Are these CPU's comparable?

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Nick.D

Member
With the next installment of one of my favorite series coming out in about 4 days, I'm scrambling to improve my computer (which is long overdue, anyways).

Mass Effect Andromeda's recommended CPU's are:
Intel Core i7-4790, OR AMD FX-8350.

I'd think since it recommends one or the other, they would be fairly similar, right?
The Intel one I couldn't find for less than $300.00...
Buuuut, I could find the AMD for about $70.00.

That's a large gap.
$70 is fairly affordable though, then I'd need an AM3+ motherboard, probably ~$60, and a higher watt power supply, for probably around the same.

I HIGHLY doubt they perform the same, though. That extra $230 has to be put somewhere...
So how different are they?

My processor, by the way, is the Intel Xeon w3550. So even if it isn't as good as the Intel... It's definitely an upgrade from what I've got.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
Those are all old processors that you're looking at buying.

What is your current system specs (in detail)? What are you trying to play or achieve any specific performance requirements?

And most of all, what's your budget and location of purchase?
 
N

Nick.D

Member
Specs:
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Intel Xeon w3550
20Gb RAM

The game I want to run is Mass Effect: Andromeda, on med-high settings.
My budget is probably only around $200-250 for everything (I'll need new CPU, motherboard, probably a new power supply (depends on the cpu I get) and hopefully not new memory, I haven't looked to see if it is compatible with the type of motherboard I need)
So, basically, my budget is crap.

Here are the minimum and recommended settings for the game
GPU - Min: Nvidia GTX 660, or AMD Radeon 7850. -- Rec: NVIDIA GTX 1060, or AMD RX 480
CPU - Min: Intel Core i5 3570, or AMD FX-6350 -- Rec: Intel Core i7-4790 or, AMD FX-8350
RAM - Min: 8Gb -- Rec: 16Gb
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Nick.D said:
The Intel one I couldn't find for less than $300.00...
Click to expand...
There's a 4770k on this forum marketplace which is comparable to that for much less :p

Multithread performance between the two is pretty similar. The Intel side has much better single threaded performance over the FX though.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
beers said:
There's a 4770k on this forum marketplace which is comparable to that for much less :p
Click to expand...
he'd have to grab a new mobo anyways though...


May I ask if your current PC is a prebuilt one from a OEM company? Or did you buy the parts separately and build it yourself?
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
I'd say, wait and see how your current system will handle the Mass Effect: Andromeda. If you're going to swap/upgrade stuff from a prebuilt, it's quite difficult and may not actually be feasible. Especially with a tight budget like yours.
 
D

Deadpool

Active Member
20Gb RAM? That´s an odd number. For any of those CPUs you have to change the RAM. Both support DDR3. Both are old platforms but your budget is low. How much would you get if you sold your stuff?

Nick.D said:
So how different are they?
Click to expand...

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4790-vs-AMD-FX-8350/2293vs1489

The FX has a higher TDP, which means it´ll run hotter, and it´s slower. Can be overclocked (with an aftermarket CPU cooler and a decent motherboard). As my comrades said above, wait and see how your PC runs it. I am most certainly buying that damn game so I´ll let you know how it runs on my rig. I have the exact recommended hardware :p and the 1060 is only a bit better than the 970. Also:

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Xeon-W3550-vs-AMD-FX-8350/m3628vs1489

Your CPU is almost the same as the 8350.
 
N

Nick.D

Member
Deadpool said:
20Gb RAM? That´s an odd number. For any of those CPUs you have to change the RAM. Both support DDR3. Both are old platforms but your budget is low. How much would you get if you sold your stuff?
Click to expand...
My budget was selling my stuff, actually >.>
I was going to sell my old gpu, the GeForce GTX 660 TI
I have a gun I was going to pawn.
And I have a tv I use like... twice a year I was going to get rid of.

I guess I'll go ahead and see how it works, though. I'm running into some overheating issues, my cpu gets up to around 65 celcius playing games with the fan at 70%. Id put more fans in, but there aren't any more slots for them.
My computer seems to be picky about what it can run, too.
I can run Skyrim with 100+ mods and an enb on ultra-high at about 30-60 fps average, yet other much much less demanding games it can hardly run.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
Deadpool said:
20Gb RAM? That´s an odd number. For any of those CPUs you have to change the RAM. Both support DDR3. Both are old platforms but your budget is low. How much would you get if you sold your stuff?
Click to expand...
Odd number sure... but he doesn't need to change ram if he's going to a 4790 or a 8350.



@Nick.D try reapplying your thermal paste. If that doesn't solve the problem of overheating, get a cheap aftermarket cooler. Something like a Coolermaster 212 Evo or a Cryorig H7.
 
D

Deadpool

Active Member
Nick.D said:
My budget was selling my stuff, actually >.>
I was going to sell my old gpu, the GeForce GTX 660 TI
I have a gun I was going to pawn.
And I have a tv I use like... twice a year I was going to get rid of.

I guess I'll go ahead and see how it works, though. I'm running into some overheating issues, my cpu gets up to around 65 celcius playing games with the fan at 70%. Id put more fans in, but there aren't any more slots for them.
My computer seems to be picky about what it can run, too.
I can run Skyrim with 100+ mods and an enb on ultra-high at about 30-60 fps average, yet other much much less demanding games it can hardly run.
Click to expand...

But bro your rig is almost the same as the recommended. You don´t need to change shinola. It´ll run just fine. Do you have the stock cooler?
 
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Nick.D

Member
I just replaced the thermal paste like 3-4 months ago, I guess I'll do it again though--can't hurt.
And yeah, it's the stock cooler. I'll look into replacing it, too.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
Nick.D said:
I just replaced the thermal paste like 3-4 months ago, I guess I'll do it again though--can't hurt.
Click to expand...
Depends on how you apply it. Make sure to clean it off with 99% isopropyl alcohol and then add a small drop of thermal paste onto the CPU's IHS and seat the cpu cooler back on.
 
D

Deadpool

Active Member
To complete what Intel_man said, you can grab one of those thingies you use to play guitar (I do not know how you people call it) and spread it all over the CPU to make sure you don´t miss any spots.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
You don't need to manually spread the paste. That has a higher chance of creating air pockets. You just need a teardrop amounts of paste at the centre of the CPU and let the heatsink of the cooler push the paste evenly across the surface.
 
N

Nick.D

Member
I did use a squeegee to spread the paste when I put it on, so I'll avoid that this time.
Also, I used 70% alcohol to remove the old paste. Does the % matter?

On a side note, taking this cpu out always terrifies me--It's so difficult to put back in. There's a metal lever you have to push down, but you have to push it so hard that the lever is actually bent ._.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
Nick.D said:
Also, I used 70% alcohol to remove the old paste. Does the % matter?
Click to expand...
Lower % just means higher water content. It's not really a problem if you don't use 99%.
Nick.D said:
On a side note, taking this cpu out always terrifies me--It's so difficult to put back in. There's a metal lever you have to push down, but you have to push it so hard that the lever is actually bent ._.
Click to expand...
That's fine. As long as the CPU is aligned correctly, the lever does take a decent amount of force.
 
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