Outlander_04 :
Anandtechs benches show that if you run a stupid test you get a stupid result .
Comparing the results at lower resolutions to try and remove the gpu as a restriction just doesnt show what happens when you play games at reasonable resolution and quality settings .
Worse still the results become utterly meaningless when you factor in that almost all LCD monitors refresh at 60 Hz . That is 60 times a second , or the same thing as 60 FPS . When processor A makes 120 fps , and processor A makes 180 fps it is NOT going to give you 50% more FPS . Both will actually show 60 FPS because thats all the monitor can ever show
Whats important to most gamers is FPS at 1080p with high or ultra image quality settings .
Do that and the FX is often the better processor
Look man, you should probably calm down and try not to be so belittling. I think most of us on the Toms forums know what 60 Hz means and that you can't see any more than the screen puts out. Thanks. No amount of condescension is going to change the numbers from Anand, Toms, or the other reviewers out there. Sorry, I'm not trying to hate on AMD. I like the company and I've built my fair share of AMD systems for myself and others.
Also, the whole point of the Anand article is not to say "Hey, I can get 220 FPS to your 180 FPS." It's to look at the CPU limitations between the two on current hardware...generally meaning lower resolutions and/or CPU intensive games like Starcraft 2. This is important for two reasons. One is that it doesn't serve anyone any good by maxing out a game and showing 30-40 FPS across the board for every CPU...in a CPU review. Second and more importantly, is that as time goes on one CPU is going to become a bottleneck before the other, and the Anand test show you which CPU that will be. One is going to run out of juice first, and sometimes that extra legroom can be a difference of over a year in your upgrade cycle.
As for the last comment... how do you explain that? There is no way you that you can take a CPU that limits first, and get better results than the CPU that has more legroom when you are using the same GPU...regardless of settings. The best you can hope to do is close the gap as you shift towards GPU limitations. Skyrim is the perfect example of this. BF3 is a good example of an entirely GPU bound game where all the posted numbers are the same....not better.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-14.html
Now to get pack to the OP's questions, JJD you have a good system. The 8350 and 7850 will be great together. For the right price, the FX processors can be quite the buy as well, so don't worry too much about my rambling with Outlander. Also, you can definitely Crossfire with an extreme3 in 16x/4x mode. It's on the specifications for the board. Have fun with the new system!