FX8320 or FX8350?

I was going to build an i5, but now I'm considering a FX instead. I am planning to get a Sabertooth 990FX & I'm wondering about which CPU. I'll be using water to cool the CPU (Apogee block, D5, 3x120 rad). Will the FX8320 get just as far as a FX8350 or is the FX8350 a minimum starting point?

BTW, this would be my first AMD since socket 7.

I would go with 8350, odds are better to get a good chip

It's pretty much going to be luck of the draw, it will also depend on how far you're looking to push. If looking to see just how far it will go, I agree with LRG5. If looking for a nice daily OC you'll probably see about the same clocks out of both. Most daily "stable" Oc's top out around 5.0 Ghz give or take depending on the voltage needed and ambient temps. Earlier versions of the 8xxx chips tend to need more volts to run X Oc then the latter ones. Mine in particular needs a hefty amount of volts once I get above 4.7 Ghz which is where I run daily on a similar loop as you mention. If the chip is a lower voltage one you may be able to run near or at 5.0 without too much heat. One thing I will mention is, you better have a good PSU to really push one of these. Most of us pushing these chips on water will also put fans on the VRM section and the backside of the mother board to keep the socket temps down.

Mandrake4565 said:

One thing I will mention is, you better have a good PSU to really push one of these. Most of us pushing these chips on water will also put fans on the VRM section and the backside of the mother board to keep the socket temps down.

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You said an accurate mouthful there "mandrake".

RGone...

FX rocks with video encoding. That's one thing I can guarantee. I wouldn't be surprised if other new applications do real well too, enough to surprise Intel fans.

FX does well in multithreading. The Richlands are a joke.

What about the E versions like the FX8370E, can this do 4.5 or better?

EDIT: never mind, I read they throttle to try to keep their wattage down. Correct?


Thanks for all the great comments so far.

JLK03F150 said:

What about the E versions like the FX8370E, can this do 4.5 or better?

EDIT: never mind, I read they throttle to try to keep their wattage down. Correct?


Thanks for all the great comments so far.

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I haven't seen many come through the forum, though, PolRoger had a 8370e and it was a nice chip from what I remember. I'm pretty sure he was able to run it at 4.8 with around 1.42 Volts, running seti 24/7. My 8350 which was ordered the first week they were available needs 1.46875 to run 4.7, for comparison.

So I guess the 8320 & 8370E are on my short list from a cost standpoint.

I would recommend a regular 8370 non-E. You might have better luck with the slightly higher bin then a regular 8320 or 8350. My 8370 is a pretty strong "lower voltage" clocker. I sold off my 8370E and just kept the 8370. If you do a combo at Micro Center you should get an additional ~$40 off the motherboard.

My money would be on the 8320, they are known to overclock rather well alongside the 8350. Between the two you need to come to one conclusion, is the $30 difference worth 200MHz more at stock?

Why do I say the 8320? Evidence as far as overclocking is concerned tends to show that the 8320 and 8350 are binned the same with the primary difference being the stock speed differences. You have a chance that either chip will be a good clocker or bad clocker by testing your luck at the silicon lottery, and in the end, THAT is the limiting factor. Last I looked this info up a few years ago, on average from HWBOT submissions on air AND water cooling, the 8350 did a whole 1% better on average than the 8320 be it on air or water.... You don't get a higher chance of an oc by buying an 8350, sorry to tell you.

Of course, as I said originally though, if you think the extra $30 is worth the 200MHz at stock and you would feel more comfortable with the 8350, then I say go for it. Of course then you have the far more pricey 8370E which is nicer on the wattage side, but I don't know much about that chip.

If you want to get something cheap, grab one of these, Fx 8300. ShrimpBrime had one and it turned out to be a pretty darn good overclocker.

Mandrake4565 said:

If you want to get something cheap, grab one of these, Fx 8300. ShrimpBrime had one and it turned out to be a pretty darn good overclocker.

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From 3.3ghz to 4.5ghz is a 1200mhz overclock. Nice low stock v-core of only 1.1v, could air cool this puppy and overclock it. Can run it on 4 VRM board safely. Will run big clocks on DICE and LN2.

A bunch of plus's, the only down side is the super low stock frequency.

Honestly it overclocked similar to any other FX chip within a very reasonable margin.

People speculate difference of 0.04000v - Really? That could just be a difference of 2c in temps to achieve a slightly lower voltage at the same clock speed. It's like picking for boogars in a dry nose.

Wanna run FX at 5ghz? Looking at 1.5v give or take a tiny bit of voltage. Doesn't matter what FX-8 series you buy into. I've had every chip of FX from 4100 6100 8100 to 4300 6300 and 8300 chips. They are all within reasonable margin for overclocking.

Really it's just.... how much money do you WANT to spend rather than the need.

I'm sold on the 8320. I can get it & the Sabertooth out the door for $275 at MC. The 8300 is only 5 bucks less and not available at MC. Now I just need to get to the store. lol

JLK03F150...

...just a little last minute fine tuning perhaps.

Your current computers by name: Gamer and Lightroom4 and HTPC

What or which exactly of those is the proposed new FX rig to take the place of. Not building the i5 you said you were considering and swapping back to AMD FX when it is surely end of life is a very odd maneuver. I know you said "I'll be using water to cool the CPU (Apogee block, D5, 3x120 rad)." but if you have not purchased that already you could sure save yourself some money and effort by going with an i7 or even the lesser i5 and not having to go for all that cooling. Not having to add fans over the VRMs which you will certainly have to do if you go water and even to having to cool the socket at rear of the motherboard. All this extra cool if you intend to get the most out of an FX 8 core processor. I am not sure you are fully aware of just how HOT an FX 8core can be when pushed. I think you glimpse the idea with your proposed water cooling but not sure you really know how h0t they will run pushed.

I know the question about FX-8320 vs FX-8350 has been answered by the many but not sure that even that was enough answering in the overall big picture. There was a day and time where buy the FX-8320 and overclock it upwards to FX-8350 speeds was a 'fairly' good idea. However for some reason over the last 18 mos. since the release of the FX-9xxx cpus that has become less of a good path to take.

What I will say is not the 100% way in which things will happen but based on what have seen come thru this forum it has become a noticable pattern. FX-8320s no longer as a rule just clock up to the overall speed an FX-8350 or the newer FX-8370 can reach. It seems the binning to get FX-9xxx cpus has finally moved the faster FX 8 cores into the FX-9xxx cpus or nearly so.

Looking at users coming thru the AMD Cpu Forum section here the FX-8320s just don't seem to overclock like they used to do. I am working with a friend that has a new FX-8320 and that cpu is far away from what I would want in an FX 8 Core of my own. I have cooling already and not buying it and no consideration of an i5 Intel rig but I am on the verge of buying a new FX 8 core processor and am down to either an FX-8370 or an FX-9370 just to 'try' and get a new FX 8 core processor that will have some chance to go 5.0GHz or a little beyond for benching. Oh I have looked at all the HWBot speeds for processors but I am not fooled because the numbers still contain too many of the FX processor older than 18 mos. I did my looking at the newer FX-8370 to gauge a newer 'acting' FX 8 core.

Yep it is your money and this is only an FYI in the end that might make a little more clear the situation as it seems right now today and not thinking like we and I did some 2 years ago and not over the last 18 mos.

No matter it is good luck to you sir.

RGone...

RGone, I'm updating the Gamer and gaming for me is MS Flight, FSX, and a few older racing sims. I decided to go AMD just for the fun of it, the challenge of getting a decent overclock & keeping it cool. I don't have to buy the water cooling, it is already on the Q9650 @ all of 3.8GHz. lol I understand I may not get a great overclocking CPU, but that's the chance we always take.

I already have 16GB of RAM, a 240GB SSD, 1TB storage drive, and a 2nd 6950 2gb.

I certainly can't say I wasn't warned if this doesn't work out, but I think it'll be a fine upgrade. It will also be a lot of fun getting it going.
Thanks for lookin out!

If they changed the binning on the 8320's then that kinda sucks :/ It was a nice and cheap go-to that offered 8350 performance at a smaller cost.

I don't know if caddi daddi will see this thread or not but he is 'heavy' into the flight sim thing. I am nearly certain he says it plays better on his 4790K stuff than his FX-8350 stuff did. Something about that IPC thing and that older game not really supporting multiple cores without some sort of patch to get up to four cores.

But hey, I prefer the fun of adjustability available for playing with AMD over the last 3 Intel Platforms. That Q9550 you have was a stout rig for sure though.

Appreciate you shouting back and again best of luck man.

RGone...

Well the 8320 & Sabertooth are in the house. Now I need to find the time to put everything together properly. My Q9650 was really a very ghetto build (fast, but ghetto. lol). No side panel installed because there was no path for the water out the back and the rad & pump are in a bucket sitting on top of the case. I'm planning to put this one together right and making my old Rocketfish Lian Li full tower look nice.

Keep us posted on your progress. I'm on the verge of buying a new pc and for the life of me I can't decide which. I'm curious on how your newer chip works out.

JLK03F150 said:

I'm sold on the 8320. I can get it & the Sabertooth out the door for $275 at MC. The 8300 is only 5 bucks less and not available at MC. Now I just need to get to the store. lol

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Whatever cpu you end up getting make sure you get that Sabertooth R2 and not skimp and get a cheaper board.