Amd FX-6300 vs Intel i5 3550

alex92692

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Nov 4, 2012
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Hi,

I got a AMD x3 450 with the unlocked core active.
My question is witch is the best upgrade to do for the price:

Intel i5 3550 220$ or FX-6300 135$

I know that the I5 is better but for the price does the 6300 AMD would be a better choice?
In most benchmark the 6300 is a good choice.

My spec:
Amd x3 450 3,2 Ghz
8 Gb DDR3
Asus 6850
Thermaltake 500watts
 

wr6133

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Well your current CPU is weak so you would see some change but between the 6300 and the i5 unless you are using a GTX670 level card or higher you are not going to see any meaningful difference in most games (as they are largely GPU limited)
 

alex92692

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Ok thanks. Cause I can sell ma Cpu + mobo for about 145$ and would upgrade something on my computer.

In some game like skyrim, F1 2012, I'm lagging a lot and it does not make any differance if i set the game to the lowest setting. Thats why I was thinking that it was cause by my CPU...
 

Both are fairly CPU intensive games, so yea, the Athlon is the source of the struggle. Yes, the i5 is the better CPU, its also quite a bit more expensive than the FX-6300. Intel doesn't have anything in the FX-6300s price point range to really compare it to. I've always thought Intel was somewhat foolish to have such a big price gap between their i3s and i5s, because AMD could do something like this with the 6300. Yes, its worth a look, but I'd be comparing it to the Ivy Bridge i3 not the i5.
 
I have a couple questions. Are you planning to overclock? What video card are you thinking about getting? What resolution are you planning to play at? If you're planning on keeping the 6850, then you really don't need anything more powerful than an i3, FX-4300 or FX-6300. Those would be the choices I'd be looking at if keeping that video card.
 

alex92692

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I would keep my 6850 but maybe i will had an other if i need more power. I don't know if i will overclock it but i would keep the CPU for at least 3 years. Do you think the 6300 would be enough for playing game for the next 3 years or i'm better to go with an i5 3550?
 

With the graphical limitations of a 6850, yes the FX-6300 will be sufficient. However, as to giving you a figure of how many years it will last, it really comes down to your performance expectations on that one, and what games you're getting into. If you're talking Battlefield 3 @ 1080p fully maxed AA and all that jazz, well your 6850 won't do that for you today, even with a CPU upgrade. But, COD maxed out @ 1080p isn't too much to ask for.
 
No... but, I'm not sure I would crossfire 6850s with a 500 watt PSU and a piledriver CPU. Crossfire 6850s in theory should give you performance a little better than a 560 TI and slightly under a GTX 570 to give you perspective. Its not a bad pairing, assuming you don't run into microstuttering issues. A single video card setup is almost always the better option. If you overclock the FX, that power supply becomes an area of concern, although if you were to just upgrade to a single stronger video card like a 7870 you would be fine.
 

alex92692

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Ok thanks I think I will go with the FX-6300 I think it's the best CPU for the price. One more question: what motherboard you recomand me to buy with this CPU around 110-120$. Most of AMD Motherboard does not have PCI 3.0 only 2.0 and my 6850 is 2.1 there will be a difference between 3.0 and 2.0 with my video card ?
 

PCI 3.0 brings no gainful advantage to the table over 2.0 at this point in time. Its been benched with both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, by the time PCI-3.0 has a real advantage, your system will be an outdated paperweight. (4 years by my standards renders a system a "dinosaur")



As far as motherboards, I'd suggest Asus. $110 with rebate, good overclocking board with the most up to date chipset available from AMD (990)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131754

And yes, issues have been reported with PileDriver working without a BIOS update, luckily you already have a CPU you can use if you run into this issue (your Athlon).
 

jok3r4sh

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Hey mate, no offence intended but I really think you don't quite know what you`re talking about when it comes to 6850. On my current system, which by your standards, is a "dinosaur" : Gigabyte H55M-UD2H, Core i3 530 + Titan Fenrir cooler (OC @4.2 Ghz stable 24/7), a Sapphire Vapor-X 5850 (OC @ 850 core / 1200 mem) and 8 Gb Corsair XMS3 @2000mhz CL9, I am able to max out (8x msaa and 16x anisotropic) ANY game that is out on the market now.
Battlefield 3 runs at ~40 fps, Assassins Creed3 60-80 fps, Far Cry 50+ fps.
This was by no means a mocking post, just a reminder that you are way off track with your estimation of the earlier generations of video cards` performance.
Bear in mind that the 7850 is only about 10-15% faster than the 6850, which in turn is marginally better than is precursor, the 5850. Also, the 5970 mops the floor with the brand new 7870.
So overall, the performance gain from one generation to another of GPU`s isn`t anywhere near as big as you imagine it.

L.E. Seeing the current products available, I would say that, in almost every system configured by users, the CPU acts as a bottleneck for the GPU. The current GPUs are way too powerful for the CPUs available. For instance, there isn`t a single cpu out there that won`t bottleneck a gtx 690. Not even the i7-3770k can keep up with that gpu.

All in all, my advice for the OP is go for the i5, as your gpu can hold any current games or any games that will come out in the next year or 2. (maybe in like 2-3 years you will have to lower your details a bit but that is a minor inconvenience )