Phenom ii x4 965 or fx 6300 stock?

[OotheEscapistOo]

Hey Anandtech

So i am upgrading my pc in a week or two. So i currently have an pentium g850 and a gtx 560 superclocked and with games like bf3 and gta mycpu is at 95-100% usage and the gfx card is at max 35% usage. To alleviate the bottleneck i want to upgrade my system to a higher core count. My pentium and its mobo will be moving to a different computer so there is no point getting an i5, new mobo and ram. So i am here deciding between the fx 6300 and the phenom ii x4 965. I want to know which one will perform better right out of the box at stock clocks. The main functions for the computer will be web surfing and playing games like BF3, BF4 when it comes put, GTA 4 and GTA 5 when it comes out. So these games require 4 cores to run smoothly so i want to know which cpu to get. I will NOT be overclocking and an upgrade path is not needed because when i go to college i will give this pc to my parents to use. So the fx 6300 is $120 and the and the phenom is $95. I will be using an asus m5a78l m-lx plus motherboard with 6gb (4+2gb sticks because i have it already and no difference between single and dual channel in my experience), an evga gtx 560 superclocked, seagate 250gb hdd, cx 430. So which one would be better at stock (if i get the phenom i can replace the stock hsf with a hyper tx3).
So which one is better at gaming at stock out of the box?

P.S. no recording or streaming will be done.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Hey Anandtech

So i am upgrading my pc in a week or two. So i currently have an pentium g850 and a gtx 560 superclocked and with games like bf3 and gta mycpu is at 95-100% usage and the gfx card is at max 35% usage. To alleviate the bottleneck i want to upgrade my system to a higher core count. My pentium and its mobo will be moving to a different computer so there is no point getting an i5, new mobo and ram. So i am here deciding between the fx 6300 and the phenom ii x4 965. I want to know which one will perform better right out of the box at stock clocks. The main functions for the computer will be web surfing and playing games like BF3, BF4 when it comes put, GTA 4 and GTA 5 when it comes out. So these games require 4 cores to run smoothly so i want to know which cpu to get. I will NOT be overclocking and an upgrade path is not needed because when i go to college i will give this pc to my parents to use. So the fx 6300 is $120 and the and the phenom is $95. I will be using an asus m5a78l m-lx plus motherboard with 6gb (4+2gb sticks because i have it already and no difference between single and dual channel in my experience), an evga gtx 560 superclocked, seagate 250gb hdd, cx 430. So which one would be better at stock (if i get the phenom i can replace the stock hsf with a hyper tx3).
So which one is better at gaming at stock out of the box?

P.S. no recording or streaming will be done.

Of those choices, I would go with the FX6300. Do you have the motherboard already?

If you have to get a new mb and ram for the AMD cpus, I would still consider an i5. I dont know what retiring an old system has to do with it since if I understand correctly you will have to get a new mb and cpu in either case.

This article tests BF3 and GTAIV PC per cpu test. Actually without overclocking, the FX6300 is only slightly ahead of the Phenom, while the intel quads have a big lead.

 

[richierich1212]

Since you already have the m5a78l m-lx mobo, go with the fx-6300.

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

Well i only have a $200 budget so going intel is no choice since i5s are 180$. And no i dont have the mobo but it is highly rated on newegg and i have good experience with asus motherboards. Would the 6300 show enough of a perfromance increase over the phenom to justify the $25 price difference? I mean if i go with the phenom do you think that it will bottleneck my gtx 560 on the games i mentioned?

 

[AtenRa]

For BF3 MP the FX6300 all the way, if you can get the FX8320 even better. BF4 will be optimized for AMD and i bet the 8-core cpus will be much better.

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

Would the phenom be able to run it well though?

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

This is just my build until i go to college so i have a restricted budget.

 

[AtenRa]

If you have to save $25 then yes the Phenom will run it, but with the FX6300 will be much better.

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

Lol the savings would go a long way. Playable at high to medium settings you think?

 

[AtenRa]

Depend on the map and the number of players. Metro is the easiest map for the hardware, End Game maps are the hardest.

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

Hmmm. So if i was to go with the 6300, can anyone tell me how the stock cooler is? Is it loud? Does it keeps the temps in a reasonable range while gaming?

 

[AtenRa]

Hmmm. So if i was to go with the 6300, can anyone tell me how the stock cooler is? Is it loud? Does it keeps the temps in a reasonable range while gaming?

Stock cooler is fine unless your ambient is higher than 25-30c. Since you will not OC, it will be reasonable at low noise.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

FX 6300, hands down.

BF3 MP CPU test:

 

[Erenhardt]

Hey Anandtech

So i am here deciding between the fx 6300 and the phenom ii x4 965. I want to know which one will perform better right out of the box at stock clocks. The main functions for the computer will be web surfing and playing games like BF3, BF4 when it comes put, GTA 4 and GTA 5 when it comes out.

FX-6300 is better. I have 965 and my bro have 6300. Difference in not a big in single-threaded games but there new games noticeably better on fx-6300.

I will be using an asus m5a78l m-lx plus motherboard with 6gb (4+2gb sticks because i have it already and no difference between single and dual channel in my experience),

WORNING Your motherboard does not support Phenom II X4 965 (125W). It only support CPUs up to 95Watt.
History: Mo bro bought m5a78l m-lx + Phenom II X4 965 (125W). It required unofficial BIOS to run this CPU and it displayed error that this CPU is not supported by MoBo. Then he got fx-6300(95W) and he is now happy knowing that his motherboard will not fry VRMs (no cooling what so ever). And I got a great deal on his 965
FX-6300 supports faster memory than phenom IIRC

 

[Jimzz]

Do you live near a microcenter?

 

[Hubb1e]

Wait, first you say you have the motherboard already, and then you say you don't have the motherboard already you just like it even though it's 95W only, and then you say you already have the motherboard already. Could you make up your mind?

I'm not sure why you're against a small overclock on any of these chips. You can drop it back down to stock when you give it to your parents. And you can put a mild overclock on the chips and they do perform better even at stock voltage.

The FX6300 is probably the right choice especially since your MB doesn't support 125W CPUs, but may I throw out a different option? Get an FM2 based A8 5600K and give it a small overclock with the tx3 on top of it. The A8 will match or slightly beat the PhII at stock clocks, is cheap, and has a GPU in it already so you don't have to give your parents your 580 or spend more on a different GPU. The A8 is a better option for your parents when you donate the computer and is a fine CPU for gaming with a small overclock. Just my 2 cents...

 

[OotheEscapistOo]

On the asus website it says it supports the phenom with an old version of the bios. And i really dont wanna overclock since i only have a 430w psu and i dont want to stress it too much (nvidia cards are always more power hungry). And i am more than fine giving them an fx 6300 and my gtx 560. It will last them a long while and i will be building a whole new system anyways. And i never said i had the mobo. I liked it for the price more than any other options. And i do not live near a microcenter very sadly :,(.
So i do think i will go with a 6300. I would like more info on the stock cooler of it though. It looks like junk to be honest since it looks like my old athlon 2400 cooler. If anyone could five me the temps it would be going to when gaming, that would be awesome. And sound during gaming is no issue. But i am pretty sure the fan will slow down when doing nothing that is intensive (web browsing, etc.) right? If stock hsf is alright i would prbly buy some arctic silver 5 paste. Is that a good idea and can i also use it on my gfx card? Just for lower temps.

 

[inf64]

I think the stock HSF is not that bad. Maybe AtenRa knows how good it is exactly.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

AMD AM3+ Stock Cooler discussion.

 

[Hubb1e]

New thermal paste won't do you much good. It's not worth the effort in most cases. The stock cooler will cool the CPU at stock clocks, but it won't be quiet if that matters to you. And it looks like your motherboard has a built in GPU so you can sell your GPU when you pass it on.

The 6300 is a great choice.

 

[codyray10]

I upgraded to the rig in my sig below from a PII 965 setup. At stock clocks the 6300 is a little bit better than the 965. When it comes to playing multi-threaded games like BF3, GTA IV etc, you will want to have those 2 extra cores that the 6300 provides. To give you an idea, on my 6300, I play Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3, Bioshock, BF3 etc.. While the 965 did handle BF3 relatively smooth, after upgrading to the 6300 there are really not many stutters at all playing at 'ultra' graphics settings. I cannot speak to using the stock cooler, but you said you are not overclocking, so you should be fine with temps. However, I would really recommend you look into overclocking whichever CPU you decide on. Even on stock coolers you should be able to get an extra 2-300mhz. It really can be as simple as changing your multiplier in the bios.

 

[alexruiz]

Just to repeat what the others have said, FX6300 all the way.
Faster, cooler, and takes less electricity.