AMD CPU For Newbie

[Incorruptible]

Hello everyone, I am looking to build my own pc in a couple weeks. The pc will be used for web browsing, youtube/FB, watching movies along with gaming. For gaming I need something that can handle BF3 and BF4 when it comes out it would also be nice if it could handle WOW and Skyrim but this isn't a priority for me. It also must be fast and would like good performance.

I have always used Intel but would like to go with AMD since I have been told I can get better bang for the buck and going with AMD would allow me to stay within the budget.

I am looking for something around $130 and I have looked at the AMD FX-6300. Reading the reviews I have heard good things about it.

Will the FX-6300 be able to handle what I need or is there another AMD CPU that would be better around the same price? I have also looked at the AMD-A10 and A8.

What would you guys recommend? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[NTMBK]

Battlefield loves lots of threads- I'd recommend the 6300, as it has 6 cores (as opposed to the 4 cores of the A8 and A10). You're going to need a pretty good GPU to get good performance on Battlefield 3/4, though.

 

[Arkaign]

6300 is a good choice. Be sure to get a good PSU so that you have room to both OC and use a good GPU. I'd shoot for 7850 at the absolute minimum, if you can go 660ti/7950/670 even better. 8GB of ram is the standard, no use for 16GB for gaming as of yet. Get a cheap decent SSD of at least 120/128GB for your OS/game drive, and a cheap or repurposed spinner for data. You can scrimp on case if you want as long as your cooling is good.

 

[Incorruptible]

6300 is a good choice. Be sure to get a good PSU so that you have room to both OC and use a good GPU. I'd shoot for 7850 at the absolute minimum, if you can go 660ti/7950/670 even better. 8GB of ram is the standard, no use for 16GB for gaming as of yet. Get a cheap decent SSD of at least 120/128GB for your OS/game drive, and a cheap or repurposed spinner for data. You can scrimp on case if you want as long as your cooling is good.

Thanks! I thought that the 6300 would be good.

For the PSU I am thinking 500 Watts should be plenty but if I need more I'll go for something higher up and I have no intention on overclocking. I have some knowledge of computers but I haven't overclocked or any other stuff.

For the graphics card I dont mind paying for a higher end card BUT I would prefer something under $200. I dont need to play on the highest settings but I just want something decent with no problems. I will be connecting the PC to either a 19 or 32" tv with HDMI.

 

[Arkadrel]

I am looking for something around $130 and I have looked at the AMD FX-6300.

http://www.kitguru.net/pollsarchive

Best processor around £100 or less ?

AMD FX 6300 Black Edition (62%)
Intel Core i3 3225 (23%)
AMD FX 4300 Black Edition (5%)
Intel Core i3 3220T (4%)
AMD FX 4100 (4%)
Intel Pentium G2130 (1%)
Other - Please post on Facebook (1%)

62% of everyone that visted Kitguru agreed with you.

Im of the opinion that for that amount of $, the FX-6300 is the right choice.

is there another AMD CPU that would be better around the same price?

Nope.

What would you guys recommend?

Go cheap on motherboard / ram / case, if you have too, spend abit more the GPU instead
***** Splurg on the PSU (get something silent). Make sure the GPU is a low noise one as well.

For the PSU I am thinking 500 Watts should be plenty but if I need more I'll go for something higher up and I have no intention on overclocking.

Certainly dont go any less than 500.
Get a good quality PSU, with high effeciency (it ll pay itself back in electric bills).

 

[Denithor]

Pick up a used i5 2400 (eBay or Amazon) for around $140. This, combined with either a cheap H61 motherboard (if tight budget) or Z68/Z75/Z77 motherboard (if you want to overclock) will net you significantly better performance than an FX-6300 (especially in gaming). And the power consumption will be substantially lower as well.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=363

 

[Incorruptible]

http://www.kitguru.net/pollsarchive

62% of everyone that visted Kitguru agreed with you.

Im of the opinion that for that amount of $, the FX-6300 is the right choice.

Nope.



Go cheap on motherboard / ram / case, if you have too, spend abit more the GPU instead
***** Splurg on the PSU (get something silent). Make sure the GPU is a low noise one as well.

Certainly dont go any less than 500.
Get a good quality PSU, with high effeciency (it ll pay itself back in electric bills).

Thanks, I have ways to cut the costs and still get a decent motherboard/ram/case to spend on the graphics card.

I was looking at 500 watt PSU's with high efficiency

 

[Dark Shroud]

Pick up a used i5 2400 (eBay or Amazon) for around $140. This, combined with either a cheap H61 motherboard (if tight budget) or Z68/Z75/Z77 motherboard (if you want to overclock) will net you significantly better performance than an FX-6300 (especially in gaming). And the power consumption will be substantially lower as well.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=363

H61 motherboards have horrid third party chips in them.

BF3 & BF4 both run very well on the Piledriver chip sets, especially BF4.

For his price range the FX-6300 is a fine chip over a probably abused 2400 with little OC potential.

 

[svenge]

H61 motherboards have horrid third party chips in them.

Agreed. Anytime that anyone suggests an H61, what they probably should've suggested was a B75 since it's similarly-priced and has native SATA-III and USB 3.0 ports.

 

[KingFatty]

Do you like overclocking? If so, that might push you to get a fancier motherboard, or save money on the motherboard etc.

 

[FalseChristian]

The FX 8350 is an amazing CPU. It competes well with Intel's i5-3570K and costs 40% less and has 4 more cores. If I went AMD I'd go with the fastest FX since it's so cheap.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Check to see if you have a Microcenter near you. You can get an FX-8320 (nearly the best AMD CPU, and overclocks to be basically as good) and a motherboard for $180, which is the cost of some CPUs!

 

[Rvenger]

H61 motherboards have horrid third party chips in them.

BF3 & BF4 both run very well on the Piledriver chip sets, especially BF4.

For his price range the FX-6300 is a fine chip over a probably abused 2400 with little OC potential.

I don't even think Sandybridge should even be a recommendation over Piledriver anymore with the exception of a BNIB 2600/2700k.

 

[Idontcare]

The FX 8350 is an amazing CPU. It competes well with Intel's i5-3570K and costs 40% less and has 4 more cores. If I went AMD I'd go with the fastest FX since it's so cheap.

Did you even read the OP? Your post reads like a "fly by advertisement" that has little bearing on the OP's stated budget or needs.

I am looking for something around $130 and I have looked at the AMD FX-6300. Reading the reviews I have heard good things about it.

Will the FX-6300 be able to handle what I need or is there another AMD CPU that would be better around the same price? I have also looked at the AMD-A10 and A8.

 

[daveybrat]

FX-6300 is only $119 at Microcenter AND you get an additional $40 off any compatible motherboard!

But even if you don't have a Microcenter near you, the FX-6300 is by far the best bang for the buck in it's price class.

 

[SPBHM]

overall there is no faster CPU at around $130 I think, and it's a good choice.
but the i3 3220 would be really close on the games you mentioned (bf3, wow and skyrim) and uses less power.


the other option I think would be better is if you can find some Sandy bridge i5 for around this price, which is not always possible, but there is a clear advantage for i5s (yes even the 3GHz models) on the games you intend to play.

the 6300 is fast enough and you are probably going to hit the GPU limit first, but anyway, sometimes the price difference considering the entire PC is small.

APUs have no l3 cache and 2 modules and are clearly slower for gaming at the same clock as the 6300.

 

[hardhat]

Pick up a used i5 2400 (eBay or Amazon) for around $140. This, combined with either a cheap H61 motherboard (if tight budget) or Z68/Z75/Z77 motherboard (if you want to overclock) will net you significantly better performance than an FX-6300 (especially in gaming).

You can't overclock the i5 2400 (besides a few points fsb). You need a k Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge to overclock.

 

[bononos]

....
Will the FX-6300 be able to handle what I need or is there another AMD CPU that would be better around the same price? I have also looked at the AMD-A10 and A8.

What would you guys recommend? Any input would be appreciated.

Before AMD slashed prices by up to 1/3, the new AMD cpus were terrible.
If you're going to add in a discrete graphics card for gaming, the A10/A8 is pointless.

 

[SPBHM]

You can't overclock the i5 2400 (besides a few points fsb). You need a k Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge to overclock.

with a P/Z MB you can run the 2400 at 3.6GHz (even some more if you play around with bclk and consider the single/dual core turbo)

 

[Gikaseixas]

FX 6300 and a Radeon HD 7870 or GTX 660Ti = great gaming/budget machine

 

[Incorruptible]

Thanks everyone, I do realize the i5 is a better choice but it would put me over budget so I will go with the FX-6300.

For a graphics card some of the ones recommended so far are over $200, Is there any decent graphics card thats available for under $200.

And would the 7770 be able to handle BF3 or is it too low?

 

[Arkadrel]

And would the 7770 be able to handle BF3 or is it too low?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/03/22/sapphire-radeon-hd-7790-1gb-review/3

^ new-ish review with uptodate? drivers I believe.

The 7770 in BF3 does around ~30 fps avg.

While running with these settings:
1,920 x 1,080, 4xAA 16x AF, ultra detail settings, DirectX 11

Unless your willing to lower details ect abit, you ll probably need abit more than a 7770.



*** Instead of useing 100$ on a 7770.
Get one of these for around ~140$ (a 7790).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127726

 

[R0H1T]

Thanks everyone, I do realize the i5 is a better choice but it would put me over budget so I will go with the FX-6300.

For a graphics card some of the ones recommended so far are over $200, Is there any decent graphics card thats available for under $200.

And would the 7770 be able to handle BF3 or is it too low?

You can probably go for the newly launched 7790 that's based on GCN 1.1 & it can match the 7850 when overclocked. It won't cost you an arm & a leg but depending on your budget it can be a smart choice.

If that ~200$ is just for the video card & nothing else then you really can't go wrong with this as it really is the best bang for buck at that price !

 

[Pilum]

You can't overclock the i5 2400 (besides a few points fsb). You need a k Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge to overclock.

Of course you can. Turbo overclocking works on any i5 and allows for +4 bins. Maximum speed for load on all four cores should be 3.5 GHz, maximum single-thread speed is 3.8 GHz. For apps/games with one or two threads the 2400 will be faster than any sane AMD FX overclock; at 3.8 GHz a Sandy Bridge should be equivalent to a 5GHz Piledriver.

 

[hardhat]

I guess I wasn't clear. The k series processors have an unlocked multiplier. The i5 2400 does not. "Turbo" isn't really overclocking in the traditional sense, as it is built into the chip. And +4 bins is a 4% overclock. People buy the k series so they can get more than 100-200 MHz more frequency.