Please rate this bundle deal FX6350 + MSI 970 MB

[simonmd]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aufrustkit-Bundle-Kit-FX-6350-6x-4-2-Ghz-MSI-970-Gaming-8-GB-G-Skill-Ripjaws-/161465649615?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item25981a49cf

Since my old socket 1366 P6T MB died, I've been looking for a cost effective upgrade. I don't have a fortune to spend, £2-250, but know that it seems more cost effective to go for a new generation MB and CPU rather than replace my old one.

The MSI 970 gaming MB seems to be the best budget board around and would like your opinions of the linked bundle. (I know that in most ways an i5 Kseries cpu based system would be better but it seems far more expensive.... unless you know different?)

 

[cemerian]

it would be more of a sidegrade, than upgrade, in your case you could get i5 with a cheap z87 or z97 board in to that budget, that would offer better performance

 

[simonmd]

Ok thanks, any suggestions as to where? I've been looking high and low and all the like for like i5/FX series combos have had the i5 significantly higher in price. Bear in mind that i'm also looking at including the RAM for that money, 8gb included in the above example. What spec i5 would you rate as being equal or better than the FX6350 then? I'm pretty sure im not going to get close to an i5 4690k for the same money, what model would be suitable, the i5 3570 maybe?

 

[cemerian]

i5 4690k and mai z97 g43/ asrock anniversary z97/asus z97p, either one of the boards and cpu should be in budget, as for ram you can use your old one from 1366
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

 

[simonmd]

Thanks but still £80 more for just the chip and board with no RAM! How important is the board in real life? I mean, I understand the 97 latest series, s it best to try and keep to them or will a slightly older board in the combo make little difference?

 

[cemerian]

it depends if you want to overclock or not, if you don't want to then a cheap h series board will do just fine, keep in mind they cannot go so high on memory speeds as z series, the main difference between z series and the rest is overclocking, any h, b series board will suite your needs and would be enough, older board doesn't make any bit of difference any lga 1150 board should run that chip without issues

 

[simonmd]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I currently have 6GB of 1600DDR3 RAM from my old board, that should be sufficient right? I was under the impression that they were 1333, I'm glad you reminded me to check!

 

[cemerian]

yeah should be enough, at those speed almost all lga 1150 boards should work

 

[mas7873]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£63.27 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.00 @ Kustom PCs)
Total: £261.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 21:27 GMT+0000

This combo would be much better than a 6350 and 970 mobo. It's a little more expensive, but worth it in my opinion.

 

[sora]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I currently have 6GB of 1600DDR3 RAM from my old board, that should be sufficient right? I was under the impression that they were 1333, I'm glad you reminded me to check!

That should be fine.

 

[simonmd]

Thanks to all for your input and advise. Despite the strong bias towards the i5, I'm going to go the AMD route as during all my searching, I've found another company that is even cheaper than the one listed above, making it pretty much HALF the price of a comparable i5 setup. I understand that overall, the i5 is the superior chip but to me, it's like saying that a BMW is better than a Ford. True no doubt but the Ford is vastly cheaper and still gets the job done.

Yes, I want to play games but it doesn't have to be extreme, no live twitch feeds for example, so I'm satisfied that for the money, a 6 core AMD FX chip will do fine as I've read many good things about it, on here and on other sites and I can't justify spending twice the cash for a small improvement. Sorry Intel fans, that's real life!