Intel or AMD?

[Steve McGrossi]

Hello I am new in computers and I need to know some stuff before building a custom PC. I've been asking lots of people about what's better and stuff and stuff. So what would be better with a GTX 760, Intel Core i3 3240, or AMD FX 6300? They have the same cost but AMD is more powerful than Intel, to compare with price-power. Any suggestions??

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Ah, the age-old question.

Between the two processors you're looking at the FX-6300 would be my choice, particularly as the 3240 socket has been replaced, meaning that your upgrade path will be very limited. One of the newer Haswell i3 processors would make more sense, since the upgrade path is better. In that case, I'd suggest you go for the i3 or preferably jump straight to an i5.

I'll probably get a torrent of backlash for saying this, but Intel processors are more powerful than their AMD equivalents. They're also built on a more efficient manufacturing process so they consume less power and produce less heat. The upside to AMD is that all of their processors are unlocked, making them easy to overclock. You'll pay a premium to have this on an Intel processor.

 

[logainofhades]

FX 6300 probably would be my choice between those two. I would try and see if you could squeeze an i5 4440/4570 with an H81 board into your budget if you can, though.

 

[Steve McGrossi]

Ah, the age-old question.

Between the two processors you're looking at the FX-6300 would be my choice, particularly as the 3240 socket has been replaced, meaning that your upgrade path will be very limited. One of the newer Haswell i3 processors would make more sense, since the upgrade path is better. In that case, I'd suggest you go for the i3 or preferably jump straight to an i5.

I'll probably get a torrent of backlash for saying this, but Intel processors are more powerful than their AMD equivalents. They're also built on a more efficient manufacturing process so they consume less power and produce less heat. The upside to AMD is that all of their processors are unlocked, making them easy to overclock. You'll pay a premium to have this on an Intel processor.

Yes I know it's an age-old question but as I've seen forums including this thread, none of them answer my freakin' question xD. I don't wanna overclock, ever just NEVER, because this reduces the life of the processor and plus I lose my warranty. Since the FX6300 will produce more heat and power, should I select the i3 and then, when I get more money, buy a same socket i5, yes the i3 will bottleneck my gpu I'll go with the r9 270x because buying cheap will cost me more so I will buy a $50 more expensive motherboard (GIGABYTE OF COURSE) and a $50 cheaper gpu, as the r9 270x is SLIGHTLY less-powered than the GTX 760 and r9 270x can give me 70-120fps on Battlefield 4 with mantle with res 1080p DDD. So an i3 and then i5 would be good?

 

[logainofhades]

What is your budget? An i3 would work fine with a 270x. I would prefer an i3 4130 though, just so you have the better upgrade path.

 

[Steve McGrossi]

What is your budget? An i3 would work fine with a 270x. I would prefer an i3 4130 though, just so you have the better upgrade path.

My budget is $500 and I am gonna upgrade to a 1150 socket since there is a Gigabyte motherboard that has h78 chipset I think. I will keep working with the i3 until I have problems in certain games or hardware

 

[logainofhades]

The Asrock B85 pro4 is a solid budget board too, just as an FYI.

 

[paitjsu sadff]

i assume this is for gaming, if it is then go with the FX cpu, future games will use more threads than current game and you will want a CPU that will handle at least 6 heavy threads, going with an i3 would be a no brainer, it will perform better in games that uses 1 or 2 threads like skyrim or Arma3 for example, but will take a serious beating in games that uses 4 thread or more like BF4, crysis 3 etc. and most likely future next gen games developped for PS4 and xbone will use 6 to 8 threads..watch dogs for example will use 8 heavy threads and a core i7 or FX-8350 are the recommanded CPU's...