Direction to go with CPU choice

Ok first this is what I have now............. The motherboard I have was a quick replacement for an Asus board I have that was out for RMA at the time I wanted a quick replacement so I did not incur any downtime.

My computer is all play, heavy gaming, video encoding, movies. Right now it does everything very very well. I play most every game on Ultra to high settings with FPS to spare. I like everyone else just want more. lol. Everything right now is stock cooled although I have fan controller and 7 case fans. As I go forward Im looking to go with some extra cooling either water or decent air setup for the CPU.

AMD Phenom II 965BE C3 125W Deneb
ASRock i870 Cafe R2.0
8 Gig Crucial DDR3 1333
EVGA GTX 570 1280
Xion Predator Case AXP 970
WD 1TB 7200RPM Caviar Black
Antec Neo Eco 620 W PSU
Windows 7 Home 64 Bit
HP 2311X 23" 1920x1080 HD monitor

So here is what Im looking for thoughts on.. Im looking at going forward with a new CPU/mob/memory combo. I will also add an SSD or 2 along with a new storage drive(s) but I want to get my sytems core done first
So far here are my thought scenarios.

Scenario A

This motherboard will accept FX chips with a Bios flash (I already flashed it)
Get a FX chip either FX8120 or 8150 with some better memory (it's cheap now) and a water cooler and overclock the snot out of my CPU. The upside here is this is a reletively low cost solution however It's a cross fire only board and not a great OC board but most likely doable.



Scenario B

Get a new 990 chipset board new memory and an FX chip and another GTX570 along with my water cooling. If I do this I want it to be good for a couple years but not really sure if FX is worth it.



Scenario C

Get a new Z77 mobo and get an Ivy bridge CPU and memory along with another GTX 570 and be good for hopefully like 3 years taking advantage of PCIE 3.0 etc.

My only issue with A&B scenario is the reported lack of performance from the FX chips. Is it really that bad ?? I have always like AMD stuff but my gut tells me I should pass on the Dozer line.


My heart and head tell me to go scenario C
Are my thoughts on the FX chips off base ?? should I go ahead with AMD again ? Or will I be disapointed and not see any real gains from my 965 to the FX series ?

Any of you have thoughts on this ??

I'd either get the FX-8120 and drop it in what you have now or splurge and get an I5-2500k and a Z68 or Z77 Mobo.

glazer1972 said:

I'd either get the FX-8120 and drop it in what you have now or splurge and get an I5-2500k and a Z68 or Z77 Mobo.

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The FX-8120 is a nice choice and definitely an upgrade over what you currently have however not if you want to overclock as that board is a 4+1 power phase design. I'd have concerns about the board being able to supply enough juice to the chip if you wanted to overclock. You should however be able to hit FX8150 stock speeds no worries as the boards compatible with the FX8150, just don't expect much more than that.

If you're replacing the board as well you may as well jump across to Intel with the i5 2500k. The only real reason to stick with AMD (at least until piledriver is released) is if you prefer AMD and thats just personal preference.

For board + CPU however Intel is better value right now.

Thanks much for the replys there folks

@mjw21a You shrugged at the end of your post and thats what keeps happening to me

I go to bed one night and say Im going to do one thing and the next night im ready to go the other way. LOL

Im thinking Intel is gonna be the way based simply on the fact this board is a x-fire only board and I really would like another card to SLI. This board as I said was a quick buy to keep me going when my other Asus board went belly up. It was only 70 dollars and it has been worth all of that so I cannot complain.

In a perfect scenario this board would be SLI ready and I would drop an FX chip and another GTX570 and concentrate on my SSD's etc. But that can't happen sooooo...

Another thing on the side of going Intel is I live less than an hour from Boston where there is a Micro Center and they sell 2500 chips for 179 all the time so yah really cannot beat that. They also had a sale a week ago where if you buy the 2500 they will take 50 bucks off any of the mobo's for the CPU. Again very nice prices.

Pft, I don't believe in the need for more than 1x video card. All my components have been chosen with this philosophy in mind.

My mainboard is only good for crossfire being 970 based, I'm only running a 550W PSU, and I'm running a 32" screen rather than 3x smaller screens. When I eventually need more graphics performance I'll just upgrade to a faster video card.

I have always believed that simplicity is the key to a reliable computer. 2x video cards means double the chance of hardware failure coupled with an increased likelyhood of driver issues in games.

Besides, the savings I've made with a lower end mainboard, PSU and single large screen mean I can replace the video card more regularly. You just don't need more than one video card unless you're gaming with 3+ screens

mjw21a said:

Pft, I don't believe in the need for more than 1x video card. All my components have been chosen with this philosophy in mind.

My mainboard is only good for crossfire being 970 based, I'm only running a 550W PSU, and I'm running a 32" screen rather than 3x smaller screens. When I eventually need more graphics performance I'll just upgrade to a faster video card.

I have always believed that simplicity is the key to a reliable computer. 2x video cards means double the chance of hardware failure coupled with an increased likelyhood of driver issues in games.

Besides, the savings I've made with a lower end mainboard, PSU and single large screen mean I can replace the video card more regularly. You just don't need more than one video card unless you're gaming with 3+ screens

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Heck I do not "need" anything more than I already have. I can play any game or whatever I wish to do. I do this stuff because it's fun.

I like playing around with the hardware. It's a hobby for me and I love doing all kinds of things especially if I have not done it before. There is always something I can do with these boxes and I really enjoy it. Issues with hardware and drivers doesn't bother me either. I like resolving the issues also.

It's never ever been about "what I need" Spending all this time deciding what to get and what to do is also part of it. When someone in the house here walks up behind me and says What are you doing they look at my screen and say, ohh your looking at parts again

Lol, thats where I differ. I get to play with software and driver problems a fair bit at work. It's the last thing I want when I get home and want to play a computer game. Hardware on the other hand remains a passion as you don't really work with that in IT. Hardware plays up and you get the vendor to replace the part under warranty.

I would go with a new intel system, and go for the I-2700K or just upgrade your current setup to a 980BE and OC to 4.0 if you have the capability.

3570K
Asus maximus V Gene


All you need.

Don Karnage said:

3570K
Asus maximus V Gene


All you need.

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I love the Maximus boards and would love to get one. I just always wonder why they are always micro atx size ??

I don't really look at it as a con but I always tend to lean towards full size boards

rogbur22 said:

I love the Maximus boards and would love to get one. I just always wonder why they are always micro atx size ??

I don't really look at it as a con but I always tend to lean towards full size boards

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Yeah the whole micro atx thing - an ongoing compromise. If I can help it I use a full sized board. Then again I have 5 cores running in a little xion htpc case and its stable at 4.2, just a GeminII S524 for cooling, had to cut out a section of the hood lol like a blower intake on a mustang. But I really do think it was the older generations of micro atx boards that tended to leave a bad taste in my mouth, overheating, etc. But the newer stuff is nearly bulletproof, all of the components are of a much higher quality and durability. Thats why you are seeing 5.0Ghz and higher, more and more. The great thing about overclocking is it just keeps getting better

So Don Karnage, whats with the evil dingo avatar?

They aren't always mATX form factor. There're some ATX counterparts (there isn't a MVF or MVE yet, but they'll come), f.ex., for the MIVG, there was the MIVE. Only problem? Pay the about 400 bucks that board is priced at.

mjw21a said:

So Don Karnage, whats with the evil dingo avatar?

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If you don't know who the picture is of you're just too young

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaleSpin

Don Karnage said:

If you don't know who the picture is of you're just too young

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34 too young?

txus.palacios said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaleSpin

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Wow, I'd totally forgotten about Tailspin. I need to get copies, it was the best ever!