Intel i5 4670k vs. AMD FX-9590

[ScottM96]

I've been thinking of upgrading from my current FX-6100, and I'm having difficulty choosing between these two processors, the Intel i5 4670k and the AMD FX-9590. I know the Intel is a lot cheaper, however with the additional motherboard and CPU cooler I would buy with it, both work out at around the same price. Having looked around for the last couple of hours I'm still no clearer on which I would benefit most from.

I'll be using this PC for gaming mostly, along with a lot of recording/rendering videos, so I'd like my choice to be optimised for these options.

Here's my current specs, in case what I have could matter in some way:
AMD FX-6100 @4.0GHz CPU EDIT: With Arctic A30 Cooling
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 Motherboard
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz RAM
XFX Radeon 7950 GPU
Corsair Force 3 6GB/s 120GB SSD
WD 500GB 3GB/s HDD (Unsure of Model)
Seagate 1TB 3GB/s HDD (Unsure of Model)
OCW ZS Series 750W PSU

Also I believe I would have to reinstall windows should I choose to swap to the Intel (due to the change in motherboard/chipset etc.), meaning all my programs and games would need to be reinstalled, which would be a big hassle, as I've got around 150GB of games/software. So I'd like opinions on whether it's worth the extra effort should the Intel be the better option.

 

[jay_nar2012]

The fx 9590 is a factory OC'ed fx 8320/8350.

i would upgrade to a fx 8320 if i were you, much cheaper than either solution.

 

[icemunk]

8320, with an after market cooler

 

[rolli59]

It is only the high end 990FX boards that really support the FX9xxx CPU's I would not recommend using it on a budget FX board like yours although supported if you have revision 4.0 of the board the older boards do not support it. http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=4672

 

[JOOK-D]

8320.

 

[CTurbo]

+1 for the 8320. It would fit right in your mobo and be a HUGE upgrade over your 6100.

 

[logainofhades]

+1 for the 8320. It would fit right in your mobo and be a HUGE upgrade over your 6100.

Agreed

 

[Darkresurrection]

8320 and change or cross fire the GPU

 

[Calculatron]

Is 4 ghz your maximum overclock? (Is that a thermal, or voltage limit?)

If you switch the fan out on your A30 Freezer, you may gain as much as a 4C increase in performance, at the cost of acoustics.

Anyway, if you're set on an upgrade, the FX-8320 will be the best bang for the buck. You should be able to handedly overclock it with your current cooler, as well.

 

[ScottM96]

Is 4 ghz your maximum overclock? (Is that a thermal, or voltage limit?)

If you switch the fan out on your A30 Freezer, you may gain as much as a 4C increase in performance, at the cost of acoustics.

Anyway, if you're set on an upgrade, the FX-8320 will be the best bang for the buck. You should be able to handedly overclock it with your current cooler, as well.

4GHz is just what I feel comfortable with on my current setup, at the moment I've never seen a reason to go any faster.

 

[jay_nar2012]

The FX8320 should improve performance and multi-tasking capability.

Plus the FX 8320 is newer than the Fx 6100 (bulldozer vs vishera)....

 

[Calculatron]

If you can overclock more a decent amount, that would probably be an acceptable solution, if saving money is a major concern. It could easily hold you off until the next generation of Steamrollers, which are just around the corner, are released.

 

[ScottM96]

If you can overclock more a decent amount, that would probably be an acceptable solution, if saving money is a major concern. It could easily hold you off until the next generation of Steamrollers, which are just around the corner, are released.

I always seem to have issues overclocking past 4GHz, even if I go up gradually. It doesn't heat up, and I'm certain that my power supply isn't getting overworked, it just becomes unstable past 4.

 

[jay_nar2012]

If it becomes unstable, then you are meant to increase the voltage in small steps until it becomes stable.

 

[rolli59]

Or the motherboard is one of the troubled previous versions of the UD3 with weird VRM overheating issues!