Recommendations for FX-8120

FX-8120 - Questions- Temps and Core
I think I'm leaning in getting this AMD CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103961

The reviews on Newegg basically came down to these comments:
1. It's fast
2. It runs HOT, esp if you OC it.
3. A few people mentioned you only see benefits in multi threaded processes/apps. Suggesting the 8 cores is overkill perhaps.


Have other people observed the same things? This is a new build for me, and I want things to go smoothly as possible haha.

What aftermarket heat sink fans would people recommend?

This is what I'm leaning towards Cooler Hyper 212

Thanks in advance

The 212+ is a great heatsink on a budget. It should carry an 8120 up to 4.0-4.2ghz with proper tuning. There certainly better coolers out there. The True Spirit 140mm is great at ~$40 or either of the big baddie noctura heatsinks if your willing to drop ~$100 for a heatsink.

The FX chips are really getting a bad rep for being hot because people have been overclocking them as if they were a phenom II. These chips are designed to utilize dynamic power management. If you let it control the voltage properly they can be kept to decent heat/power levels. They are definitely not the most conservative on power when you crank the volts and run them full tilt though. I did record 230w estimated power draw on my 8120 when I had it clocked at 5.3GHZ.

The thing with these chips is that its not really an 8 core. Its a quad core 128bit CPU that utilizes 2 64bit integer schedulers per module. Similarly to the first generation A64 chips alot of the enhancements of FX wont come into play for a few years still. Regardless they multi thread really well. You might not see leaps and bounds improvements over a traditional 4 core in some games or software, but when you start adding in background processes or multi application workloads the benefit becomes more apparent.

ssjwizard said:

The 212+ is a great heatsink on a budget. It should carry an 8120 up to 4.0-4.2ghz with proper tuning. There certainly better coolers out there. The True Spirit 140mm is great at ~$40 or either of the big baddie noctura heatsinks if your willing to drop ~$100 for a heatsink.

The FX chips are really getting a bad rep for being hot because people have been overclocking them as if they were a phenom II. These chips are designed to utilize dynamic power management. If you let it control the voltage properly they can be kept to decent heat/power levels. They are definitely not the most conservative on power when you crank the volts and run them full tilt though. I did record 230w estimated power draw on my 8120 when I had it clocked at 5.3GHZ.

The thing with these chips is that its not really an 8 core. Its a quad core 128bit CPU that utilizes 2 64bit integer schedulers per module. Similarly to the first generation A64 chips alot of the enhancements of FX wont come into play for a few years still. Regardless they multi thread really well. You might not see leaps and bounds improvements over a traditional 4 core in some games or software, but when you start adding in background processes or multi application workloads the benefit becomes more apparent.

Click to expand...

I saw the Nocturna, it's a monster. I was impressed with what I saw and read a bit. It's the largest HSF setup I've ever seen. It looks like an engine.

I know the chip has 8 cores, but in what you said, are you saying it only operates w/ 4 cores for now? I'm a little lost. W/what you said above, is that why an Intel Core i7 quad core runs faster? Because all 8 cores are not utilized??

I can spend more on a HSF setup. I'm not limited to the 212+, but it did great reviews. Maybe because it's great for the price, as opposed to being flat out great.

I don't know too much about HS/HSF's, in terms of what design or technology makes one better than another.

Viper69 said:

I know the chip has 8 cores, but in what you said, are you saying it only operates w/ 4 cores for now? I'm a little lost. W/what you said above, is that why an Intel Core i7 quad core runs faster? Because all 8 cores are not utilized??

Click to expand...

Make no mistake the CPU handles 8 threads just fine. The point Im trying to make above is that the definition of what is a core is very distorted in relation to the FX CPUs. The part of the CPU that calculates integer numbers there ARE 8 of those, but only 4 of everything else. Each integer scheduler handles 64 bits of execution, everything else can handle 128 bits. We wont see alot of the benefit of that for a while yet but make no mistake its coming.

Viper69 said:

I'm not limited to the 212+, but it did great reviews. Maybe because it's great for the price, as opposed to being flat out great.

Click to expand...

The 212+ is in the top of heatsinks and its price makes it an excellent recommendation. There are better cooler out there though. Mudddoctor has a bunch of heatsink reviews on the home page if you want to get some comparisons.

ssjwizard said:

everything else can handle 128 bits. We wont see alot of the benefit of that for a while yet but make no mistake its coming.

Click to expand...

So do you think these 8 core chips will be useful in the future, or replaced by something else?

I think if your building for longevity the FX is definitely the better choice. If building for the biggest meanest gaming system for the next 12 months then socket 1155 is the better pick. Looking at your current system Im guessing that the former is the case.

ssjwizard said:

I think if your building for longevity the FX is definitely the better choice. If building for the biggest meanest gaming system for the next 12 months then socket 1155 is the better pick. Looking at your current system Im guessing that the former is the case.

Click to expand...

HAHAHA..so true. I build for longevity. I'm still not ruling out water cooling. I MAY do it.

My vote is still with the Noctua NH-D14, and it IS indeed a monster. It'll still fit in the Silverstone TJ08-E you're looking at though, however you'll only fit 1x 3.5" drive in there with it. Other drives will have to be 2.5" drives. Typically not an issue as you only need 1x SSD and 1x large capacity HDD in a gaming rig. If you want a larger capacity high performance hard drive the Western Digital Veloceraptors (10,000RPM) can be removed from the 3.5" heatsink the come in and then you have a 2.5" drive left over.

That's basically the same setup as my system then. SSD for the OS + Apps + BF3, all other games go on my WD Raptor and the 1.5TB drive is just for storage. Kind of 3x drives with difference performance, solid state, 15K RPM and 5900RPM

Viper69 said:

So do you think these 8 core chips will be useful in the future, or replaced by something else?

Click to expand...

By the time mainstream software need and can utilize 8 or even 4 cores, both AMD and Intel will have newer CPUs that are cheaper, more efficient and better. In this industry you buy for NOW and what you need to do with it now.

The 8120 is a 125 W CPU so yeah it's going to run hot. Hotter if you OC it. So yeah buy the best cooling you can afford. Buy the best cooling you can afford regardless of what you get. Can't really have it enough cooling.

Cigarsmoker said:

By the time mainstream software need and can utilize 8 or even 4 cores, both AMD and Intel will have newer CPUs that are cheaper, more efficient and better. In this industry you buy for NOW and what you need to do with it now.

The 8120 is a 125 W CPU so yeah it's going to run hot. Hotter if you OC it. So yeah buy the best cooling you can afford. Buy the best cooling you can afford regardless of what you get. Can't really have it enough cooling.

Click to expand...

That's true on both. No, I know of the rapid pace of chip development/electronics etc..I was wondering how long it will be useful if I decide to keep it beyond a few years. No one knows, I was only speculating.

Cigarsmoker said:

By the time mainstream software need and can utilize 8 or even 4 cores, both AMD and Intel will have newer CPUs that are cheaper, more efficient and better. In this industry you buy for NOW and what you need to do with it now.

Click to expand...

So very very true personal I would not go with the bulldozer hype for the price PII is much better 1090t <3. My wife has the 8100. it is blown out of the water by 1090t. Even 6 core's is too much.
After getting her I wish I had gone with 1090t, or 1100. Much better

My TT Frio keeps mine under 35c under full load at 4.2ghz. I did have it at 4.9 and totally stable and fine with temps at 55c, but Everquest bugs out with anything over 4.2ghz for some reason. It's the coding in the game, not the stability of the computer.

http://www.overclockers.com/amd-fx-8150-bulldozer-processor-review

Great read about the 8150. Compairs to the I7,I5, and the 1090t Honest facts.

^^^ I think most reviews will tell you the same thing. If you get an FX processor you will be happy with it, I still believe the i5 2500K to be a better choice. I am a self confessed AMD fanboy. I'd followed the development of the Bulldozer chips for years and by the time it was released, despite reading the negative press, had to buy one. While I am happy with my purchased, there's no denying that many things actually ran that little bit faster on my old Phenom II X6. Based on the facts rather than personal bias I really do recommend buying Intel right now..... For me, well, I've AMD for this generation though IB does seem interesting despite what looks like a manufactuing process problem in relation to heat. In the meantime I'm also closely watching Piledriver but for the first time in years I'm considering building an Intel based rig. My last Intel build was a Pentium 100.

On the other hand, I believe whatever your choice you will be very happy with it. Both chips from Intel and AMD are in fact very fast chips and a big step up if you've not upgraded in a while. I really need to get around to playing with my chip some more. IT's currently just sitting at 4GHz on an auto over clock in the UEFI BIOS, I know it can handle another 500MHz though

I'm in that club with you mjw21a, I also was/is a fanboy. I just built my i7 5 days ago, I do love it(first intel in about 6 years). I was super hyped about BD and when it came out my wife just had to have a new computer(Or I had to have a reason to build her one). AMD chips in my mind can really take a beating from a inexperienced oc'in though. Just my experience.

I'll be waiting to see how IB matures before I jump ship. SB just isn't that much faster that it can make me jump ship and PD looks like it'll be a pretty decent improvement over BD. If Intel can work out their heat problem then they'll smash AMD for a 6, if not then it looks like AMD is going to become one heck of a lot more competitive with PD. 10% IPC improvement with a 10% drop in power use just due to resonant clock mesh, + whatever drop they get by going to 28nm will allow them to ramp up their clocks. If Intel stumbles on this heat issue then AMD will be the closest in performance that they've been since the P4/Athlon 64 era.

adams1029 said:

So very very true personal I would not go with the bulldozer hype for the price PII is much better 1090t <3. My wife has the 8100. it is blown out of the water by 1090t. Even 6 core's is too much.
After getting her I wish I had gone with 1090t, or 1100. Much better

Click to expand...

I'm not saying you are wrong...why do you think the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz is a better processor than the Bulldozer I have been thinking about?? Just when I had settled, POOF, someone comes up w/an alternative

adams1029 said:

I'm in that club with you mjw21a, I also was/is a fanboy.

Click to expand...

Same here. Started with AMD since 386-dx40 days. Next system will be a sweek 2500K + MB build in the near future.

IMO, the best thing about the 8120 is that it's market as having "8" cores but that's about it. In all other respects and for the foreseeable future, Intel is where it's at. Which is sad.

adams1029 said:

http://www.overclockers.com/amd-fx-8150-bulldozer-processor-review

Great read about the 8150. Compairs to the I7,I5, and the 1090t Honest facts.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for this one!


My first PC CPU was an unlocked, AMD Thunderbird750, and I had great success and luck from there. I've liked them ever since. However these past couple of years, it seems Intel has been performing much better. Earlier when I was buying, at my price point, AMD was putting out a faster chip for the money.

I'm going to read that review. Maybe I should really be in an Intel..crappp decisions decisions....

It's just that then Thuban has better per core performance so it doesn much better in existing/legacy software. Personally I'm waiting a while before my next upgrade as I think Piledriver may change the situation, 10% more efficient per core and I've a feeling that they'll clock through the roof due to a change to 28nm process + resonant clock mesh. Intels Ivy Bridge appears to have a real heat issue, and if so AMD is set to become much more competitive in the medium term. IF Intel can sort out the heat issue however, the insane core performance of their chips will push them so far ahead of AMD that there will be no reason to go with AMD any time soon for a LONG time..... I'm waiting it out to see where the dust settles.

I can see by your current signature though that you may have trouble waiting that long as your current system is a little long in the tooth..... As of right now, I'd be choosing between an AMD FX-8120 and an Intel i5 2500K and overlocking them a bit.

Cigarsmoker said:

Same here. Started with AMD since 386-dx40 days. Next system will be a sweek 2500K + MB build in the near future.

IMO, the best thing about the 8120 is that it's market as having "8" cores but that's about it. In all other respects and for the foreseeable future, Intel is where it's at. Which is sad.

Click to expand...

I think we can all agree that they're not in fact 8 core chips. They're 4 core 8 threaded chips, however they;re REAL threads using real hardware vs Intels 4 core 8 virtual threads with Hyperthreading. You could just as easily, and only a tad less accurately call a Core i7 an 8 core. They're not though.

I'm going to wait a while, with IB's current heat issues, and PD's 10% IPC improvement, 28nm process shrink + resonant clock mesh, I think we're set to see AMD become a lot more competitive. IF Intel sort out the heat issues with IB however, then Intel we maintain and likely even lengthen their current performance lead. What happens is all dependent on PD being as good as I expect, and Intels current issues. If Intel hadn't stumbled on this then there's little doubt that AMD would be getting left in the dust.