Did i make a mistake going with AMD?

I decided to go the amd route over a year ago now thinking that the new fx chips would compete with intel. But as we all know they just simply dont. Also i'm close to getting a couple of 580s. Would this be a wasteof money with what i have now. Would it be a wise move to sell my board and cpu and go with a 1155 z77 and a 2600K and oc it to 4.5 ?. Or will my phenom 965Be keep up with the 580s ?

got a 990fxa ud3 am3+  

what socket is your motherboard? if it's am3+, get an fx-8350, since your looking at an i7.... the fx-series isn't THAT much worse than the i5's.... if you already have an am3+ mobo, it isn't worth getting a whole new mobo and processor, especially if you going for an i7. 

fx-8350: $220

i7 2600k+oc-grade mobo: $500+

Yeah, I'd think that a 965 would Bottlneck 580 SLI. I was going to say that the 8350 should be enough, considering Piledriver is a decent boost over Bulldozer, but http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5 happened, And thats using 1 GPU. so.... I Mean, You're getting 580 SLI; Assuming you're buying them, it seems money isn't that big of an issue. If I'm right about that, moving to 1155 might will probable be the better move. You could always get a 2500k instead of a 2600k, and save $100 bucks, if you decide to go that way. I dont think anything could bottleneck an OC'd i5

Well, it really depends on why you bought those two 580s. Do you plan on playing games across 3 monitors at some insanely high resolution? If so, then you don't need to worry too much about the CPU honestly, because the greatest workload is going to be sheer resolution output. If on the other hand, your monitors are 120Hz monitors, then the CPU is much more likely to bottleneck your system.

Theoretically, if your CPU can acheive 70FPS at a certain setting with a low resolution, it should be able to get the same at an insanely high resolution, assuming the GPU can't be bottlenecked. Some engines off load certain tasks to the CPU (which they shouldn't) so resolutions can affect a CPUs abilities but not often.

im just gaming at 1920 x 1080 and i can get 2 580s for the price of a higher end 680 think i might just get them and see how things go.

I have a phenom II x6 that is great, i dont know if a cpu if a huge factor in gaming, its more gpu than anything. I know my 5770 is a big bottle neck. I'd say keep your fx and buy the 580s. Then decide if you need new hardware.

 

EDIT: didnt know he didnt have a FX

dude, get a 7970, gets better fps than the 680 with the new drivers.....

It's possible that the 965 will bottleneck, but if you get a good cooler and OC, I think you'll be just fine. What I would is upgrade to a vishera 6300 fx. It's a six core and great for the money. Yeah the fx isn't going to compete very well with intel's i5s, but these fx processors that amd is coming out with recently aren't too shabby. Stay AWAY from the Bulldozer series. They're mediocore compared to the new fx series.

A 965 will probably bottleneck those two cards. I don't know how two 580s compare to 680 or 7970, but I'd just take the single card solution. More power-efficient, less of a headache, runs cooler, and it's either a little faster or a little faster( but you can oc them more)

Since you have the 990FX mobo, just get the new Piledriver CPUs. Buy a 8350, a decent cooler, and just oc it. If you want to save some money, the 6300 can handle higher-end cards and SLI( probably even the 4300). Just get the 6300, a decent cooler, and OC it.

If you're thinking of switching to Intel, it'll cost you way more.

Oh, I forgot, If you either OC that CPU enough, or be gaming at high resolutions, you can remove potential bottlenecks with your current build.

I like your name

the fx is not as bad as most people make it out to be... Fx may not be as good clock for clock but it does overclock very high while maintaining fairly good temps (better than ivy), if power is not a concern I would stick with your AMD build, there is not going to be a visual diffrence in speed and if you sell you will just loose money since no one is going to buy used electonics at retail price.

hahah i feel stupid, I see you have an older amd CPU, it just depends on the game some are cpou heavy while others are GPU intensive. but for the most part the bottle neck should not be too bad

Touché

It always costs more for Intel, but it's always more than worth it. 

well i detect some intel fanboyism