Intel Alternative?

[Morgan314]

I'm currently looking at this build, going to be for gaming, along with video editing and photoshop use. Aside from this I'll be just looking to use the system for general use. Is the AMD FX-8350 the best processor for the job or would an alternative Intel be recommended?

Preliminary Build:
Build:
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£77.17 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£125.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£149.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£60.57 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (£14.99 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: Sharkoon T28 ATX Midi Tower (£44.60)
RAM: Crucial BLT2CP4G3D1608DT1TX0CEU 8GB (2x 4GB) Ballistix Tactical Memory (£44.99)
Total: £813.09

[teppic]

If it's mainly for gaming, the FX is fine. If you're going to be doing a huge amount of CPU-intensive work, it'd be better to go for an i5. For general day to day things you won't notice any difference between them.

[Morgan314]

Okay thats what I was thinking, thanks for the reply I think I'll stick with the FX8350

[teppic]

If you're going to focus more on gaming I'd actually go for an FX-6300 (only £70 at Aria), and up the graphics card to a 7870 Tahiti LE (re your other thread), which is £165 also at Aria.

Alternatively, the FX-8320 performs almost just as well for £114.

[Morgan314]

Hmm, as for my build I feel that due to the large amount 'non gaming' I do, I feel that the ratio would be better off to spend slightly more on the CPU and less on the GPU? How significant is the difference between the FX8350 and 8320? Also RE 7870 Tahiti, that looks like a great deal on Aria! But will I be able to use a three monitor setup if my monitors don't support displayport?

[HalloweenJack]

FX 6300 or 6350 and a better gfx card IMO

[teppic]

The FX-6300 is certainly not a slow CPU, and it's easily overclocked. Not many apps will make use of all 8 cores on the the other two. The FX-8320 is just a slightly lower clocked version, but again, you could overclock for a boost.

I think unless you've got a generous budget the FX-6300/6350 is ideal, and as HalloweenJack says, a better graphics card than the GTX 660. The CPU's on offer at Aria, it's normally about £20 higher. The 7870 LE cannot be beaten until you're prepared to go to £200-£230 (then either the GTX 760 or the 7950).

I don't know about the outputs, I've only ever used two displays.

[scaryjim]

... will I be able to use a three monitor setup if my monitors don't support displayport?

Yes, but you'll need to factor in the cost of active displayport to DVI adapters. running more than 2 screens on AMD cards requires DP monitors or active adapters.

A lot of Photoshop stuff (filters etc.) can be GPU accelerated now, as (I assume) can video editing and encoding. As others have suggested, the FX-6300/6350 and a 660 Ti/670 may be a better option (if you must have 3 monitors without DP)

[Morgan314]

Okay Thanks for all the advice, and thanks for clarifying the Display Port issue.

[karl751]

I've always read that the I5's are better for gaming and the AMD's are better for editing/encoding