AMD A-Series A8 3870K Black Edition Quad-Core Processor

TheGunns

I was wondering what peoples opinions on this was. It has a decent dedicated GPU I think so it would be much cheaper short term as I could initially leave out the GPU. I'm sticking to AMD as I think I'll get much better bang for my buck, don't think my current uses of pc's would warrant an expensive processor and anything above an FX 8150 would be wasteful anyways.

Would this be a good option? Anyone know the upgrade path for this chip or would I be stuck with it until I get a new mobo? Or would an FX - 4100 with a GPU be a more expensive but better option? Just looking for opinions on this.

Thanks

Eboggles

TheGunns wrote: »

I was wondering what peoples opinions on this was. It has a decent dedicated GPU I think so it would be much cheaper short term as I could initially leave out the GPU. I'm sticking to AMD as I think I'll get much better bang for my buck, don't think my current uses of pc's would warrant an expensive processor and anything above an FX 8150 would be wasteful anyways.

Would this be a good option? Anyone know the upgrade path for this chip or would I be stuck with it until I get a new mobo? Or would an FX - 4100 with a GPU be a more expensive but better option? Just looking for opinions on this.

Thanks

AMD because they're better band for buck? Not this generation, sorry.

Get an i5 3450, it's better because you're going to be CPU bottlenecked if you decided to go with a GTX 670 or higher. The 3870k a fairly good CPU for someone who just messes about on their home computer with the Sims and such, but as good as the "integrated graphics" are it can't really contend with something like a mildly powerful gaming graphics card.

Yes, it is more expensive than the AMD offering, but it's a much much much better upgrade path. Chances are piledriver is going to be a mild blip, a lot like what bulldozer was.

If you're really hellbent on AMD, pick up a phenom 960t, or phenom 965. Much better for gaming than Bulldozer.

TheGunns

Eboggles wrote: »

AMD because they're better band for buck? Not this generation, sorry.

Get an i5 3450, it's better because you're going to be CPU bottlenecked if you decided to go with a GTX 670 or higher. The 3870k a fairly good CPU for someone who just messes about on their home computer with the Sims and such, but as good as the "integrated graphics" are it can't really contend with something like a mildly powerful gaming graphics card.

Yes, it is more expensive than the AMD offering, but it's a much much much better upgrade path. Chances are piledriver is going to be a mild blip, a lot like what bulldozer was.

If you're really hellbent on AMD, pick up a phenom 960t, or phenom 965. Much better for gaming than Bulldozer.

by bang for your buck i meant best cheap one

have you used a phenom? ive heard opinions on both phenom and fx with fx seeming better so ive no real pull towards one or the other

id go with intel but at the cheaper end i think they lack severely. Ive got a celeron and while firstly thinking it was decent to good, now i feel its slow even for browsing. I've had it only for around a year.

Would intel really be the better option for gaming at a cheap price?

Eboggles

TheGunns wrote: »

by bang for your buck i meant best cheap one

have you used a phenom? ive heard opinions on both phenom and fx with fx seeming better so ive no real pull towards one or the other

id go with intel but at the cheaper end i think they lack severely. Ive got a celeron and while firstly thinking it was decent to good, now i feel its slow even for browsing. I've had it only for around a year.

Would intel really be the better option for gaming at a cheap price?

The i3 2120 is a fair beast, but the main point is that when you get around €200 to spend, you can go ahead and get a 2500k/3570k which means you won't have to upgrade your processor for a very long time.

As for Phenom vs FX: I'd say Phenom because it seems to perform better in single-threaded applications.

Scruff

All other arguements aside I wouldnt buy the Llano based A series APU's becasue the more powerful Trinity based versions of these APUs are due out in a month or two with a much improved integrated GPU

Here is a preview from Toms
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-5800k-a8-5600k-a6-5400k,3224.html