Is it wrong to buy a Phenom 965 in 2013?

[Guest]

The Phenom II x4 965 is one of my options, it costs the same as an I3 ivy bridge..

However i got this dilemma,
How much sense does it make to buy a 3 years old CPU?
And then for it's intel counterpart, how much sense does it make to buy a dual core in 2013?

Considering i do not plan to buy a new rig for the next 3 years to come. Which will grow older faster?

 

[Guest]

I am aware of the A10-5800k, in fact it was the processor i used when i first started designing my build. I've seen the benchmarks, and saw gameplay videos on youtube, i mean it's amazing what they have achieved with an IGP but i still see it struggle a little to get 30FPS on high settings, and frankly im tired of struggling.
I'm planning to get a 21.5" monitor this month too, so that means 1080P...
I'll be limited by the IGP, i rather spend some more money now and get an i3 that costs a little less and get a discrete HD7770 and don't have to worry about going below 30 FPS anymore.
I feel my build is much more solid than the APU and of corse it costs more but i can afford it now.

As for the motehrboard:
It does sound like i'll be screwed if i need to ugrade the bios with a CPU i dont own, while i believe most h61 should be already updated by now i can't take the risk..
I guess i'll have to go with this;
AsRock B75 PRO3-M Socket
http://www.e-key.it/product_details.aspx?ID=29698

 

[Guest]

Just get a pentium G860+h61+better card, what it counts is the gfx card, and a 7770 is not good enough even for 1600 x 900, e.g. battlefield 3 maxout.

Does downgrading to sandy bridge, loosing 2 threads, no hyper-threading, 300Mhz less, and being capped at 1333 RAM worth the trade?

What video card would make that a good trade?
Wouldn't i be CPU bottlenecked then?

 

[jacobsta811]

Going to depend on what games. In single player benchmarks jumping from i3-3220 + 7770 to G860 + 7850 1gb will almost always result in a win for the 7850 build, but you could struggle in CPU intensive tasks like Battlefield 3 multiplayer. If you are going to upgrade in the future though the i3-3220 will probably be enough CPU for the next gen graphics card/games while if you ever want to upgrade the 7850 you probably would want to upgrade the CPU too.

 

[djangoringo]

It will not bottleneck a 650 ti or 7850 1GB, see the toms hardware 500$ build, it has that cpu and the 7850 1GB.
Like i said, you better off with a 650 ti or 7850 1GB.

 

[Guest]

Alright according to the new feedback you gave me, i was spending too much on the CPU+mother and neglecting the video card.
This is the: "New and maybe better build"

CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core G860 3.0GHz € 65,00
MSI H61M-P20 (G3) € 36,50
RAM DDR3 Corsair XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 1333MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9 for CPU Intel i5/i7 € 38,30
VGA XFX FX-785A-ZNFC Ati AMD Radeon HD 7850 Core 860MHz Memory GDDR5 4800MHz 1GB DVI HDMI MiniDP € 141,90
TOTAL:281,70

My concern is the ram it says foe CPU intel i5/i7, that's just...bulls*** right? pure marketing, take a look:
http://www.e-key.it/prod-ram-ddr3-corsair-xms3-cmx8gx3m2a1333c9-1333mhz-8gb-2x4gb-cl9-per-cpu-intel-i5i7-26893.htm

I bet they will work with ANY CPU.

Also take a look at the graphic card please.
http://www.e-key.it/product_details.aspx?ID=35779

does it look good?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes, the ram will work, and gfx card is a good one for the price, xfx is a decent brand.

 

[Onus]

Just get a pentium G860+h61+better card, what it counts is the gfx card, and a 7770 is not good enough even for 1600 x 900, e.g. battlefield 3 maxout.

Battlefield 3 is IRRELEVANT. He wants to play MMORPGs, not FPS. A stronger CPU is needed.

Does downgrading to sandy bridge, loosing 2 threads, no hyper-threading, 300Mhz less, and being capped at 1333 RAM worth the trade?

No, for your uses it is NOT a good trade. Stick with the i3+HD7770. For your types of games, it will be FINE.
See my two rigs below. When GW2 was in beta, I tested with the GPUs switched. I could set higher visual settings with the Phenom II+HD7870, but play was smoother with the i5+HD7770. Games like this are MUCH more enjoyable when they are smooth. Get the stronger CPU; you won't regret it.
Down the road, a GPU upgrade, if desired, is a simple matter.

 

[djangoringo]

The gpu is not important ?
See this : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,3268-6.html

I can't see the 7770 reaching 60 fps even in 1280x1024

Also doesn't seem there's performance hit, a dual core ht vs dual core :

 

[Onus]

That is "best appearance", and was the beta. Settings are much more granular now, and the game has been better optimized. Reducing LOD distance and/or AA will easily let a HD7770 hit 60FPS.

 

[Guest]

I think for mmorpgs either combination will do, but if ever wanted to play anything else the 7850 will come handy right?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes, of course, i still rather get the 7850 over the 7770, and like i said no performance difference in a dual core vs dual core with HT.

 

[Onus]

I would not weaken the CPU to get it, but the HD7850 is notably stronger than the HD7770. Playing the "what-if?" game is the quickest way to bust your budget; I ought to know because I'm guilty of that myself too often. It's certainly a nice card, and I have no plans to get rid of it, but I do have some mild regrets over buying a HD7870. If you want something a little stronger than a HD7770 without straining your budget too much, look at the GTX650Ti ($145-$160) as well.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by nconde25.

 

[gamerguy319]

for you price range why not get an AMD A8-5600k it handled both ur problems and you can still upgrade the graphics

 

[kyzarvs]

Just for a little perspective - I play through the (amazing) crowd scenes on Hitman Absolution just fine at 1920x1200 on my 4GB / PHII 955 / GTX280 - all cores with 20% CPU free time according to the CPU applet on my G15 keyboard... A 965 or i3 or anything of that ilk will be fine 😉

 

[Guest]

for you price range why not get an AMD A8-5600k it handled both ur problems and you can still upgrade the graphics

The A8-5600k costs me 95,00 €, that would leave me no extra cash for a discrete card, i rather grab the G860 and the best possible card like the HD7850. (my final build is a few posts above).
The analysis by tom is very positive too:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-2.html

Just for a little perspective - I play through the (amazing) crowd scenes on Hitman Absolution just fine at 1920x1200 on my 4GB / PHII 955 / GTX280 - all cores with 20% CPU free time according to the CPU applet on my G15 keyboard... A 965 or i3 or anything of that ilk will be fine 😉

Nice thanks a lot!