CPU/mobo recommendations ?

[dr.stevil]

So I'm not looking for advice for a full system build per se. I just wanted some opinions of the best bang for the buck CPU available at the moment. Something along the lines of the old AMD Athlon64 and Intel Q6600 chips, which were powerhouses of their times on a budget.

I'm looking for a somewhat 'future proof' CPU. I had built my Q6600 system when they first hit retail and am still rocking it with no real issues (although I'm starting to feel the bottleneck in some situations). I'm hoping to find another CPU that will last me, hopefully, just as long as that one did... But I'm not interested in spending 600 on a processor either.

I'm looking at the AMD vishera(sp?) 8 core CPU. My thought process is that with the next gen consoles, we should be seeing more multithreaded games in the near future. Not to mention having great multitasking capabilities. However, there may be reasons to opt for a different chip that I'm not aware of.

Anyone have any advice on this? What current generation CPU will last me another 5 years without showing its age too much? GPUs can be upgraded, but in general, CPU upgrades can be a PITA

And with that said, based on your CPU suggestions, what is a good overclockable motherboard to go with to?

 

[Skripka]

If your concern is performance in 5 years....I would not touch any of the bulldozer/piledriver and newer AMD CPUs at this time. Seriously, they weren't that impressive and do not and did not win any benchmarks even when new....and given their abysmal heat and power draw even when new, in 5 years they're going to be even worse in performance/watt.

I'm still running a 4c8t LGA1155 Sandybridge Xeon and the only reason I don't love it still is the performance in Folding@Home and that architecture is running 2 years old. Why not setup a Z77 (save some money) or Z87 (get the latest now) system? 4c8t is more than enough for just about any normal usage. No matter what you do you're going to cringe inside a bit when DDR4 comes around, probably.

 

[Dangman]

I'm looking at the AMD vishera(sp?) 8 core CPU. My thought process is that with the next gen consoles, we should be seeing more multithreaded games in the near future. Not to mention having great multitasking capabilities. However, there may be reasons to opt for a different chip that I'm not aware of.

Well for one, there's the big difference in heat and power usage between AMD CPUs and Intel CPUs with the Intels having significantly less amounts of both factors. Not to mention that it may be a long time before we start seeing truly multi-threaded games. Think about the fact that it took several years for game developers to get the hang of developing for the PS3's Cell tech.

Third, even with current heavily multi-threaded applications (video editing, 3D rendering, etc), the $200 AMD FX-8350 trades blows with the $230 Core i5 4670K with the 4670K edging out the FX-8350 or not far behind in most cases. We're talking about applications that have been developed over a decade to be as heavily multi-threaded as possible and yet the AMD FX CPUs just only trades blows with the Core i5 4670K. We're not even factoring in the Core i7 CPUs yet or overclock performance yet.

So in other words, while there is a possibility that you may end up with slightly faster gaming performance in future games with an AMD FX CPU, you still have to deal with the increased heat and power usage throughout those five years. Then there's high possibility that you may just end up getting the same gaming performance as a Core i5 4670K CPU or even worse in future games.

Anyone have any advice on this? What current generation CPU will last me another 5 years without showing its age too much? GPUs can be upgraded, but in general, CPU upgrades can be a PITA

Pretty much, you want to aim for the best bang for the buck fastest CPU you can afford. Right now, that's the Core i5 4670K or Core i7 4770K if you're overclocking.

And with that said, based on your CPU suggestions, what is a good overclockable motherboard to go with to?

Asus Z87-A.

 

[dr.stevil]

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate the advice and input. Based on your suggestions I decided to pull the trigger on an intel 4770 (non-k). I'm aware that they're mostly locked down as far as overclocking goes, but the extra virtualization features and lower price point sold me. With the "turbo" feature", I'm sure it'll do just fine (a huge step up from my 3.8ghz q6600 anyway)

I don't see it being a major bottle neck for the next year or two and at that point can just swap in a k version or a higher clocked haswell when it becomes available. I also grabbed a gigabyte z87 sli/xfire motherboard that seems to have a lot of good reviews. Again, I really appreciate the input. I'm super excited to put it together and see how it runs. Now to pick out my gpu. Thinking 2x GTX770's or a 7990

I'll post back with my results once it's all put together

 

[Dangman]

I don't recommend Gigabyte at this point in time since they have quite a few teething issues, quirks, and their UEFI isn't as good as MSI or Asus:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/07/30/gigabyte_z87xud3h_lga_1150_motherboard_review/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/07/01/gigabyte_z87xud5h_lga_1150_motherboard_review/

 

[dr.stevil]

Thanks. I grabbed gigabyte because I tended to have a lot of good luck with them in the past (and the price:feature ratio). I'll check out those links. I'll try it out and if it gives me issues I'll likely look into grabbing an asus

I appreciate the heads up on that