Best CPUs (Archive)

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Status
Not open for further replies.

rush21hit

Honorable
Mar 5, 2012
580
0
11,160
^ I digress, its for people who stuck at AM3+ platform and simply has no plan for total overhaul which means cost them extra to pay for OS too. Plus, considering its a 95watt TDP CPU, meaning all AM3+ motherboards would able to accommodate it from the get go.
Unlike its bigger and higher TDP variants which further constraint compatibility to a more robust power delivery boards.

Yes, an i3 6100 is better nearly by every aspect as opposed to FX8300. But that would require additional cost as I mention above.
 


Microsoft will let you use Windows 10 indefinitely without a key. Just select "I do not have a key" when installing. Skylake is even backwards compatible to DDR3.

Chances are that if you cheaped out with a really low end AM3 or AM3+ processor, then you probably also have a terrible motherboard, and you will want to be rid of both, but if you have something older but high end like a 1090T then and FX-8300 isn't much of an upgrade anyway and in many cases is worse.
 

rush21hit

Honorable
Mar 5, 2012
580
0
11,160
Not everyone have that luxury.
Far too often I encounter AM3+ people who desperately need better CPU helplessly budget limited. Heck, many of them still at X2 or X3. Those CPU are also 95watt TDP.
Not only that, chances are, their OS are still Windows 7. Even I still at Windows 7. Who am I to tell them?
Could be even worse with them insisting to stay at that platform for whatever reason.

So the FX8300 pretty much the best top dog for AMD AM3+ right now. 95watt, $110, trade blow with an i3 6100(which is expected for stuff at the same price range) and still use old platform for people I mentioned above.
What's not to like?

Also, ScienceStudio did some nice video about this on Youtube.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLkaNWo0EV0"][/video]
 
Hmm... I kinda dislike that they OC'd both of them, because that's "unrealistic" even if it kind of even's the playing field.

Regular people don't OC, and they definitely won't OC an non-unlocked CPU. Not only that, the money spent on the hardware that would allow you to OC an i3 could be better spent just getting an i5.

Also... there are still way more commonly used single core applications and games that people will use more than the multi core applications and games.
I wish CSGO, LoL, Dota, OW and the like had benchmarks in them. Cause that's what people play, and people at the i3/8300 budget level are going to be looking for the best performance in those games for their money.
 

rush21hit

Honorable
Mar 5, 2012
580
0
11,160


I agree. The purpose of it really was how much you can get out of those chips and compare them.
At stock, of course the i3 would fare better in most tasks, if not all.
But the FX8300 would not left too far behind either. After all, both chips are within the same price range.

Besides, realistically, people who bought an i3 is very unlikely purchase it along with boards like Z170 class, perhaps a Z150 or even 110. While people who decided to buy the FX, quite possibly ranging from every AM3+ class they already own. From both perspective, the total cost to accommodate the i3 is not very pretty to these people. DDR3 or not.

Heck, the fact that the FX8300 price-performance still comparable to the i3 6100 alone is enough for recommendation for people who still stuck or no plan to change platform. With only 95watt TDP, effectively removing FX6300 from recommendation along with its higher clock brethren.

All that said, I disagree to choose the Athlon as a baseline for entry level. While its true it has where it takes, it doesn't have much of it. I'd go with G4400 instead.
 
A lot of things I don't agree with in that video. James hit most of them, so I don't need to repeat. However, his final recommendation that the 8300 has staying power is almost laughable. At the beginning he's complaining that its uArch Is five years old, but then he says it will have staying power for five more? If you're going to build a new computer, why go for Pile Driver when Zen is on the horizon? I don't find it impressive that an FX-8 can still hang with a Skylake i3 when product history and pricing is considered. How much did these chips cost and what market segment did they target when they first came out? It's no different than saying it's "impressive" that a Sandy Bridge i5 can still slightly outperform a new i3 in certain tasks.

As for the rest, yes, it's a 95W chip instead of 125W of the higher 8000 SKUs. I wasn't talking about CPU compatibility with the mboards. I was talking about overclocking. Any AM3+ board can handle this chip at stock speeds, but you'll need to spend extra if you want any meaningful overclock. And don't forget the cost of a third-party cooler in that as well.

The idea of "upgrading" to an FX-8000 for the people still stuck on AM3(+) doesn't make any sense either. Sure, let's say someone is still using an FX-4100 or 6300, or even an older Phenom as you say, for the past four years or more. They want to upgrade their system. What does moving to an FX-8000 net them? The older Bulldozer chips get an ok upgrade in moving to Pile Driver uArch, but that's it. It's arguable the Phenom uArch is superior to either BD or PD. Everything else stays the same. You're still using the same old mboard with its likely limited connectivity ( no PCIe 3.0, no USB 3.0, no M.2, and crappy RAM controller ). If your platform itself is old, upgrading the CPU doesn't solve your problems.

If you're on an aging AM3 system and want to get the most meaningful upgrade for as little as possible, you tell me what's better: spending $120 for a new CPU, or spending $180 - $200 on an i3-6100 and basic DDR3 LGA1151 board that gets you a number of new features aside from CPU speed.
 

alextheblue

Distinguished
WoW is an ancient pile of... code and will run fine on any of the options. So if it runs equally great on the quad-threaded CPU OR the dual-threaded CPU, get the 4-thread chip in case you play something else that is properly threaded and needs the horsepower.


CS GO and LoL would run on a toaster oven. I ran them on a socket 939 dual core back in the day. Why would anyone worry about performance of old engines? DOTA 2 is a tiny bit more modern. Maybe "toaster oven plus some old clocks and EDO sticks and a Banshee". So if they run perfect on the 4-thread chip and the 2-thread chip, get the 4-thread. It's got more staying power in case you load up a newer eSports title that uses more than 2 threads, like a good semi-modern game engine. Not to mention that there are people out there playing games outside of your circle. There are even some people playing games outside of Steam/b.net.

Oh and Overwatch uses multiple threads. I've personally seen it using 4 threads quite effectively. Might be able to use more. Though I think that's pretty unsurprising for a multi-platform title that is also on the 8-core consoles. Hopefully the overwhelming majority of demanding titles in the future use at least 4 threads well. For less demanding titles (retro, for example) it's not an issue either way as they'll run fine on any old thing.
 

xeno5000

Reputable
Nov 26, 2015
2
0
4,510
I think they should have started with the first option being the pentium g4400 for 50 bucks. First of all, Coteau to most people's opinion, this chip will run any game you got. Unless there is one I haven't seen yet. Yes it's a dual core but it is a badass dual core so I say put the extra money towards the gpu and ram. Then later on when you get more cash, upgrade to i5 or i7. I own all these chips and a bunch of fx processors as well and the g4400 is the most impressive cpu I've seen yet. We all know the i5 and i7 are great so it's no surprise but I was blown away by what the pentium can do for 50 bucks. That's my 2 cents. As for amd I really like the 8320e. I got one for 90 bucks. It's 95w aND runs like a champ in my sabertooth 990fx board.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.