AMD FX6100 for Gaming Options

[angryvikingpirat...]

Hi everyone

I'm thinking of buying a new CPU, motherboard and RAM.
The AMD FX6100 is cheap and I can get it in a bundle with 8GB Mushkin Frostbyte Blackline RAM (freakin complicated names!) and Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard all for $570 NZD.
I'm going to be upgrading from my Athlon ii x4 640 CPU which isn't quite enough to get a solid 45+ FPS constant in games like Battlefield 3 on high settings. I have a GTX 560. It constantly running at 90% plus in BF3.
So I can't find any reviews for the motherboard or the 6100, have any of you used either component? I know that a large majority of people say bulldozer sucks and it fails and blah blah but to buy an i5 2500k bundle is $120 more and I don't think that its really worth it and from what I've seen the 6100 seems to do pretty well in games.

Thanks for any helpful replies.


This post has been edited by angryvikingpirate: Dec 27 2011, 06:54 AM

[UberPenguin]

One of the biggest problems with bulldozer at the moment is that the scheduler for windows doesn't really know how to address it. If you disable every second core per module there is a marked improvement in single threaded tasks.

Here is a benchmark that compares the bulldozer line http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-fx-8150-...rmance-review/3 . Really for gaming at the moment i5s are the better choice and failing that an older AMD 960T will be better for games then the bulldozer will.

On the motherboard side of things I have the ud5 version and it's a great little board.

[AMD AKIMBO]

not sure bout prices in nz but over here from pccasegear
2500k $235
asrock z68 extreme3 gene3 $135
8 gig gskill ripjaws 1600mhz $49
total $419
much faster combo.
cant you overclock your 640 and 560 ? another question is your gpu the ti version ?

[sora3]

I actually have the FX6100 so I can answer the majority of the questions you posted. The FX is not that great if you leave it at stock. As posted above, the Phenom IIs are a better bet if you're not going to overclock. However, the FX starts to get better once you do overclock it to about the 4GHz range and above. Most people on the Xtremesystems have managed to get it to about 5GHz or more. The downside is that the temps go way out of hand once you start pumping the volts in it.

In terms of motherboard, that looks fine. However, be prepared for a big vDroop or voltage drop when you overclock it. At stock, the board is quite nice. But at overclocked levels, you need to set the voltage to be a lot higher than expected to get the nominal voltage. For my UD7, I have to put it at 1.45v to get it to 1.35v at overclocked LOAD voltage. If you can, try and ask if that board is a v1.0 or a v1.1. The v1.1 does have a Load Line Calibration or known as Core Voltage Calibration to it so it'll keep the voltage steady. I would recommend you try and get an MSI 990FX-GD80 or the Asus Sabertooth 990FX. Those two mobos are about the same price and probably just as good as the UD3.

[Dasa]

your cpu is actuly good enough for bf3 if you oc it should beat a stock fx6100
what res do you run and do you use aa? your gpu may still be a large amount of the limit depending on the settings but the gtx560 oc fairly well to

cpu performance in bf3
http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlef...ance/page7.html
and yes 2500k is a lot quicker than fx 6100 in games especialy when you consider how easily it reaches ~4.3ghz with near stock vcore and can scale to 5ghz with improved cooling and a bit of luck
http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-...ance/page7.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...00_6.html#sect0


as above a 960t in your current system would be a faster upgrade than 6100 and may be a decent path to take depening on what your mb is

This post has been edited by Dasa: Dec 27 2011, 08:40 AM

[nesquick]

dunno why people still want to support a failed processor... maybe if you were crazy enough to buy an AM3+ board but if your buying all new kit I don't see why you would want a bulldozer chip.

just buy a 2500k best value/performance in most cases.

however you should IMO anyway just stick with what you have, maybe get an SSD if you don't already have one.

This post has been edited by nesquick: Dec 27 2011, 08:33 AM

[UberPenguin]

Whats you're current setup? you may get a better overall $/performance out of a drop on phenom 2 and a better gfx card

[sora3]

To be fairly honest guys, when was the last time you saw a Phenom II in stock literally and physically? Do you know? All I see these days are mostly the older stock being moved aside and as well as the FX.

[UberPenguin]

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_p...oducts_id=18600 - 960T

[osama_bin_athlon]

the extra $120 will prove well worth it, the 2500k's are a phenomenal chip, often capable of 5G and even more (I've wound mine up to 5.2G!)
personally, I wouldn't bother with Bulldozer......it's not even a close 2nd.
;)

[philo-sofa]

Heya there fellow kiwi - I'm guessing you're looking at this combo? http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components...sp?partid=15985

I'm with the above commentators, I'd probably grab this combo if you want to upgrade everything (has a better CPU, same mobo capabilities unless you want Crossfire X or SLI): http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components...sp?partid=16155

For $30 more it's well worth it. However DASA is right in saying all you need is a good quad core Phenom for BF3 (built a friend a 955BE system and it's perfect for BF3). The chips aren't that prevalent in NZ (and TBH in the rest of the world), but there are a few around. Elive is a good online seller and has a solid rep, they also have nine of the 960T in stock: http://www.elive.co.nz/amd-phenom-ii-x4-96...hp?ref=pricespy

At $NZ 220 it's all you need and a bit more, so would probably go down that path for now TBH :)

This post has been edited by philo-sofa: Dec 27 2011, 12:10 PM

[angryvikingpirat...]

Alright I have a non Ti 560 which I've overclocked to Core clock of 960MHz and a Memory clock of 4408Mhz with a voltage of 1.25. It is literally impossible to find Phenom II in New Zealand. I've never seen a 960T in stock even before bulldozer arrived.

Nesquick I am asking for help from people who are not fan boys.

Thank you Sora you were a heap of help and really cleared up my questions.

I've seen that the new Ivy bridge Intel CPU's are arriving later next year which will support PCI.e 3, Sandy Bridge does not support PCI.e 3 does this matter? How long until PCI.e 3 becomes a must have?

I can't order from PC Case gear they don't ship to NZ. So I use three shops playtech.co.nz, www.pbtech.co.nz and computerlounger.co.nz

So just about everyone has told me that the 2500k is the way to go.

For $680NZD

I can get a 2500k, 8GB Mushkin frostbite RAM and a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3

or for $700

I can get the 2500k, RAM and a ASUS P8Z68-V

Neither motherboard supports PCI.e 3 does this matter? Is it worth waiting for Ivy Bridge?

Thanks for the help most of you have been really helpful.



It would cost me $823 to buy a 2500k, ASUS P8Z68-V Gen3 and 8GB Mushkin RAM would this be a better choice?

[Dasa]

if you only ever want a single gpu in your system pci-e 2.0 will should be more than enough until the 2500k has done its duty
if you want to run two cards there may be a small diference if you keep the mb\cpu and upgrade the gpu in 2 years time as dual gpu slows the pci-e speed to x8x8 but for now it looks like there is a unoitcable differnece between x8x8 pci-e 2.0 and x16x16 with currrent gpu

[nesquick]

Nesquick I am asking for help from people who are not fan boys.

Im not a fanboy of anything I was telling you the truth, take it as you will though.

If AMD was on top I would be telling you to buy AMD *shrugs*

[angryvikingpirat...]

Well its just the way you put it nesquick.
And thanks philo-sofa! I have a Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 it is an mATX form and the problem with that is that it really doesn't have enough things like fan headers etc.
So I'm willing to spend a little more for a new motherboard.

[osama_bin_athlon]

Nesquick I am asking for help from people who are not fan boys.

Im not a fanboy of anything I was telling you the truth, take it as you will though.

If AMD was on top I would be telling you to buy AMD *shrugs*

fuckin' fanbois?
I waited patiently for Bulldozer's release, was sadly disappointed, and went and got the 2500K
I buy the best performance for my dollars....
that's what I was steering you into.
only an AMD fanboi would suggest/buy an AMD combo at the moment

[edgeofsanity]

Hi, I bought the Intel i5 2500k, ASUS P8Z68-V and Mushkin RAM combo at computer lounge and its been the best upgrade I've done. I had the same mothrboard and CPU (I had 630 not 640) and I saw a massive FPS improvement in BF3 when I changed. Generally the game played a lot smoother and the load times dropped a huge amount. The motherboard has better audio so sound was great. I also use a GTX 560 non Ti and I get on high settings (HBAO with no MSAA) 50+ FPS constantly.

Just bite the bullet and spend an extra $100 or so. You woun't regret it!

[alkahest]

Good choice! out of curiousity, was the audio difference quite noticable? what speakers are you using?

[edgeofsanity]

The old gigabyte board used Realtek ALC888 and the new ASUS board uses Realtek ALC892. I didn't think there would be a difference but there way a suprisingly good improvement. I use a cheap Plantronics Audio 355 headset which I was only going to use for a short while but they turned out to be great so I kept them for longer.

[angryvikingpirat...]

Ok hi everyone, I just got payed the other day and so I bought a: Intel i5 2500k, ASUS P8Z68-V Gen3, 8GB Mushkin RAM, Corsair Graphite 600T white case and Corsair H80.

Thanks for all the help!