AMD Athlon X4 860k, 870k, or the 880k?

[Vanquisher71]

Looking to upgrade my A6-6400k dual core. Currently and plan on using my PC for gaming (with a new CPU hoping to run BO3 and Overwatch).

Going to be paired with a 1050 TI, my board is a Gigabyte GA F2A68HM-HD2.

Nother really thought about overclocking, might do eventually but no real plans to in the foreseeable future.

Thanks in advance for all your help

(Please don't suggest the 845, every time I look it up it seems inferior to theme, maybe I'm misreading but that's the way it seems)

 

[Ecky]

The 845 is faster per clock and has lower power usage, because it users a 1-generation newer core design than the rest. However, it's locked and can't be overclocked, and has a lower clockspeed than others.

I would say whatever is cheapest. An 860K is the same chip as an 880K if you change the multiplier to be the same as the 880K's (18.5 -> 20).

 

[smorizio]

i would look into the newer z cpu and or the intel g4400 or neewer intel g chips. your better off as a gamer to buy a better cpu and mb combo when you have the funds.

 

[Vanquisher71]

I don't have the money for a new Motherboard and I'd stick with AMD if I did anyway, just a personal preference

 

[blazorthon]

No one playing modern games should think a Pentium or Celeron is the way to go. You need four threads for more and more games to simply be playable. For lower prices, that means an Athlon quad core is the entry level CPU, not a Pentium or Celeron. Those are great for older and/or simpler games, but not some of the newer games.

 

[010TheMaster010]

Pretty sure all three are 95w parts and I wouldn't OC on an a68 motherboard, so I'd go with the 880k budget allowing.

 

[Ecky]

An 860K at 880K clocks will not likely draw more than an 880K. Having a 95w TDP doesn't mean it draws 95w, just that a cooler rated for 95w will be adequate. Typically all CPUs in a series will share the same TDP because they share a cooler, and there are plenty of examples of CPUs (admittedly mostly Intel) that are well below their rated TDP. The i5 6400 under a Prime95 load draws ~1w less than an i3 4370, despite having an 11w higher TDP.

TDP = thermal design power, not electrical power consumption

 

[010TheMaster010]

I understand that but an 880k is basically a better binned 860k since it can achieve those clocks on basically the same volts as an 860k takes for its clocks. Basically the 880k and 860k share the same thermal envelope but one is clocked higher than the other. Or that's how I understand it for these procs
If I misunderstand, by all means correct me

 

[Ecky]

You're correct, I'm just suggesting that an 860K overclocked to 880K clocks, using the same voltage, probably will still be within the same 95w TDP. I imagine it's a rare 860K that won't do 880K clocks at the same volts.

 

[010TheMaster010]

With the same voltage, yes they should have the same power draw, but its not guaranteed an 860k will do that, but it is for an 880k, and since he's not overclocking, why not spend the extra sandwich worth of money and get the most out of the platform?

 

[Ecky]

That's a valid perspective, and you're right that nothing is guaranteed.

My experience in overclocking for the last ~20 years has been that, although binning does occur, the differences are often minimal. Back in the Core2Duo era there were chips sold with a wide variety of clocks, and it was not uncommon for overclockers to buy ~1.8ghz chips and overclock them to ~3.2ghz, running at the same voltage as chips that came stock at 3.2ghz. That's nearly a 100% overclock, far more than the measily 5-15% most chips get today. So, my personal philosophy is to buy the cheapest CPU and take yourself and a friend out to lunch with the difference.

 

[010TheMaster010]

You also have a very valid perspective and more experience than me, and if he does decide to try his hand at bringing the 860k to 880k clocks, that's probably the best option, so I suppose we'll just have to see if he decides to try it