Need advice whether to stay the same or move across

ryan3120 · 22 Sep 2015

Hi all

Im currently doing a little gaming occasionally but i got a free desktop today to use if i require but im debaiting do i keep my original setup or go for this replacement, This is were you guys come into it. I have some level of computer brains but comparison is out of my league.

Im currently running

Amd x4 athlon 645 3.1GHZ
Zotac GTX560ti 1024mb
Asus m4a87td evo motherboard
8gig pny 1333mhz

But the replacement has this

Amd FX4130
Asus m5a78l-m/usb3
32gb corsair vengence 1600mhz
gt630 2gb

Now obviously my graphics card is better so regardless im keeping that, and the corsair ram not a problem but as for motherboard and cpu i just dont know which to keep. Can anyone help me on this so say which i should keep out of the 2 for performance etc.

any help would be much appreaciated

Many thanks

Ryan

ignatzatsonic · 22 Sep 2015

Here are the Passmark benchmark scores for the 2 processors and the 2 video cards. Higher is better.

FX 4130: 4153
Athlon X4 645: 3595

GTX560ti: 3544
GT630: 801

So, the machine with the better video card has a slightly weaker processor--at least on this benchmark.

I don't know if the 600 plus point difference would be noticeable, even if the 2 machines had the same video card. Possibly not.

I know very little about AMD, but on the Intel platform in a similar situation, you'd be better off with the machine with the clearly stronger video card, even though the processor was a bit weaker. At least for gaming.

The 32 GB of RAM won't do much for you in the typical use scenario. Do you have any reason at all to believe you are using all of your existing 8 GB?

I don't know if you could swap in the stronger processor to the machine with the stronger video card.

The motherboard and processor in the replacement machine may have some improvements or features that would make it desirable despite the slower processor and weak video card. I have no idea what vintage any of that hardware is from as I don't follow AMD.

ryan3120 · 23 Sep 2015

hey

As for the ram i was thinking of splitting it so both machine will run 16gig. But as for the processor situation i am debaiting on staying with the 645 as its a full quad, but correct me if im wrong im sure the fx4130 is only a dualcore / virtual quadcore. Iv put the 560ti in the fx build at the moment but seems to be a little slower when running things but ill try other games etc and see how it performs, but i did notice on one game last night the cpu was bottlenecking, constantly sitting at 85% and above. Ill have a play around a bit more and see how it goes.

Regardless im keeping both machines as my daughter will have one of them and ill keep the other.

ThrashZone · 23 Sep 2015

Hi,
Seems like at least one system should be Intel just to see how the other half lives :)

Mellon Head · 24 Sep 2015

You're better off with the FX-4130. Here are a couple of comparisons between the two processors:

Compare AMD Athlon II X4 645 / FX-4130

AMD Athlon II X4 645 vs FX-4130

Both are low-ish end CPUs, but will perform well. The advantage of the FX-4130 is that it uses the newer AM3+ socket, meaning that you can eventually upgrade to a better processor if you wish. The Athlon chip uses the obsolete AM2+/AM3 socket. You would have a difficult time upgrading if you wanted to.

Also, the FX chip has an unlocked multiplier, meaning that you can overclock the processor if you wish. It also has more L2 cache and a faster clock speed. It will also directly support the DDR3-1600 RAM that you just got, whereas the Athlon will only support up to 1333 MHz.

Overall, the performance is almost equal, with the FX processor having a slight edge overall, especially in the memory transfer department.

Those are the reasons that I would choose the FX CPU, but that's just my opinion. YMMV.

Oh, and the FX-4130 is a true quad core.

ryan3120 · 24 Sep 2015

i had a little play around last night with the fx chip, when playing any games i seem to bottleneck constantly but on the 645 chip runs smooth without any problems. Now i understand what you mean about the fx and ram, etc i see the benchmarking side of things i do understand.

Mellon Head · 24 Sep 2015

The FX chip might be bottlenecking because it's faster on the bus than your GFX card, I don't know. I'm not sure about your definition of bottlenecking, or how you arrive at the conclusion that it is. It could also be the motherboard. The mobo doesn't have the optimum chipset for that CPU. It should still run OK though as it is supported, but there are other chipsets that come to mind that would be better, such as the 970 or the 990 FX. Those are better for gaming and high performance computing.

ryan3120 · 24 Sep 2015

i refer bottlenecking as cpu is over 80 percent constantly, but the Athlon runs around 60% i suppose between the 2 chip sets i have they are quite similar except the socket and a few features. Unless wait till pay day and get 990 chipset and whack the fx chip in etc. Really i should upgrade all the way but with a small child arriving in december hence lack of funds

I really do appreciate the feedback, So many thanks if i haven't said so.