FX8120 vs i5 2500k

Intel i5 2500k vs FX8120





http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574 -$150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 -$220

TOTAL= $370

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1132X509988Xe0af5453c8f29a439c005794ea8abeba -$110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961 -$210
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1132X509988X8a4cc98b237740e6551f9370ad32733b -$125

TOTAL=$320

OR

TOTAL = $335




Current things I already have for this build.

MOBO > NEED NEW ONE
CPU > NEED NEW ONE
MEMORY > NEED NEW ONE - Really cheap not worried about it.
POWER SUPPLY > Corsair TX 850W
VIDEO CARD > ATI/5970/One for now
HDDs > HHD 7200rmp 500gp Seagate/ 1TB Cariar Black 7200rmp 6.0gbps
BURNERS > Lightscribe read/write/dvd/cd
SOUND DEVICE > NONE/Listen to music on my iPhone
USB > Razr mouse/wireless keyboard transmitter/brother laser printer/Logitec orbit AF webcam/ iPhone 4S (sometimes!)
O/S > Win 7 Ultimate 64bit

Get Z68 Gen 3 board and a 2500K. Runs cooler, proven, OCs cooler, lower power bill, etc etc etc. Plus there's no perf diff really. You can basically have a cooler running system that eats less electricity and needs a cheaper cooler to OC. 2500K. *disclaimer- not AMD bashing- I tried 2 8120s and did not like the CPU and went back to sandy.

8120/8150 edge out Thubans but only at a high overclock eating a lot of wattage and needing a serious cooler while a 2500K could match said perf running cool around 100W vs 200 and change on a cheapo cooler like a 212+.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1132X509988X20053a53672e95626adea6f841d3fefa

Unless you want to shell out another chunk of $ and get the Gigabyte G1 Z68 Gen3, this too is my board suggestion. I second Adam on this one. I've used. Exceptional. Also gives you Gen 3 PCIE and Z68 so if you want a 28nm IB CPU when those come out you have the capability. Don't sell yourself short. Z68 Gen 3 is what we suggest to everyone at this stage in the game for Sandybridge. I would not buy a P67 board at this point. Only Z68 Gen 3 PCIE. That's what that board is. Overclocks easier than tipping over an empty plastic bottle. Even more so than other SB boards. Once you get it use the guide in my sig to be at 4.5Ghz instantly. Buy a coolermaster Hyper 212+ or Evo (if the evo is on sale) its all you need for 2500K even if it can hit 5Ghz the 212 will take it. They run cold. Not just cool. The higher cache HT models like 26 27 run warm but 25 runs cold. That in itself is a money saver for the overclocker because a 25 dollar heatsink is all you'll ever need.

(About the G1)- its more expensive because it has a superior audio chip and superior network chip on-board. I think you're paying a bit for the level of styling too. Lights up green. Cool stuff.

I never cheap out on motherboards. $180 floor for me. I've never been satisfied with a 'budget' or 'midrange' board. 'mid high' 'high' and 'enthusiast' are the only ones that tickle me. I need the higher quality VRM and featureset. YMMV and your needs may differ. I'm just giving you my angle. A man can only speak from his own shoes. On that note while the VRM (voltage regulation secion, basically, where the power is regulated and fed to the CPU) is superior on the ASUS board though the Gigabyte board's VRM is nothing to shake a stick at and it makes up for it with the rest of itself.





Tried both. Went back. IMO get Sandybridge.

The 2500k edges the BD out in gaming by a little bit, but don't let the sandy bros fool you, its not that much better than the BD.

an OC'd bulldozer does eat power though, but not that much, the sandy bros act like your power bill is going to go up by $100 a month by just buying a BD.

Either one will work.
I would go sandybridge.

Bobnova said:

Either one will work.
I would go sandybridge.

Click to expand...

Agreed, though I think the i5 is the better choice right now. My personal preference tends to sway me back towards an AMD solution however the smart choice is really the Intel solution right now.

Khan said:

The 2500k edges the BD out in gaming by a little bit, but don't let the sandy bros fool you, its not that much better than the BD.

an OC'd bulldozer does eat power though, but not that much, the sandy bros act like your power bill is going to go up by $100 a month by just buying a BD.

Click to expand...

Also correct. Your choice of an effiecient power supply (Bronze, Silver or Gold rated) will make a bigger difference. To tell the truth, the amount of money spent on a more expensive PSU is more than you'll ever save in power, and if it fails you have to buy another one.

I have an I5-2500K and an Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 coming. My last upgrade was in 07 and that was still a Socket A. This build will be so fast that it will probably end up blowing one of my brain circuits.

For that bit better gaming performance and better overclocking potential right now i would go i5 2500K if i was building a new rig.

Its right what AdamN26 said, a Phenom II x6 beats an FX-8, that's not to say its not a powerful chip, it is, but for its money it can't cut it.

I also agree with Khan and mjw21a.

You can't just look at Chip A vs Chip B.

2500K overclocks higher
runs cooler (cheaper $30 vs $100 heatsink for max OC)
Uses less electricity (lower cost of ownership)
Easier to overclock
More modern architecture on CPU and Mobo

If you do the math, the FX cpu is another $70 over the 2500K because of the $ you have to spend to cool an FX 8 to its maximum OC potential, which will still be lower than a 2500K, generally speaking.

Khan said:

The 2500k edges the BD out in gaming by a little bit, but don't let the sandy bros fool you, its not that much better than the BD.

an OC'd bulldozer does eat power though, but not that much, the sandy bros act like your power bill is going to go up by $100 a month by just buying a BD.

Click to expand...

I believe the issue is more about PSU output and dealing with heat than electricity bill.

As TheOCNBoob stated, don't take only into account the price of the CPU+MoBO, but the extra $70 to achieve same OC and the $20/$30 for the extra 100W PSU.

Gamers are going to say the 2500k is better but if your using application that can take advange to 8 cores the FX8120 would be faster especially if you ditch the turd of an OS called windows. If your doing a lot of h.264 video encoding FX 8 core is the way to go

res0r9lm said:

Gamers are going to say the 2500k is better but if your using application that can take advange to 8 cores the FX8120 would be faster especially if you ditch the turd of an OS called windows. If your doing a lot of h.264 video encoding FX 8 core is the way to go

Click to expand...

Good point.

That's the case even on Windows, my x6 beats a 2500K in encoding by a good margin (windows), an FX is faster there then my x6....

I do both... and if i could afford to have a top end GPU i can afford to get a 2700K, never mind a 2500K, its a good all rounder for its money

Theocnoob said:

You can't just look at Chip A vs Chip B.

2500K overclocks higher
runs cooler (cheaper $30 vs $100 heatsink for max OC)
Uses less electricity (lower cost of ownership)
Easier to overclock
More modern architecture on CPU and Mobo

If you do the math, the FX cpu is another $70 over the 2500K because of the $ you have to spend to cool an FX 8 to its maximum OC potential, which will still be lower than a 2500K, generally speaking.

Click to expand...

if he lives next to a microcenter they have a deal if you buy a 8120 you get a free mobo (i saw ones over $100) so it could still be cheaper

the OP's post is over two months ago, he probably got his stuff by now.

trekky said:

if he lives next to a microcenter they have a deal if you buy a 8120 you get a free mobo (i saw ones over $100) so it could still be cheaper

Click to expand...

Microcenter also has a similar deal for 2500k. Also their 2500k is $180.

res0r9lm said:

Gamers are going to say the 2500k is better but if your using application that can take advange to 8 cores the FX8120 would be faster especially if you ditch the turd of an OS called windows. If your doing a lot of h.264 video encoding FX 8 core is the way to go

Click to expand...

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=669&pgno=6

2500k @ 4.0 beats FX-8130p @ 4.6.

Looks to me like it's not good for x264 encoding.

ShadowPho said:

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=669&pgno=6

2500k @ 4.0 beats FX-8130p @ 4.6.

Looks to me like it's not good for x264 encoding.

Click to expand...

The results are preloaded and can be checked against that image simply by taking is from there own software, or just running it your self.

2500K @ 4.5Ghz: 20.1 - FX-8150 @ 4Ghz: 21.3 - x6 1090T @ 4Ghz: 20.6



oh... and one other thing. there might be something nasty on that site....

And what about using virtu (with a z68 chipset) for transcoding?

EDIT: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lucidlogix-virtu-gpu-virtualization,2877-5.html

manu2b said:

And what about using virtu (with a z68 chipset) for transcoding?

EDIT: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lucidlogix-virtu-gpu-virtualization,2877-5.html

Click to expand...

With your 2600K game rendering link i can't see what your getting at?

Also, read the coments there, few seem happy.

Last tab is video converting.
Also, read the full page there.

Edit: btw, that was only a suggestion as the OP may like to know the different possibilities from someone who daily uses both platforms.