Hey people, I am very close to finalising my first gaming build but as I have been doing the research all myself it would be nice to have some of you guys help me out and point me in the right direction.
So I have finally decided on the 8320 or the 8350, here is what I want to know:
Is there a big difference between the two CPUs? The majority of builds I have seen have been with the 8350.
Do 8350s using 990 motherboards? And can you use a 8320 on a 970 motherboard? If this is the case I'd probably save $100 AU on the 8320.
With a R9 280X, what power supply wattage would I need for the system? This is where I am getting confused, I thought a 750W would be plenty but I have seen people put 600-650W and was just wondering if that is right? If so that would also save me a bit of cash.
I was told 16GB memory would be absolutely awesome and speed things up (also will be using a SSD).
So that's it guys! Any information on this would be awesome, I am looking to ordering my parts in 2 weeks! If possible maybe a build of each so I can compare? If you guys could help me outit would be greatly appreciated.
1. I have an 8350, but as far as I know there isn't much of a difference other than clockspeed between the 8320 and 8350.
2. Both can operate on a 970 chipset, but I wouldn't recommend it. I had my 8350 on a 970 board for a couple of months, and it wouldn't OC at all (not sure why I even tried). Go 990fx if you're getting a 8320 or 8350.
3. A 280x is essentially a rebranded 7970, and IIRC the tdp is somewhere around 250w. I don't think you'll need anything more than a 600-650w. I ran my old rig with an 8350 @4.7ghz and a 7950 with several peripherals and it was on a 620w.
4. You don't need 16gb for gaming, but it can't hurt any.
Thanks for the tips iNvalidRequiem, so I might as well pay the extra $40 AU for the 8350, not much of a saving really. Hmm hopefully I can make a final decision on the build now :p
I have an 8320 because to get 8350 performance, you need only overclock. I have an R9 270X with a 630W PSU and the actual wattage I get from everything from playing games is well under the PSU's limits. Around 300W playing BF3. The 280X does consume more power, but not enough to warrant spending money for 700-750 PSU.
HOWEVER, if there's a 700-750 PSU that's cheaper than, say, a 650W PSU, then go ahead and get the 750 PSU because that's just smart shopping. You can upgrade to a better card in the future or whatever.
As for as chipsets, basically what Requiem said, DO NOT use 970 chipsets for 8 cores. You can use them for 6 cores or less but that's it. You get serious stability issues when you max out the motherboards limits as far as TDP. I almost purchased the MSI 970A-G46 for my 8320 and I'm glad that I didn't. It would have burned up in less than a week. I use the ASUS M5A99X PRO R2.0, which can handle the highest TDP cores from AMD, the 9370 and 9590, as you saw in Pistol's Rig video.
For RAM, when it comes to gaming, you don't need any more than 8GB, but you'll be doing stuff like productivity and editing, that's when you'll need more. If you'll be streaming and gaming, 8GB is still more than enough. 1600MHz is basically the standard for quality gaming. If you purchase higher than that, your motherboard will downclock the frequency to 1600 unless if you tell the BIOS to run it at the speed you bought it. I have 1866 RAM, but I'm very unskilled in overclocking right now, so I leave everything stock.
...I don't have an SSD (yet), but get it.
Thanks HalenShredder, that actually helps me a heap! I was set on getting 16GB memory but if 8 is plenty then that saves me quite a bit. Also I do not overclock, have no idea what it is or how to do it LOL so I guess the 8320 is best for me?
I can't thank you guys enough, should I get a R9 280X or 270?
A very late reply but if you haven't purchased anything yet, I WOULD say get the 280X as it's better and if you have the money for it, go for it.
However, thanks to Litecoin mining, AMD cards are FLYING off the shelves. A 280X costs around $400 now, when it should cost $300. I have the 270X, a $200 card, and right now it's approaching $300.
That being said, I would go with Nvidia. Their prices are still about normal with the MSRP. A 760 is about the same as a R9 280X, a bit less powerful, and it costs less than the 270X right now. I would get that.