Is the AMD FX-8370 a viable option in 2016, going onwards?

[madmatt30]

Is this a more future proof build? https://gyazo.com/ec2f9d5c906d11a7be72f64d30a3ae25

Or is this better? https://gyazo.com/e983db5f7fa2375f35a81d0a89541214

what components are you actually running at the moment?

theres no doubt an unlocked skylake i5 is leaps & bound ahead of any fx cpu for gaming but is there no way you can make do & wait for the release of zen?? if the promises are even close to being fulfilled ( & it is a big if admittedly) then we may be looking at a game changer when it comes to the dynamics of the cpu market.
I personally refuse to support intel on a personal build level unless circumstances & needs absolutely dictate it,I have low powered intel nuc & laptops because there is no amd quivalent for the physical cpu grunt to battery/power ratio but hell will freeze over before I actually build an intel desktop for myself.

 

[Redneck5439]

The reason in my original post why I recommended the FX 8370E for you is because your current motherboard only has 4+1 power phase. With that power phase it really can't support 125W CPUs I should have been more clear. The FX 8370E is a 95W processor just like the FX 6300, 6350. The very best processor that can be used in your current motherboard is the FX 8370E. As listed above if you really want to run its bigger brother the FX 8370 the best path is to get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-970A-UD3P_%28rev._1.0%29_AM3%2b%2fAM3_AMD_970_SATA_6Gb%2fs_USB_3.0_ATX_AMD_Motherboard-_-13-128-651-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=12087162&PID=3736271&SID=skim83512X1540009Xadb9cd0f4037192c8afcab725570ed5b&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

and then the FX 8370. The FX 8370E is also a very good processor and has the same turbo core 4.3Ghz as the FX 8370. Both processors are very good overclockers (on your board you could probably do at least the 4.3Ghz turbo core as your everyday overclock). If you want the best performance out of either processor the above linked motherboard is your very best bet, as I believe DonkeyOatie already told you.

The cheapest one step upgrade path for your system would be the FX 8370E. The best upgrade path on AMD would be the linked motherboard and FX 8370. Switching to Intel would yield the best gaming results however would also be the most expensive: new motherboard, new processor (Intel processors can easily be twice as expensive as AMD) and depending on gen new DDR4 RAM. On top of that you will have to buy a new license for your Windows operating system.

the issue I have with recommending an 8 core e series chip is that it wont outperform a stock 6300 in gaming environments.
at stock & with turbocore enabled the 8370e will only turbo to 4.3 on 3 cores & drop the other cores to 3000mhz to keep within the tdp limits.
overclocking,disabling apm etc raises voltage & draw & will essentially remove that e suffix from the equation & will 99% likely result in the same throttling issues as youd get with a standard 8 core 125w cpu.

the 6300 youll be able to push 4ghz on all cores & still stay within a 100w tdp or therabouts - the extreme 3 will cope with that fine.
amd turbo core is worthless on newer gaming titles,it can actually be detrimental to performance & introduce all sorts of stutter & lag.If anyone builds an amd rig nowdays my first suggestion is to disable turbo straight away - it worked ok in 2012/2013 when titles were at a max twin threaded,it doesnt work so well nowdays at all

I usually disable turbo core straight off for any gaming rig. I have actually had the time to work with several FX 8370E processors now. One of my best selling rigs is based around this motherboard CPU combo (the GA-970A-UD3P and FX 8370E) that I can get for a total of $210. It makes for a good all around budget build. I have found that the FX 8370E will usually hit 4.3Ghz and sometimes 4.4Ghz without any bump in Vcore. These chips have AMDs very best binning and are really good overclockers at low Vcore and lower heat than older FX series processors. The OP has 4+1 power phase, however with Turbo Core disabled, multiplier overclock to 4.3Ghz and no bump in Vcore @ 95W TDP his board is capable of handling an overclock on all 8 cores of 4.3Ghz. No other 8 core FX is capable (other than maybe the FX 8320E) of that as all the other 8 core chips are 125W TDP and too much for the 4+1 power phase (especially while overclocking).

While it is true that the FX 8370E @ 4.3Ghz won't have much if any edge on the FX 6300 or 6350 @ 4.3Ghz that is true for all FX processors. Just like an i7 holds no lead over an i5 in gaming (because hyper-threading usually doesn't play a factor in gaming) the 8 core FX processors and 6 core processors have basically the same IPC. If if a game can only utilize 3, 4 cores then you not going to see any difference between the 6 core and 8 core processors at the same clock speed. Where the FX 8370E will hold a big advantage is if the OP wants to run highly multi-threaded applications like rendering, video editing, streaming game play, ect. An 8 core FX will outperform a 6 core FX when it comes to running highly multi-threaded applications.

 

[Redneck5439]

Is this a more future proof build? https://gyazo.com/ec2f9d5c906d11a7be72f64d30a3ae25

Or is this better? https://gyazo.com/e983db5f7fa2375f35a81d0a89541214

what components are you actually running at the moment?

theres no doubt an unlocked skylake i5 is leaps & bound ahead of any fx cpu for gaming but is there no way you can make do & wait for the release of zen?? if the promises are even close to being fulfilled ( & it is a big if admittedly) then we may be looking at a game changer when it comes to the dynamics of the cpu market.
I personally refuse to support intel on a personal build level unless circumstances & needs absolutely dictate it,I have low powered intel nuc & laptops because there is no amd quivalent for the physical cpu grunt to battery/power ratio but hell will freeze over before I actually build an intel desktop for myself.

+1 all the way. For customers I build both Intel and AMD rigs, but have only ever built AMD for my own rig as I can't stomach Intel's lies and unhanded business practices. Zen is slated to be a big boost for AMD. In its first generation will have 40% gain over Excavator in IPC. That is probably the largest leap in performance in history. This will bring Zen to the IPC levels around Intel Haswell. If Zen releases with higher stock clock speeds than Intel and is still a monster overclocking chip (like Piledriver) and follows the AMD tradition of MOAR cores then Zen has a real chance at taking the fight directly to Skylake and Kaby Lake (which probably won't see much of performance improvement from Skylake). With competition in the marketplace again prices on both sides should then come down being a win-win for everyone (both Intel and AMD users will benefit from lower prices).

 

[madmatt30]

The reason in my original post why I recommended the FX 8370E for you is because your current motherboard only has 4+1 power phase. With that power phase it really can't support 125W CPUs I should have been more clear. The FX 8370E is a 95W processor just like the FX 6300, 6350. The very best processor that can be used in your current motherboard is the FX 8370E. As listed above if you really want to run its bigger brother the FX 8370 the best path is to get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-970A-UD3P_%28rev._1.0%29_AM3%2b%2fAM3_AMD_970_SATA_6Gb%2fs_USB_3.0_ATX_AMD_Motherboard-_-13-128-651-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=12087162&PID=3736271&SID=skim83512X1540009Xadb9cd0f4037192c8afcab725570ed5b&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

and then the FX 8370. The FX 8370E is also a very good processor and has the same turbo core 4.3Ghz as the FX 8370. Both processors are very good overclockers (on your board you could probably do at least the 4.3Ghz turbo core as your everyday overclock). If you want the best performance out of either processor the above linked motherboard is your very best bet, as I believe DonkeyOatie already told you.

The cheapest one step upgrade path for your system would be the FX 8370E. The best upgrade path on AMD would be the linked motherboard and FX 8370. Switching to Intel would yield the best gaming results however would also be the most expensive: new motherboard, new processor (Intel processors can easily be twice as expensive as AMD) and depending on gen new DDR4 RAM. On top of that you will have to buy a new license for your Windows operating system.

the issue I have with recommending an 8 core e series chip is that it wont outperform a stock 6300 in gaming environments.
at stock & with turbocore enabled the 8370e will only turbo to 4.3 on 3 cores & drop the other cores to 3000mhz to keep within the tdp limits.
overclocking,disabling apm etc raises voltage & draw & will essentially remove that e suffix from the equation & will 99% likely result in the same throttling issues as youd get with a standard 8 core 125w cpu.

the 6300 youll be able to push 4ghz on all cores & still stay within a 100w tdp or therabouts - the extreme 3 will cope with that fine.
amd turbo core is worthless on newer gaming titles,it can actually be detrimental to performance & introduce all sorts of stutter & lag.If anyone builds an amd rig nowdays my first suggestion is to disable turbo straight away - it worked ok in 2012/2013 when titles were at a max twin threaded,it doesnt work so well nowdays at all

I usually disable turbo core straight off for any gaming rig. I have actually had the time to work with several FX 8370E processors now. One of my best selling rigs is based around this motherboard CPU combo (the GA-970A-UD3P and FX 8370E) that I can get for a total of $210. It makes for a good all around budget build. I have found that the FX 8370E will usually hit 4.3Ghz and sometimes 4.4Ghz without any bump in Vcore. These chips have AMDs very best binning and are really good overclockers at low Vcore and lower heat than older FX series processors. The OP has 4+1 power phase, however with Turbo Core disabled, multiplier overclock to 4.3Ghz and no bump in Vcore @ 95W TDP his board is capable of handling an overclock on all 8 cores of 4.3Ghz. No other 8 core FX is capable (other than maybe the FX 8320E) of that as all the other 8 core chips are 125W TDP and too much for the 4+1 power phase (especially while overclocking).

While it is true that the FX 8370E @ 4.3Ghz won't have much if any edge on the FX 6300 or 6350 @ 4.3Ghz that is true for all FX processors. Just like an i7 holds no lead over an i5 in gaming (because hyper-threading usually doesn't play a factor in gaming) the 8 core FX processors and 6 core processors have basically the same IPC. If if a game can only utilize 3, 4 cores then you not going to see any difference between the 6 core and 8 core processors at the same clock speed. Where the FX 8370E will hold a big advantage is if the OP wants to run highly multi-threaded applications like rendering, video editing, streaming game play, ect. An 8 core FX will outperform a 6 core FX when it comes to running highly multi-threaded applications.

your wrongly assuming that leaving voltage on stock settings in bios keeps it at that voltage even when overclocked - which it doesnt.
the voltage will increase exponentially along with clocks speeds automatically.
while you wont see big voltage increases on auto on a good quality 8 phase board like the ud3p you will with that asrock board - Id bet my bottom doller itll need 1.4v to hit 4ghz with an 8370e.
the vrm's wont cope at all well with that voltage.

to put into context my 6300 on a ud3p ran at 4.6ghz at 1.36v ,on the 4 phase board its in now it needs 1.38 to hit 4.3ghz - the exact same cpu not another 6300

the 8320 is running on my ud3p at LESS than stock 8320 voltage - yes its a well binned chip picked from a batch of a dozen but that low voltage is at least 50% down to the board.
The ud3p has pretty much the best voltage regulation Ive ever seen - the best on a 970 series board & still a match for all but the upper end 990 series ones.
Its pretty much incomparable to that skanky quality asrock board.

Im not saying the 6300 is a better cpu than the 8370e - Im saying on that asrock extreme 3 it will be the best you can do performance wise without running into major problems.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The reason in my original post why I recommended the FX 8370E for you is because your current motherboard only has 4+1 power phase. With that power phase it really can't support 125W CPUs I should have been more clear. The FX 8370E is a 95W processor just like the FX 6300, 6350. The very best processor that can be used in your current motherboard is the FX 8370E. As listed above if you really want to run its bigger brother the FX 8370 the best path is to get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-970A-UD3P_%28rev._1.0%29_AM3%2b%2fAM3_AMD_970_SATA_6Gb%2fs_USB_3.0_ATX_AMD_Motherboard-_-13-128-651-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=12087162&PID=3736271&SID=skim83512X1540009Xadb9cd0f4037192c8afcab725570ed5b&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

and then the FX 8370. The FX 8370E is also a very good processor and has the same turbo core 4.3Ghz as the FX 8370. Both processors are very good overclockers (on your board you could probably do at least the 4.3Ghz turbo core as your everyday overclock). If you want the best performance out of either processor the above linked motherboard is your very best bet, as I believe DonkeyOatie already told you.

The cheapest one step upgrade path for your system would be the FX 8370E. The best upgrade path on AMD would be the linked motherboard and FX 8370. Switching to Intel would yield the best gaming results however would also be the most expensive: new motherboard, new processor (Intel processors can easily be twice as expensive as AMD) and depending on gen new DDR4 RAM. On top of that you will have to buy a new license for your Windows operating system.

the issue I have with recommending an 8 core e series chip is that it wont outperform a stock 6300 in gaming environments.
at stock & with turbocore enabled the 8370e will only turbo to 4.3 on 3 cores & drop the other cores to 3000mhz to keep within the tdp limits.
overclocking,disabling apm etc raises voltage & draw & will essentially remove that e suffix from the equation & will 99% likely result in the same throttling issues as youd get with a standard 8 core 125w cpu.

the 6300 youll be able to push 4ghz on all cores & still stay within a 100w tdp or therabouts - the extreme 3 will cope with that fine.
amd turbo core is worthless on newer gaming titles,it can actually be detrimental to performance & introduce all sorts of stutter & lag.If anyone builds an amd rig nowdays my first suggestion is to disable turbo straight away - it worked ok in 2012/2013 when titles were at a max twin threaded,it doesnt work so well nowdays at all

I usually disable turbo core straight off for any gaming rig. I have actually had the time to work with several FX 8370E processors now. One of my best selling rigs is based around this motherboard CPU combo (the GA-970A-UD3P and FX 8370E) that I can get for a total of $210. It makes for a good all around budget build. I have found that the FX 8370E will usually hit 4.3Ghz and sometimes 4.4Ghz without any bump in Vcore. These chips have AMDs very best binning and are really good overclockers at low Vcore and lower heat than older FX series processors. The OP has 4+1 power phase, however with Turbo Core disabled, multiplier overclock to 4.3Ghz and no bump in Vcore @ 95W TDP his board is capable of handling an overclock on all 8 cores of 4.3Ghz. No other 8 core FX is capable (other than maybe the FX 8320E) of that as all the other 8 core chips are 125W TDP and too much for the 4+1 power phase (especially while overclocking).

While it is true that the FX 8370E @ 4.3Ghz won't have much if any edge on the FX 6300 or 6350 @ 4.3Ghz that is true for all FX processors. Just like an i7 holds no lead over an i5 in gaming (because hyper-threading usually doesn't play a factor in gaming) the 8 core FX processors and 6 core processors have basically the same IPC. If if a game can only utilize 3, 4 cores then you not going to see any difference between the 6 core and 8 core processors at the same clock speed. Where the FX 8370E will hold a big advantage is if the OP wants to run highly multi-threaded applications like rendering, video editing, streaming game play, ect. An 8 core FX will outperform a 6 core FX when it comes to running highly multi-threaded applications.

your wrongly assuming that leaving voltage on stock settings in bios keeps it at that voltage even when overclocked - which it doesnt.
the voltage will increase exponentially along with clocks speeds automatically.
while you wont see big voltage increases on auto on a good quality 8 phase board like the ud3p you will with that asrock board - Id bet my bottom doller itll need 1.4v to hit 4ghz with an 8370e.
the vrm's wont cope at all well with that voltage.

to put into context my 6300 on a ud3p ran at 4.6ghz at 1.36v ,on the 4 phase board its in now it needs 1.38 to hit 4.3ghz - the exact same cpu not another 6300

the 8320 is running on my ud3p at LESS than stock 8320 voltage - yes its a well binned chip picked from a batch of a dozen but that low voltage is at least 50% down to the board.
The ud3p has pretty much the best voltage regulation Ive ever seen - the best on a 970 series board & still a match for all but the upper end 990 series ones.
Its pretty much incomparable to that skanky quality asrock board.

Im not saying the 6300 is a better cpu than the 8370e - Im saying on that asrock extreme 3 it will be the best you can do performance wise without running into major problems.

I'd upvote this if my system gave mat that as an option. It doesn't any more.

 

[Redneck5439]

The reason in my original post why I recommended the FX 8370E for you is because your current motherboard only has 4+1 power phase. With that power phase it really can't support 125W CPUs I should have been more clear. The FX 8370E is a 95W processor just like the FX 6300, 6350. The very best processor that can be used in your current motherboard is the FX 8370E. As listed above if you really want to run its bigger brother the FX 8370 the best path is to get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651&cm_re=GIGABYTE_GA-970A-UD3P_%28rev._1.0%29_AM3%2b%2fAM3_AMD_970_SATA_6Gb%2fs_USB_3.0_ATX_AMD_Motherboard-_-13-128-651-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=12087162&PID=3736271&SID=skim83512X1540009Xadb9cd0f4037192c8afcab725570ed5b&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

and then the FX 8370. The FX 8370E is also a very good processor and has the same turbo core 4.3Ghz as the FX 8370. Both processors are very good overclockers (on your board you could probably do at least the 4.3Ghz turbo core as your everyday overclock). If you want the best performance out of either processor the above linked motherboard is your very best bet, as I believe DonkeyOatie already told you.

The cheapest one step upgrade path for your system would be the FX 8370E. The best upgrade path on AMD would be the linked motherboard and FX 8370. Switching to Intel would yield the best gaming results however would also be the most expensive: new motherboard, new processor (Intel processors can easily be twice as expensive as AMD) and depending on gen new DDR4 RAM. On top of that you will have to buy a new license for your Windows operating system.

the issue I have with recommending an 8 core e series chip is that it wont outperform a stock 6300 in gaming environments.
at stock & with turbocore enabled the 8370e will only turbo to 4.3 on 3 cores & drop the other cores to 3000mhz to keep within the tdp limits.
overclocking,disabling apm etc raises voltage & draw & will essentially remove that e suffix from the equation & will 99% likely result in the same throttling issues as youd get with a standard 8 core 125w cpu.

the 6300 youll be able to push 4ghz on all cores & still stay within a 100w tdp or therabouts - the extreme 3 will cope with that fine.
amd turbo core is worthless on newer gaming titles,it can actually be detrimental to performance & introduce all sorts of stutter & lag.If anyone builds an amd rig nowdays my first suggestion is to disable turbo straight away - it worked ok in 2012/2013 when titles were at a max twin threaded,it doesnt work so well nowdays at all

I usually disable turbo core straight off for any gaming rig. I have actually had the time to work with several FX 8370E processors now. One of my best selling rigs is based around this motherboard CPU combo (the GA-970A-UD3P and FX 8370E) that I can get for a total of $210. It makes for a good all around budget build. I have found that the FX 8370E will usually hit 4.3Ghz and sometimes 4.4Ghz without any bump in Vcore. These chips have AMDs very best binning and are really good overclockers at low Vcore and lower heat than older FX series processors. The OP has 4+1 power phase, however with Turbo Core disabled, multiplier overclock to 4.3Ghz and no bump in Vcore @ 95W TDP his board is capable of handling an overclock on all 8 cores of 4.3Ghz. No other 8 core FX is capable (other than maybe the FX 8320E) of that as all the other 8 core chips are 125W TDP and too much for the 4+1 power phase (especially while overclocking).

While it is true that the FX 8370E @ 4.3Ghz won't have much if any edge on the FX 6300 or 6350 @ 4.3Ghz that is true for all FX processors. Just like an i7 holds no lead over an i5 in gaming (because hyper-threading usually doesn't play a factor in gaming) the 8 core FX processors and 6 core processors have basically the same IPC. If if a game can only utilize 3, 4 cores then you not going to see any difference between the 6 core and 8 core processors at the same clock speed. Where the FX 8370E will hold a big advantage is if the OP wants to run highly multi-threaded applications like rendering, video editing, streaming game play, ect. An 8 core FX will outperform a 6 core FX when it comes to running highly multi-threaded applications.

your wrongly assuming that leaving voltage on stock settings in bios keeps it at that voltage even when overclocked - which it doesnt.
the voltage will increase exponentially along with clocks speeds automatically.
while you wont see big voltage increases on auto on a good quality 8 phase board like the ud3p you will with that asrock board - Id bet my bottom doller itll need 1.4v to hit 4ghz with an 8370e.
the vrm's wont cope at all well with that voltage.

to put into context my 6300 on a ud3p ran at 4.6ghz at 1.36v ,on the 4 phase board its in now it needs 1.38 to hit 4.3ghz - the exact same cpu not another 6300

the 8320 is running on my ud3p at LESS than stock 8320 voltage - yes its a well binned chip picked from a batch of a dozen but that low voltage is at least 50% down to the board.
The ud3p has pretty much the best voltage regulation Ive ever seen - the best on a 970 series board & still a match for all but the upper end 990 series ones.
Its pretty much incomparable to that skanky quality asrock board.

Im not saying the 6300 is a better cpu than the 8370e - Im saying on that asrock extreme 3 it will be the best you can do performance wise without running into major problems.

Every overclocking guide going one of the first steps is taking the Vcore off Auto. No one should overclock with the Vcore on Auto. Also 1.4V to hit 4.3Ghz on a FX 8370E is excessive by a lot. I hit 4.7Ghz @ 1.336V on my full blown 125W FX 8370 totally stable. The FX 8370 and 8370E have the best binning AMD has, the first time you actually work with them you will be shocked how far they can be pushed on so low Vcore. Once you pass the 4.8Ghz range is when they start needing more, but my everyday clock of 5.05Ghz only needs 1.46V.

The "E" series and FX 8370 refresh were horribly under rated processors and are really capable of much more than most people think. The FX 8370E is a perfect fit in most AM3+ 4+1 power phase boards. From FX 8370E processors I have worked with the OP should be able to overclock to 4.3Ghz at no more than 1.3V more realistically under 1.28V (most I have worked with were stable 1.28V @ 4.5Ghz). There are several threads around of people being very surprised at how well the "E" series and FX 8370 overclocked with very low Vcore levels.

 

[schmuckley]

Most definitely not.Not in this year where after 6 years they will release a new platform.No

 

[nbova512]

Hopefully this is my last post.

I am likely going to make a switch to Intel so I can make this build a bit better.

Is this build ok? I'm going to be using the parts I have now for missing pieces.

I'm specifically wondering if the motherboard is ok to use.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bVsKyc

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Decent motherboard, and I'd consider even faster memory.

 

[nbova512]

Decent motherboard, and I'd consider even faster memory.

Or what about this? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8J7Cf7

The thing is this is DDR3 instead of DDR4, but its a cheaper alternative to get an i7. Could I always buy more/faster DDR3 when the time comes?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Motherboard is far too 'light' You have an unlocked i7 and should get a Z97 board to run it on. A good enough board will cost at least $100.

You can always buy different, but what do you plan to do with the memory you have?

 

[nbova512]

Motherboard is far too 'light' You have an unlocked i7 and should get a Z97 board to run it on. A good enough board will cost at least $100.

You can always buy different, but what do you plan to do with the memory you have?

I have 2 sticks of 8 GB DDR3 Memory. I figured it would be better overall to get an i7 board, considering those support DDR3 unlock the Skylake Boards.

How about this board? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cpH4K8

And my RAM is the Crucial Ballistix Sport

 

[DonkeyOatie]

OK. Haswell is only 5% to 10% slower than Skylake so it is still very relevant. Some Skylake boards will run DDR3.

 

[nbova512]

OK. Haswell is only 5% to 10% slower than Skylake so it is still very relevant. Some Skylake boards will run DDR3.

The reason I didn't want to do Skylake is because of this: http://wccftech.com/skylake-does-not-support-ddr3-damage-ddr3l-only/

Should I risk the potential incompatibility and get a Skylake board and just go for an i5-6600k? i7 I heard is faster anyways...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Your memory is not 1.65V, so should be OK.

The original GX8350 is decent. The i5 (Haswell or Skylake) will game better, especially if unlocked. An i7 is more than gaming needs these days.

The system as a whole matters. For most gaming systems, the limiting factor is the GPU. An overclocked i5 will easily drive the GPU you are looking at. Even a locked i5, locked i7, or Haswell Xeon is decent choice.

 

[nbova512]

Your memory is not 1.65V, so should be OK.

The original GX8350 is decent. The i5 (Haswell or Skylake) will game better, especially if unlocked. An i7 is more than gaming needs these days.

The system as a whole matters. For most gaming systems, the limiting factor is the GPU. An overclocked i5 will easily drive the GPU you are looking at. Even a locked i5, locked i7, or Haswell Xeon is decent choice.

So which option should I pick? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XNyxyc or http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cpH4K8

I'm looking for a setup that I can ensure is future proof.
Primarily I want to be able to Crossfire another R9 390 if needed, and I'd like to be able to simply add more RAM and OC the CPU if necessary.

Which build would be the best going forward?

I'd like to be able to play games like Arma 3, because god knows that game needs CPU power.

Thank you all so much for this advice, I really wish I could find a better way to thank you all.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The only 'future-proof' solution is Skylake. However Haswell will be relevant for five more years or so, just like Sandy Bridge. you will likely be on your second GPU upgrade at least before your CPU/motherboard will become out dated.

Actually, there is no 'future-proof'. The future is too unpredictable.

A Skylake DDR4 System with an overclockable i7 will carry you a very long way, BUT it is expensive. That's what it takes for 'future proof'. you have to go 'big' to try to handle all possibilities.

Of the two choices, I prefer the Haswell i7. the motherboard will Crossfire too.

Unequivocal advice is difficult because of your own uncertainty.

 

[nbova512]

The only 'future-proof' solution is Skylake. However Haswell will be relevant for five more years or so, just like Sandy Bridge. you will likely be on your second GPU upgrade at least before your CPU/motherboard will become out dated.

Actually, there is no 'future-proof'. The future is too unpredictable.

A Skylake DDR4 System with an overclockable i7 will carry you a very long way, BUT it is expensive. That's what it takes for 'future proof'. you have to go 'big' to try to handle all possibilities.

Of the two choices, I prefer the Haswell i7. the motherboard will Crossfire too.

Unequivocal advice is difficult because of your own uncertainty.

Thank you so much for the help. I'll go with the i7 build because if the need arises, I can overclock the cpu, add more RAM (probably at DDR4 speeds if necessary), and just crossfire my card for 16 GB of VRAM (oh lord). Thank you so much everyone, and I suppose its time to save up lol.