AMD Cpu's

[Jonnywb]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into building a new rig and just wanted to ask for some opinions on AMD Processors.

I've been given a motherboard, the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 (AM3+/AM3)- but I've never actually used AMD before.

What would you consider the best CPU option to go with this motherboard? (£400 budget)

It'd be nice to stick with the board, as it was given to me, but I understand that it might just be a better option to sell it and go with an Intel board/CPU instead.

Thanks!

 

[Master&Puppet]

As an amd cpu owner who is jumping ship my advice would be to get rid I'm afraid to say.

The latest generation of amd cpus, bulldozer, are frankly a let down. The top of the range is only marginally better than the phenom II series.

Intel's sandy-bridge smacks bulldozer in the face and intel's next cpu series, Ivy Bridge, is out at the end of next month so I would wait for that if I were you.

If you sold that mobo you have you could comfortably get a 3770k (the top processor) and mobo for your budget.

But that all depends on what you want to use it for. I'm guessing since you've come here you intend on doing more than using your pc for facebook, which is basically all that amd cpus are good for? If so then look at Intel

 

[shadowlewis]

use the amd phenom II x4 cpus or hex cores they are cheap and still pack a punch

 

[f0x.]

I agreed with master&puppet, The money you would get for the UD7 would fund the equiivalent Intel board then wack in a 2550K and you have some serious horsepower. AMD's last gen are a topic of great discussion and even warrented a change to windows 7's task scheduler form MS. However, when compared clock for clock, the cold truth is they don't match intels Core series.

TL;DR: Sell the Board, buy intel

 

[marsey99]

£400 gets any amd cpu but the truth is you are best spending that money on a 2nd hand x6 cpu if you must go amd as the new ones aint any better lol

as others have said best bet is to fleabay that board and get a 1155 or 2011 setup.

 

[Jonnywb]

Thought that would be the case. Thanks!

Think I'll wait for the Ivy Bridge and go all out when I have the money... might as well go for the best, so I can be happy for a while

 

[Rastalovich]

In fairness tho... if he just wants to play games...

Spend as little as you can on a cheap AMD cpu, second hand even, and spend the rest on hookers and beer ??

Free mobo, el-cheap cpu - it's still going to play games as they depend on what gfxcard you wedge into the mobo. Cheap SSD - bob's your aunty.

Not that much future in the mobo/cpu combination - but what do you care ? You haven't spent shizzle !

.. hookers ...

 

[Jonnywb]

That's a tough choice, because hookers and beer.

 

[VanquishUK]

Im a AMD user and the new bulldozer CPUs and not good at all i would advice out to wait for Intels ivy bridge to come out.

Should be a lot quicker and also cost around the same price. But i would wait a while after the release as after what happened with sandy bridge. Just to be safe.

 

[Master&Puppet]

Well this is my impression of the situation:

The current amd top of the range bulldozer bottlesnecks 3x 7xxx series cards. Now i know that only silly people get three cards but i think you'll be pushing the limits with crossfire when the 8xxx series and top of the range nvidia 6xx are released in Q3 & 4.

You could get the secondhand phenom II, i'd recommend a x6 since you can cherry pick the best 4 cores to overclock on since most games won't use all 6. However you will need to get a new cpu in 6 months if you are going for those gpu releases in which case you would have been better off with getting a decent setup now I think whilst the mobo is worth something. Phenom II powering 2 8xxx cards does not sound good to me.

There is no point getting a bulldozer since the 2500k is better value and equals performance of the top bd.

Of course AMD will have released their new enhanced bulldozer then, but whether that's any good is anyone's guess. In fact I'm not even sure it's the same am3+ socket if memory serves and might not be backwards compatible...?

My general advice to people cpu wise (and i think almost everyone on this forum would say the same thing) is:

1. Stay with sandy bridge if you have one - Ivy won't be worth the upgrade.

2. Get an Ivy Bridge if you don't have SB and want gaming at max settings and high performance for general use.

3. Get SB-e if you'll use it for heavy processes like folding/rendering.

There has also been discussion between getting the 3770k vs 3930k for future proof gaming. On the one hand the 3930k does have more spare capacity for the future because of the 2 extra cores so will last longer than IB but will set you back another £250 to build the system today. Also, Intel are expected to release the new Haswell cpus in 12-18 months time which will likely stomp on even SB-e. That doesn't mean that SB-e will be slowing your gaming performance but there is no point upgrading to haswell if you've paid the extra £250 since the gaming industry is only just beginning to make use of 6 threads, let alone the 12 that SB-e has.

Personnally I'll be getting the hyperthreading version of IB, the 3770k. Which will be still pretty cheap (£250 vs £450 for SB-e). You aren't paying for 2 extra cores you probably won't make use of in the medium term but you do get 4 extra half threads which will guarantee it chews through pretty much anything you throw at it - in fact the anandtech benches suggest it will beat SB-e, just, core for core.

Essay over.

M&P

 

[JMMP]

Well this is my impression of the situation:

The current amd top of the range bulldozer bottlesnecks 3x 7xxx series cards. Now i know that only silly people get three cards but i think you'll be pushing the limits with crossfire when the 8xxx series and top of the range nvidia 6xx are released in Q3 & 4.

You could get the secondhand phenom II, i'd recommend a x6 since you can cherry pick the best 4 cores to overclock on since most games won't use all 6. However you will need to get a new cpu in 6 months if you are going for those gpu releases in which case you would have been better off with getting a decent setup now I think whilst the mobo is worth something. Phenom II powering 2 8xxx cards does not sound good to me.

There is no point getting a bulldozer since the 2500k is better value and equals performance of the top bd.

Of course AMD will have released their new enhanced bulldozer then, but whether that's any good is anyone's guess. In fact I'm not even sure it's the same am3+ socket if memory serves and might not be backwards compatible...?

My general advice to people cpu wise (and i think almost everyone on this forum would say the same thing) is:

1. Stay with sandy bridge if you have one - Ivy won't be worth the upgrade.

2. Get an Ivy Bridge if you don't have SB and want gaming at max settings and high performance for general use.

3. Get SB-e if you'll use it for heavy processes like folding/rendering.

There has also been discussion between getting the 3770k vs 3930k for future proof gaming. On the one hand the 3930k does have more spare capacity for the future because of the 2 extra cores so will last longer than IB but will set you back another £250 to build the system today. Also, Intel are expected to release the new Haswell cpus in 12-18 months time which will likely stomp on even SB-e. That doesn't mean that SB-e will be slowing your gaming performance but there is no point upgrading to haswell if you've paid the extra £250 since the gaming industry is only just beginning to make use of 6 threads, let alone the 12 that SB-e has.

Personnally I'll be getting the hyperthreading version of IB, the 3770k. Which will be still pretty cheap (£250 vs £450 for SB-e). You aren't paying for 2 extra cores you probably won't make use of in the medium term but you do get 4 extra half threads which will guarantee it chews through pretty much anything you throw at it - in fact the anandtech benches suggest it will beat SB-e, just, core for core.

Essay over.

M&P

+10