# New system AMD or Intel?



## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 23, 2012)

Going to be building a new system in June. Wondering to go with AMD and get an FX-8120 or a i5 2500, literally the same price. I will be getting 8GB of ram and 4 just seems like not enough, especially with BF3. I'm going to be spending around 160-180$ on a motherboard so it should be a decent one. So which should I go for, or is IB a better choice for the wait..?


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## entropy13 (Apr 23, 2012)

Go AMD if you are an AMD fanboy, go Intel if you want to spend your money well.

You could try waiting for IB.


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## erocker (Apr 23, 2012)

Have you bothered to look at various benchmarks/reviews around the web? The information is readily available. These threads turn into nothing but misplaced "fanboy" arguments. Once that starts, this thread goes away.


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## de.das.dude (Apr 23, 2012)

Go with intel if you like performance, Go with AMD if you want to have phun.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 23, 2012)

erocker said:


> Have you bothered to look at various benchmarks/reviews around the web? The information is readily available. These threads turn into nothing but misplaced "fanboy" arguments. Once that starts, this thread goes away.



Sorry, i did research but they seem very similar in performance and negatives and positives of both make them equal in mind. I was just looking for a second opinion.

Sorry for any mistakes off my ipod.


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## Outback Bronze (Apr 23, 2012)

i5 seems to be the choice 4 many gamers these days.


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## Vulpesveritas (Apr 23, 2012)

Go AMD if you strongly value ethics in your purchase, are hoping for future chips to be supported on the motherboard, run your PC as a server, or obsessively heavy multitask.
Go Intel if you are looking for performance in gaming, wanting to get insane overclocks, or using less electricity.


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## erocker (Apr 23, 2012)

Ivy Bridge is launching any day now. At least wait for that.


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## Vulpesveritas (Apr 23, 2012)

erocker said:


> Ivy Bridge is launching any day now. At least wait for that.



This.  Prices should (hopefully) come down on both the sandy bridge intel chips and AMD bulldozer chips.  
(on the intel side) If you aren't overclocking, I recommend going with an Ivy Bridge i5, otherwise it may be better to get a 2500k on the Intel side as it will likely be better performance/$$$.


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## lyndonguitar (Apr 23, 2012)

wait for the Ivy Bridge i5-K and THEN buy the i5-2500k at a cheap price IF and only if the reviews on Ivy Bridge are not good 


if not buy IB i5-K


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## Huddo93 (Apr 23, 2012)

Definitely go with the i5 3550k on the Z77 platform, and for the price point your going for with your motherboard, have a look at the AsRock Z77 Extreme 6. I bought the previous generation Z68 Extreme 7 and I have yet to be disappointed. Performs very well, and it looks amazing if your into the aesthetic side of building computers! 

The i5's are a better choice for gaming due to there lower power consumption and better performance per core, but if you like to run CPU heavy programs then take a loot at bulldozer (AMD FX series). 

But in the end its your choice  and in my opinion really just comes down to how heavily you wish to use your CPU.


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## Absolution (Apr 23, 2012)

and






I'd say go for the AMD, it offers more cores + added benefit incase you want to multi-task heavily. Also Windows 8 seems to be optimized for the FX line, so you might get extra performance there.

There is no doubt tho that the Intel i5 is superior than the AMD for other non gaming tasks, single-thread wise. AMDzone guys think what matters now are multi-threaded tests and single threaded ones are irrelevant.


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## caleb (Apr 23, 2012)

Absolution said:


> There is no doubt tho that the Intel i5 is superior than the AMD for other non gaming tasks


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## heky (Apr 23, 2012)

I say wait for IB. If you like what you see, you buy IB. If not, you buy 2500K or 2600K/2700K if you do much encoding or similar stuff. I wouldnt go the AMD way, just becouse it doesnt offer more preformance, but consumes more power. Just my 2 cents.


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 23, 2012)

Skt 2011 or Skt AM3+

nuff said.


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## xenocide (Apr 23, 2012)

I would say drop your Motherboard price range to around $100, and put the extra money towards an i7.  The i5-2500(k) is better in single threaded apps and most games, but the FX-8120 definitely edges it out in encoding.  The i7-2600k is the best of both worlds, but carries a higher price tag.  The only FX chip worth buying is in fact the 8120, and it is solid, but you pretty much have to overclock it and with BD once you start overclocking the power draw skyrockets.

If X79 motherboards were cheaper I would say go for the i7-3820, which seems to be a very good deal for the price, but X79 motherboards seem to be sitting around $175 last I checked, and you can get pretty good Z68/75/77 1155 motherboards for $80-120.


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## de.das.dude (Apr 23, 2012)

if you go AM3+ way, i suggest look at the M5A97 EVo mobo from ASUS. its full of awesomeness.


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## AlienIsGOD (Apr 23, 2012)

Vulpesveritas said:


> Go AMD if you strongly value ethics in your purchase



Again with this ?!?


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## Vulpesveritas (Apr 23, 2012)

AlienIsGOD said:


> Again with this ?!?



It is a factor which to some people may be important.
I won't go on about unless the op asks, don't worry.
But I do consider ethics a factor for purchase of any commodity.  
Unless you consider altruism to be pointless for society as a whole that is.  

That aside, if performance or power efficiency is most important to you, then at the moment, Intel wins hands down for gaming at this price point, and more or less everything else at any higher price point.


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## xenocide (Apr 24, 2012)

Vulpesveritas said:


> It is a factor which to some people may be important.
> I won't go on about unless the op asks, don't worry.
> But I do consider ethics a factor for purchase of any commodity.
> Unless you consider altruism to be pointless for society as a whole that is.
> ...



It's corporate business, everyone does it.  The only difference is Intel having the larger market share will always carry the burden.  It's the same thing with Microsoft and Apple in the 90's, everytime Microsoft did something questionable it was harshly criticized (making Internet Browser come with the system--for FREE... how dare they) but it wasn't until Apple became huge in the post-iPhone years that people started actually looking into how they operated--hint, it's no prettier.


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## suraswami (Apr 24, 2012)

i5 2500 seems to be better option, low power consumption, so you don't need to have a massive power supply to Crossfire or SLI with decent new generation cards.  Once you OC the FX it will consume loads of power.

May be put a list of all the things you want in your build both with i5 and FX and may be we can help you out.

In US FX-8120 is $150 + Free basic motherboard, that might be a better selling point.


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## xenocide (Apr 24, 2012)

suraswami said:


> i5 2500 seems to be better option, low power consumption, so you don't need to have a massive power supply to Crossfire or SLI with decent new generation cards.  Once you OC the FX it will consume loads of power.
> 
> May be put a list of all the things you want in your build both with i5 and FX and may be we can help you out.
> 
> In US FX-8120 is $150 + Free basic motherboard, that might be a better selling point.



That has to be a MicroCenter deal, and something like that isn't bound to last a while.  I saw a similar weekend deal like that through them a few weeks back, but it's not like that's an everyday price point.  According to Newegg the normal price is about $190, and any decent AM3+ mobo will cost like $50-100.

I do agree the i5-2500(k) is probably a better buy, but an FX-8120 setup is definitely cheaper--if you already have an 800w PSU :x


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## suraswami (Apr 24, 2012)

xenocide said:


> That has to be a MicroCenter deal, and something like that isn't bound to last a while.  I saw a similar weekend deal like that through them a few weeks back, but it's not like that's an everyday price point.  According to Newegg the normal price is about $190, and any decent AM3+ mobo will cost like $50-100.
> 
> I do agree the i5-2500(k) is probably a better buy, but an FX-8120 setup is definitely cheaper--if you already have an 800w PSU :x



Its everyday sale price now.


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## MQ1hunter (Apr 24, 2012)

You said bf3... intel i5 2500 multi player is cpu intensive. Easy to OC 4 ghz... with a good cooler.
Grab at least 560 ti with 2 gb of vram. 
Asus, msi, & gigabyte all make great mobo at that price. Personally asus rog or gigabyte always had good luck with those.


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## Aquinus (Apr 24, 2012)

I've been satisfied with my 3820, it's fast and works well. Also who knows what IVB-E will bring when Intel has a year to work out the issues from their first 22nm chips. Didn't anyone ever tell never to invest in the first generation of a new technology?


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## RevengE (Apr 24, 2012)

I have owned both Intel and AMD. I would go Intel this round. AMD has seriously been slacking the last oh, I don't know, 7 years.


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## Widjaja (Apr 24, 2012)

I have recently been in your situation as my 680i motherboard failed and a stick of RAM was taken out as well.
Initially I was looking directly for a AMD combo based on price until I took a look at the performance reviews.

The thing which totally put me off them was after looking at the performance of the FX6100 vs the Thuban 1090t.
A newer 6 core processor should not perform slower than it's predecessor.
Not a good sign.
A shame when I was hoping AMD was gong to blow Intel out of the water again like they did with the 939skt chips vs the Pentium Ds.

After this I started looking at performance comparisons between the FX8120 and the i5 2500k.
The FX8120 has more cores, and pumps out more heat, draws more power than the i5 2500k, yet does not perform as fast.

The Bulldozer chip is like some big turbo diesel engine while the 2500k is like a tuned sports car engine in comparison IMO.

In the end I could not justify purchasing the combo package since despite the i5 package being $100 more I am still getting a much better deal when running todays current software and better OC potential without needing water cooling so I went the extra $100 to get the i5 2500k package.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 24, 2012)

Thankyou all for feedback. I will wait for IB release, if its overpriced and perf is not as well as originally thought ill go with a 2500 or even a 2600.


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## xenocide (Apr 24, 2012)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Thankyou all for feedback. I will wait for IB release, if its overpriced and perf is not as well as originally thought ill go with a 2500 or even a 2600.



All the information dropped today, the new i5's are about the same price, maybe even a little cheaper, but don't overclock as well and run a tad hotter.  Basicaly an i7-2600k @ 4.7GHz is slightly slower but runs a little cooler than an IB i7 @ 4.5GHz.  I would wait for some deals on a 2500 or 2600 and try and snag one before they disappear entirely.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 24, 2012)

I may go into the $200 range on a mobo and even 16GB of ram and possibly a 2600k.


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## erocker (Apr 24, 2012)

1nf3rn0x said:


> http://img.techpowerup.org/120424/2500.jpg
> 
> I may go into the $200 range on a mobo and even 16GB of ram and possibly a 2600k.



I'm running both that motherboard and processor. It's a good setup, though I would really wait to see what your 3570K prices are like.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 24, 2012)

erocker said:


> I'm running both that motherboard and processor. It's a good setup, though I would really wait to see what your 3570K prices are like.



I expect prices to be much higher than whats seen in the US on release, but I'm going to the US in June for a holiday, if the price is far apart would buying the 3570k over there be a good decision?

EDIT: Here are some socket 2011 prices from a local store!
Hex Core i7-3820 $298 
i7-3930K $587 
Core i7-3960X $1045

So could you assume the price of the 3570k?


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## erocker (Apr 24, 2012)

That 3820 is a good price. Same as around here but a little cheaper. That may be a good option.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm guessing it outperforms the 3570k?


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 24, 2012)

erocker said:


> That 3820 is a good price. Same as around here but a little cheaper. That may be a good option.



heck look at the model number, only reason the K is there is so you have an unlocked multiplier, but stock for stock the 3820 even beats out the 3770K slightly


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 24, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> heck look at the model number, only reason the K is there is so you have an unlocked multiplier, but stock for stock the 3820 even beats out the 3770K slightly



I don't have much knowledge on Ivy Bridge I haven't put much research into it. Sorry


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## eidairaman1 (Apr 24, 2012)

1nf3rn0x said:


> I don't have much knowledge on Ivy Bridge I haven't put much research into it. Sorry



there are reviews on the front page already check them out


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## Fourstaff (Apr 24, 2012)

1nf3rn0x said:


> I don't have much knowledge on Ivy Bridge I haven't put much research into it. Sorry



Almost the same as its counterparts in Sandy Bridge, except for a boost in the graphics department which we don't care, and Quick Sync for encoding videos which gets a nice boost. And it overclocks poorer by about 0.5Ghz


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## qubit (Apr 24, 2012)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Going to be building a new system in June. Wondering to go with AMD and get an FX-8120 or a i5 2500, literally the same price. I will be getting 8GB of ram and 4 just seems like not enough, especially with BF3. I'm going to be spending around 160-180$ on a motherboard so it should be a decent one. So which should I go for, or is IB a better choice for the wait..?



Intel has 0wned AMD for several years now and will continue to do so for the foreseable future. They beat them in every benchmark and measurement going, especially nowadays. Going Intel now is a no-brainer, especially if the system you're comparing are the same price. Your only question should be _which_ Intel CPU and chipset to buy.


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## Frick (Apr 24, 2012)

qubit said:


> Intel has 0wned AMD for several years now and will continue to do so for the foreseable future. They beat them in every benchmark and measurement going, especially nowadays. Going Intel now is a no-brainer, especially if the system you're comparing are the same price. Your only question should be _which_ Intel CPU and chipset to buy.



Aye this be true. If your on an ultra tight budget or after a HTPC or something AMD is pretty good, but most of the time you are 100% correct.


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## xenocide (Apr 25, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> Almost the same as its counterparts in Sandy Bridge, except for a boost in the graphics department which we don't care, and Quick Sync for encoding videos which gets a nice boost. And it overclocks poorer by about 0.5Ghz



It's about 5-8% faster clock for clock, so if you can get an IB chip to 4.5GHz, you'd need a SB chip at ~4.8GHz to beat it in terms of performance.  If you take overclocking into consideration they are about even, but for most people if they are the same price, IB is a better buy.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 25, 2012)

Hopefully sb goes down in price, 2600k looks ideal imo (and cheaper as a whole for similar perf) , since 2011 motherboards here are still very expensive.


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## qubit (Apr 25, 2012)

Frick said:


> Aye this be true. If your on an ultra tight budget or after a HTPC or something AMD is pretty good, but most of the time you are 100% correct.



Yes, I was wondering about the budget end of things. For getting a cheap PC, AMD wins. The question then becomes one of is the saving worth it. I don't think there's a single answer to that one, as it depends on various factors.

AMD _did_ have the better IGP if using that is important for the user. However, I don't know how Trinity will compare with HD4000. That will be interesting to see. They certainly better up their game to nail Haswell's IGP though.


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## ensabrenoir (Apr 25, 2012)

Wow seriously?..... this topic will be debated for  23.9 hours after the world comes to an end.

Intel = Superman

Amd = Clark Kent

Who do you need?


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## Fourstaff (Apr 25, 2012)

ensabrenoir said:


> Wow seriously?..... this topic will be debated for  23.9 hours after the world comes to an end.
> 
> Intel = Superman
> 
> ...



Unfortunately its not the case at the price point OP is looking :shadedshu

No Bulldozer chip comes close to an overclocked 2600K in tasks which matter to the OP.


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## Konceptz (Apr 30, 2012)

If gaming is your primary focus, I'd personally go with the Intel Core i5-3570K. If on a tight budget the i5 2500k is good as well.


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## Cotton_Cup (Apr 30, 2012)

either way you go as long as you have a kick ass graphics card (at least quad core of amd or so or 2 core  2 threads or 4 core 4 threads or something with intel)

paired along with gtx680/580/7970 or go sli them or something then your good to go ^_^


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## baggpipes (Apr 30, 2012)

erocker said:


> Have you bothered to look at various benchmarks/reviews around the web? The information is readily available. These threads turn into nothing but misplaced "fanboy" arguments. Once that starts, this thread goes away.



LOL... i love this...


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