FX-8350, 3750K or wait for Haswell?

[TheAJ]

Pretty much been stumped for the past few days deciding what to do.

At first, I was judging between FX-8350 and the 3750K which are pretty similar in overall performance. Then I realized that the Haswell family of i5/i7 processors will be coming pretty soon (sources say June, 2013?).

As far as budget goes, I'm not terribly on a constraint, but wouldn't mind saving extra bucks for the summer.

Here is my PC specs (which I bought in January 2009, roughly 4 years):
AMD Phenom X4 9550 (First gen Phenom) @ 2.2GHz
6GB DDR2-6400 800MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 (PCI-E version)
640GB Coventional HDD

I didn't build that PC myself, I bought it from HP. I do however, plan to build the upcoming PC myself.


Some things I've heard about haswell from research on google is that the performance increase is roughly 5%-10% (clock-to-clock) compared to Ivy Bridge. Also read that Intel is mainly focusing on making the upcoming processor has better power efficiency and a integrated graphics. It's also notable that the LGA 1155 socket will no longer be used (I believe the LGA1150 is going to be used for atleast Haswell and Skylake?).

On the other hand, FX-8350 still has some life, and the AM3+ socket will be used for atleast one more generation (from searching, most people seem to say that the Steamroller will be on the AM3+ socket)

Both 8350/3750 are good processors, and either one is fine for me. I just want to see if it's worth the wait (with my current PC) for Haswell.

[MentaL]

[Rishwin]

There's always going ot be a new chip or socket coming out, it's never worth holding out and paying 20-30% more on release for what is essentially 10% increase -if that-.

I would get it now, i would go Intel, but i wouldn't get the i7. The i5 3570K is more than enough to handle anything, and will overclock well if you need the performance later. It will also make less of a dent on your wallet so you won't feel as bad about replacing it in a few gens. Especially with the rest of your specs (unless you're completely rebuilding) the i7 will just cost you more for performance you won't ever use or see.

[EliteGM]

I can vouch 100% for the i5-3570k and it's OC-ability. Been using it for a few months now, one of the best upgrades I ever got!

[slayhhh]

an atx board will set you back about 100 usd and the cpu about 200, so go for it

[TheAJ]

Just to clear some things up, I will be building the PC from scratch. I won't be using anything from my old computer, except maybe a hard drive from it (as secondary storage)

Reason I may choose to wait is because I won't be really using my computer until May, when my semester ends. Thing is, It may be a pointless wait for something that may not be revolutionary at all (like Rishwin said)... But maybe the wait till be worth it, maybe graphic card prices will go down?

I'm only really using my computer at the moment to do programming (compilers like gcc for c/c++ run fine). I don't have any real bottleneck on my current PC, since I don't really game.

After playing skyrim, I realized how shit my card was... It was getting 30-40 fps on lowest settings, and not even at my native screen resolution.

[slayhhh]

Just to clear some things up, I will be building the PC from scratch. I won't be using anything from my old computer, except maybe a hard drive from it (as secondary storage)

Reason I may choose to wait is because I won't be really using my computer until May, when my semester ends. Thing is, It may be a pointless wait for something that may not be revolutionary at all (like Rishwin said)... But maybe the wait till be worth it, maybe graphic card prices will go down?

I'm only really using my computer at the moment to do programming (compilers like gcc for c/c++ run fine). I don't have any real bottleneck on my current PC, since I don't really game.

After playing skyrim, I realized how shit my card was... It was getting 30-40 fps on lowest settings, and not even at my native screen resolution.

then you should just wait, gpu prices will drop, unless there's like some huge bombing @ amd or nvidia factories.


a hd 7950 is about 200 euros and 7970 is 300 here, they were 500+ when released, so they're pretty cheap now, expect them to drop more when time passes by.

[Robert]

Just to clear some things up, I will be building the PC from scratch. I won't be using anything from my old computer, except maybe a hard drive from it (as secondary storage)

Reason I may choose to wait is because I won't be really using my computer until May, when my semester ends. Thing is, It may be a pointless wait for something that may not be revolutionary at all (like Rishwin said)... But maybe the wait till be worth it, maybe graphic card prices will go down?

I'm only really using my computer at the moment to do programming (compilers like gcc for c/c++ run fine). I don't have any real bottleneck on my current PC, since I don't really game.

After playing skyrim, I realized how shit my card was... It was getting 30-40 fps on lowest settings, and not even at my native screen resolution.

With PC components, I think it's probably always best to wait as long as possible, or ideally buy things over a period of time while specific components are on sale. Best plan would be to just keep upgrading your current pc until you get to the point of only needing a new box (or power supply I guess, depending on components). While components do generally slowly drop in price, it's rarely to the point that you can't find one in a good sale for a lower price anyway.

Also, go for the i5/7. AMDs are only comparable when the program is optimised for 4+ cores. Which is pretty much nowt because why optimise for a smaller user base? Once Intel start churning out octo core chips, I can see the current gen chips becoming more useful than i5s, but at that point who would care in old gen tech?

[TheAJ]

@Robert, Only reason why I think the and 8core could come in handy is because the PS4 comes with an amd 8core (I think its called Jagaur). This could mean the industry is moving towards multi core games?

[Rishwin]

@Robert, Only reason why I think the and 8core could come in handy is because the PS4 comes with an amd 8core (I think its called Jagaur). This could mean the industry is moving towards multi core games?

PS3 has 8 cores/cells too AFAIK.

If you're not going to be able to use it now anyway then i guess you may aswel wait, but tbh it all depends on when the release date is for YOUR region. Ignore when the global release is but find out when it's hitting your region, and the current gen should start dropping in price a 2 weeks to 1 month after release. THAT'S when you want to pickup current gen CPU & GPU as they would have been priced down to make room for the new series priced at just above what the current gen is.