So since FM2+ won't have 6 or 8 cores processors (apparently) I have another thing to fix here. I was going to buy an Athlon II X4 750K on FM2+ MoBo because it's HELLA CHEAP. But the absence of L3 cache and lack of the possibility to upgrade to 6 or 8 cores bugs me, so I kept searching here and there. It turns out I can get a somewhat shitty FX-4130 for ten bucks more and go AM3+.
Now, while the FX-4130 has 8MB of L3 cache, it appears that it sucks quite a lot even compared to the older Phenom II X4 9xx processors, still it appears to perform just as good as the Athlon II (with higher clock because Bulldozer/Zambezi is quite a POS arch), though the Athlon has no L3 cache. Now to the point: is that worth it? The possibility to upgrade to an FX-8350 in a couple years may be compelling, but what about the future of the two platforms? Which variables should I take into consideration? Please leave your comments and suggestions.
PS: I know I could get a 4300 which is way better for another fifteen bucks, but my budget is (as you may have realized) quite tight and even that much more would quite hurt.
In a couple years the fX8350 might be irrelevant. Personally I would say go for the FX8350 now or if not get what's best now for the money you are working with and not thinking about getting something to fit your needs years later
That may be the case, but still would 8 half decent cores be better than four faster cores? Because I think that will be the case. If this thing I'm trying to build is going to be outdated anyway, which way would it be better to take to get the best I could?
I believe in the case of these 4 "stronger cores" (being a 750k) then yes a 8350 would be better, or atleast in more recent games. Maybe in games that are really cpu heavy on individual cores but only uses 2 then the 750k would be better.
i would go for a FX6300 if you can afford. Still a very decent cpu for its money. Dont botter for a FX4300 because its allmost the same price as the FX6300.
The FX-6300 was actually my initial goal, but you see how it went: I suddently had little money left, so I went more with the Athlon (66€). for a little more I could get the FX-4130 AKA the ugly one (77€). The FX-4300 would be 88€ (yeah that's quite stupid) and the FX-6300 would be 105€. It may sound like nothing but 30€ are something especially if one has no job like myself XD that could be an option only if I cheap out on the motherboard or PSU. OR if I don't buy an hard drive and use the USB external drive for the OS...Is that even possible to use Windows on a USB HDD? Because I could totally wait a couple months before getting a SATA3 drive in that case.
the best thing about usb drive enclosures is you can pull them apart and use them on the stata ports :)
That sounds compelling, that I can do! I remember disassembling an old, old USB drive that was actually an IDE hard drive enclosed in an odd metal box, are you telling me that's the same with newer stuff?
you could do that when it come to HDD. I have booted off of externals and ran the system. It works fine if you are in a bind but i dint recommend it for extended use. It is better to just bite the bullet and get an internal HDD,
Yeah I figure USB2.0 is a huge bottleneck to the system, but that would indeed be a temporary solution.
i do understand that money can be realy an issue, i dont have a job either. i still going to college.
you cannot install windows on an external HDD and boot from that, as far as i know ☺
Most new external HDD´s are sata, you could make those internal.
Just went researching here and there, as it turns out mine is most likely a 5400RPM SATA drive. I guess 5400RPM would hold down the performance quite a bit, maybe with the Win8 fastboot I can overcome most of the frustration until I get enough money to buy something else...
Just for the sake of knowledge it appears that installing and using Win7 on a USB drive is possible, but I wouldn't mess around THAT much. Moreover, converting an USB drive to a SATA one would, even if just a bit, improve the performance
5400 rpm is totaly fine ☺
you can allways upgrade to a ssd later on for boot and use the 5400 rpm as a storage later on. Totaly No problem.
Thanks for the infos :) So, I guess that shall be it. Six cores today, SSD tomorrow. Being this the first "true" build I make, with all this strange stuff going on (I will be using an old, old case with the Windows 2000 logo on it), I will totally call this thing "Frankenstein-PC" XD.
http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1185&page=0
for gaming CPU doesn't really matter, just go with a better GPU.
you really did not say what you were using this computer for, but if you are going for a low cost build, you are using a low cost motherboard. with the AM3+ line the the low-end mobos only support the 95w CPUs up to the 6300 (6350 is a 125w TDP).
also by the time that you are needing to upgrade the CPU you will need a new mobo and you might as well go and buy something like a ASUS M5A99FX Pro R2 ($140 US) and a FX8350 ($200 US) (this combo is what i am using), or what next FX CPU in 2015 is.
so just go with the cheaper FM2+ and when you are in better time, upgrade everything and give this computer to a family member who want to surf the internet or something.
PS. the FX8350 (which i own) is overkill for most gamers. the 8350 can run 2 copies of borderlands 2 with CPU physx on a 7870 (medium settings because i am still GPU bound) and still be getting 50-60FPS.
Ok I'll tell you what my project is as of today, I already have a GTX 560Ti 2GB edition from MSI, I only have it because I could get it second hand for 100€ and it is quite a good card.
For the Motherboard I was going to get the asus m5a97 evo r2.0 (80-90€ or so), pretty standard, older chipset but it should be 8 core ready and also allow a little bit of overclock.
I am aware of the fact that even the Athlon is good enough today, but my goal was to upgrade easily in the future. The motherboard I chose may not be enough for the FX-9590 but, seriously? That CPU isn't even worth the money over the FX-8320/8350.
For the same reasons I am going for a 500W PSU (Corsair CX500) even though I would be fine with a much lower wattage given my configuration, you see i want this thing to be as future proof as possible.
Even though I only have 4GBs of RAM as of now I am quite happy with the thing I am doing: thanks to second hand things I got I can build this thing for 380€ in total. Once you convert it to dollars it's not as good looking but here in Italy the prices are much higher.
The stronger cores would be the hypothetical "Athlon II X4 880K", a Steamroller or better yet Excavator quad core CPU for FM2+, even though I think they would trash FM2+ by the time Excavator comes to light.
the Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 is indeed a very sollid board for its price, i own it my self with FX8350. runs like champ no problems so far at all.
Am I right saying that one could overclock a bit on that? Nothing extreme but let's say something like 500MHz more - providing one has a decent cooling system.
if you realy have the "EVO" board, this board has a 6+2 powerphase and digi vrm´s. Same powerphase design as the Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 or the M5A99FX Pro R2.0. So basicly you should be able to do that without any issues.
But some people think that the Asus M5A97 R2.0 is the same as the EVO, but thats not the case, because this board has only a 4+2 powerphase and digi vrm.
Grtz Angel ☺