Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

[Decair]

As my title states I am trying to decide on just buying an FX Processor or just selling my remaining components(Mobo, CPU, etc.) and start from scratch. I really don't know what to do and would like some advice. Right now I am running an AMD Athlon II X2 260 on an ASUS AMD Sabertooth 990FX with 8 GB G-Skill Sniper 1333 RAM.

[dJabba]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

Intel brings more power, but also a really heavy price tag. The only thing you have to ask yourself is, what do you [really] need? I for ones have yet to find a game or app that brings any core on my setup above 50% load. (Whitey specs in signature, running on stock speeds atm)

Of course it depends on what you use your system for. If its for games, the GFX card is way more important than the CPU .. in the end.

[Decair]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

Well right now I am running an old Sapphire HD 4870 and was maybe planning on grabbing a better video card as well. I would like a good overall system and I have the money to go Sandy Bridge atleast. Graphics wise I was thinking of waiting til more of the HD 7000 series come out since the new HD 7770 didn't seem to improve on anything. Or maybe dropping on a Nvidia card. Either of them works for me.

[wazza300]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

i think if you shop around and take advantage of some of the component deals ect then you could build yourself a cheap sb system,could wait until ivy bridge comes out as it will push sb prices down,and most folks will be ditching theirs for ivy upgrade,so cheap used prices for sb,as for pci-e3 thers no real world advantage yet as its so new,only good things about the 7k series ati cards are the oc headroom and the low power usage and temps,and again kepler is due very soon pushing ati prices down no doubt?

[Decair]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

So far I have found a few parts the 2500K and a good Z68 Board with SLI/CFX for $350 and was thinking of going with that and maybe a newer Kepler or AMD card in a few weeks, I will wait and see if the deals come out soon and grab something better if it comes along.

[wazza300]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

is it a gen3 board? only gen3 boards support pci-e3,though not essential its better to grab one of those over the non gen3 if you can,youll still need and ivy bridge cpu and pci-e3 graphic card to make use of the features

[Decair]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

It is a Gen3 so it is Ivy Bridge and PCI-E 3 ready when the time comes. its the ASRock Z68 PRO3/GEN3.

[FJEFF]

Re: Should I stay with AMD? Or just switch to Intel?

Since you already have a 990FX board ... I would stick with AMD for the value - and I would wait a year or so and then go Intel.

The FX-4100 is a big improvement over the old Athlon II's especially if you OC. (it is leaps and bounds faster than my old Athlon II X3 450)
for $120 or less, you can get a quad core that will run over 4Ghz (I am running 4.5 on air)....not quite equivalent to an i5 2500 but close.
(I have not found anything yet that is being bogged down by this proc)

However, with the money you save, you could get a much more powerful vid card - which you could move over to your future system down the road.

Sure the FX was not what it was hyped to be, but the 4100 has huge value when overclocked - especially if you already have the required MB - and will be more than most users need. (and at <$120 it is a steal)
I do not beleive that you will not be able to recover any meaningful amount of your money by re-selling your parts. (unless you get really lucky)


..just my two cents