut those pesky load times down quite a bit. the 480gb is about $220 at newegg right now.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to Xanadu

Premium Member

to Xanadu
I agree with what everyone else has said--your CPU and GPU are fine, and the only way you would see a significant upgrade is if you went with Haswell-E (an i5 will not cut it as a significant upgrade), which means minimum $380 for the CPU, more for DDR4 and a good mobo, and then a GTX 980 ($600+) or a Radeon R9 295x2.

What am I really saying? Stop second guessing yourself. You won't get a significantly better computer without spending less than about $1300+ to get the absolute highest end out there. Your CPU and GPU have a good balance and you probably didn't break the bank putting the system together. If anything, consider upgrading your ram to 16 GB or adding an SSD--both cost affordable options with the price of DDR3 and SSDs.

To drive home the point, I wouldn't go for anything less than the below as an upgrade to your computer at this moment--wait 1-2 generations for a GPU upgrade, and 2-3 generations for a CPU upgrade (in the meantime max ram and get an SSD):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($179.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($526.30 @ Directron)
Total: $1375.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 10:39 EST-0500

Xanadu
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Birmingham, AL

Xanadu

Premium Member

Thank you Krisnatharok! You, along with everyone else here, have giving me the exactly info I was looking for. I will gladly stay with what I have, and finally get around to paying for the pre-order of GTA 5.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

Yeah, just enjoy what you have,....

If you could send it all back and start the build over with no restocking fees that would be one thing but there isn't really a reason to do that even if you could,...

BTW I have a Core i7 5820K processor and I only paid something like ~$300 for it from Microcenter. ~$370 or more is way too much for that processor IMO,....