[est1895]

There are so many new AMD processors out there, I don't know where to start.  It will be a gaming system with an Nvidia video card on it.  There's A4, A6, A8, E2 APU's & FM2 Socket, Athlon 64 FX Opteron, etc.

Windows 7 Pro 64bit (I already have), Nvidia video card and all ASUS.  I'm also wondering if the motherboards and video cards will fit my PC65A Lian Li Case?  As for the price about $600.00 or so (if I have to get a new aluminum, case I can go a little more).

Any suggestions?

[KyadCK]

A-series are APUs. They are 2-4 Core CPUs with little GPUs built in. You already have a GPU, no need for this. They use FM2.

E-series are mobile (Tablet/Netbook) class APUs. They are Soldered on.

Anything Operon is Server chips.

The new FX-series are the new CPUs. 4-8 cores.

Your case is ATX, so I assume it'll fit.

What all do you need? Normaly I'd recommend the 990FXA-UD3 or higher if you want to overclock or use Crossfire/SLI, but otherwise the 970A-UD3 is the only 970 board I'd recommend.

Normaly I'd recomend the FX-6300 for a CPU. 6-core, just a bit more expensive than the 4-core, and it's still in the i3 price range.

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You sure you want AMD? For things like FSO, Intel will be faster.

[est1895]

I always wanted to get Asus's Sabertooth 990FX motherboard, but you say that FSO works best with Intel?  How so?

[KyadCK]

FSO is single threaded. Clock for clock, Intel is faster. The difference in clock speed between the Intel and AMD chips is not enough to erase that difference.

AMD's FX-6k and FX-8k chips are great for multi-threaded tasks like rendering, streaming, and encoding for the cost (they obliterate the Intel CPUs in their price ranges at many-threaded tasks), but they aren't so good at single thread tasks.

Not that a 6300 or 8320/50 won't be "good enough" for FSO, it will be, but Intel will be better. So it comes down to what you plan to do with it.

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If you're shelling out for a Sabertooth, then I'd go with an FX-8350. It's the "top of the line" chip, and it's 4Ghz stock speed helps make up for it's lack of single thread performance.

Running it with the stock 125w AMD cooler would probably deafen you though, so a 212 EVO or something would be a good idea even if you don't overclock.

If you do want to overclock, I can give you a rough guide as to what level of cooling would get you to various clock speeds. The Sabertooth would have no problems getting wherever you want to go.

[est1895]

My brother does a lot of streaming and other games.  If possible, I will try to find a sabertooth at the right price ($150-$170) 

When you say multi-thread tasks, do you mean multitasking?  If so, no.  He only does one thing at a time and believe me, I know more about his computer and how it works than he does.  But alas, I know very little of how computers work.  I should take one of the IT classes at my college.

[KyadCK]

No, I mean programs that will use multible cores.

Rendering, compiling, encoding, streaming, photo and video editing, all these things use as many cores as they can get their hands on, and AMD is great at it.

Other programs, like games (FSO in particular, and especially StarCraft II) use very few cores. It's more important to have stronger cores than to have more. Some games are starting to use more cores, but for the most part four is enough. Intel wins here, at least most of the time.

So really, it depends on what you want to do with the computer.

[The E]

As a proud owner of an FX6300-based machine, I can say that it's delivering performance that is good enough for most games I own, with the only exception being Crysis 2 at max settings. Yes, Intel processors deliver more performance for single-thread stuff, but given that most modern games run on at least 2 and more regularly 4 cores, that is very much a non-issue.

[KyadCK]

As a proud owner of an FX6300-based machine, I can say that it's delivering performance that is good enough for most games I own, with the only exception being Crysis 2 at max settings. Yes, Intel processors deliver more performance for single-thread stuff, but given that most modern games run on at least 2 and more regularly 4 cores, that is very much a non-issue.

What The_E said.

Just making sure though, an educated decision knowing both options is better than picking one and maybe having buyers remorse later.

[The E]

Indeed. I bought the FX6300 because I wanted better multithreaded performance, and I got it (For the record, the whole system rates a 7.7 on the Windows Experience Index, with the low vote being the CPU).

[BloodEagle]

AMD actually has the fastest processor speed per individual core, now: 5ghz.  Though the thing puts out insane heat and draws a ridiculous amount of power.

[KyadCK]

AMD actually has the fastest processor speed per individual core, now: 5ghz.  Though the thing puts out insane heat and draws a ridiculous amount of power.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with how it performs on it's own.

At all.

Do not use that as a selling point. Not to mention it's OEM only right now, and even if it wasn't it's priced higher than est1895's entire budget. And besides all that, they already had the fastest stock clockspeed with the 8350...

[est1895]

AMD actually has the fastest processor speed per individual core, now: 5ghz.  Though the thing puts out insane heat and draws a ridiculous amount of power.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with how it performs on it's own.

At all.

Do not use that as a selling point. Not to mention it's OEM only right now, and even if it wasn't it's priced higher than est1895's entire budget. And besides all that, they already had the fastest stock clockspeed with the 8350...

I looked at the 8350 and its nice, but expensive.  If I can get it on Newegg for a cheaper price, will an old Antec 850watt power supply be enough?  It was from the Quatro Series I think. 

Is there a huge difference between the 8320 from the 8350 as far as performance?  Its currently $ 50 less in price.

[KyadCK]

The Antec Quatro 850w should be more than enough. An entire 25A 12V rail for the CPU alone (300w) is easily enough to power even the most power hungry CPU at stock.

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The 8320 is 3.5Ghz (4Ghz turbo), and the 8350 is 4Ghz (4.2Ghz turbo). (Same Arch and all that, yada yada)

If you use all cores, it'll be ~12% slower. In gaming, because of turbo, the difference will be minimal, around 5%. The FX-8320 is a fine alternative to the 8350.

If that still isn't cheap enough, the FX-6300 is a 6-core version of the 8320 with the same stock speed and slightly faster turbo.
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As a side note, if you can order from newegg, I don't suppose you have a MicroCenter near you? They regularly have CPUs for below normal retail, and usually have a deal for $40-50 off the motherboard when you buy them together, but you have to be in-store to get the deal.

All three CPUs mentioned above get the $40 off motherboard deal this month. Here's a list:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/6bd8f069#/6bd8f069/34

[est1895]

The Antec Quatro 850w should be more than enough. An entire 25A 12V rail for the CPU alone (300w) is easily enough to power even the most power hungry CPU at stock.

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The 8320 is 3.5Ghz (4Ghz turbo), and the 8350 is 4Ghz (4.2Ghz turbo). (Same Arch and all that, yada yada)

If you use all cores, it'll be ~12% slower. In gaming, because of turbo, the difference will be minimal, around 5%. The FX-8320 is a fine alternative to the 8350.

If that still isn't cheap enough, the FX-6300 is a 6-core version of the 8320 with the same stock speed and slightly faster turbo.
---------------------------------------------------------

As a side note, if you can order from newegg, I don't suppose you have a MicroCenter near you? They regularly have CPUs for below normal retail, and usually have a deal for $40-50 off the motherboard when you buy them together, but you have to be in-store to get the deal.

All three CPUs mentioned above get the $40 off motherboard deal this month. Here's a list:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/6bd8f069#/6bd8f069/34

Thanks for the tip about the MicroCenter store.  Unfortunatley, there are none here in WA state.

I need to get onde of these: Microsoft Office 2010 Academic or Office 2013 Professional.  Do you know where I could get them for a good price?

[KyadCK]

Not really. Most schools would have some form of program it get it cheap, such as MSDN access, but outside of that it's hard to get it for anything besides retail.

MS themselves have a "Student Promotion" for 2010 Academic: http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/office/terms.aspx