AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor $160 FS

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FX-8150...005UBNLFK/

Same price at Amazon for a while, free shipping, no coupon, etc.

And they had it with a $25 amazon GC a week ago

AMD really needs to update their flagship chipset. The 990FX chipset is a bit long in the tooth.

This is super fast for its price compared to what u get from Intel for this price.

Quote from Brooklynite : This is super fast for its price compared to what u get from Intel for this price.

How do you figure? 3570k which is around the same price [microcenter.com] blows this away on pretty much every benchmark I've seen [anandtech.com].

Quote from vip00 : How do you figure? 3570k which is around the same price [microcenter.com] blows this away on pretty much every benchmark I've seen [anandtech.com].

Microcenters are only availabe in 16 states. And even if it is in your state sometimes it's still like a 3 hour drive. So for many people, no it's not around the same price.

Quote from mattzane227 : Microcenters are only availabe in 16 states. And even if it is in your state sometimes it's still like a 3 hour drive. So for many people, no it's not around the same price.

First of all, considering the distribution of MCs, probably about half the population of the country lives within a reasonable drive of one. If you don't happpen to fall into that majority, then get it at Fry's for the same price. Or wait for similar prices online. If you can't find it for that price, you're not trying hard enough.

I think this is the OLD PROCESSOR? NEW ONE IS 83xx?

I bought an i7 so I'm good

Quote from vip00 : How do you figure? 3570k which is around the same price [microcenter.com] blows this away on pretty much every benchmark I've seen [anandtech.com].

I go by passmark, and trust me AMD has ALWAYS been faster for the $$ since I had my first 80286 along with the optional and expensive 80287 coprocessor in 1990:

AMD FX-8150 -> Passmark 7830 [cpubenchmark.net]

Intel i5-3570k -> Passmark 7118 [cpubenchmark.net]

With Intel you pay for the gorgeous TV ads as a nice chuck of money that you pay towards the CPU, so you get less CPU for your dollar (because you are paying for those ads) but at least are supporting American jobs at your local TV station. Dan Din Don. (o wait, Intel may be making those TV ads in China?)

AMD FX-8350 - $200, Passmark 9242:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6819113284

Intel i7-3820 $280 Passmark 9199 (thats 40% more expensive! and a bit slower)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...pk=i7-3820

Quote from vip00 : First of all, considering the distribution of MCs, probably about half the population of the country lives within a reasonable drive of one. If you don't happpen to fall into that majority, then get it at Fry's for the same price. Or wait for similar prices online. If you can't find it for that price, you're not trying hard enough.

LOL can I get some of the drugs you are taking?

MC is available to at most 2% of the US. If you are near one and get to save $30 on a cpu over newegg or tigerdirect, more power to you. After tax, the real cost of driving, dealing with traffic and waiting in line, the $30 at most that you save might be worth it. For the rest of us, having it delivered to the front door with no hassle is a better choice.

As for $189 for a 3570k. Yes, once per year. After cash back you can find it for $200ish a couple of times a month. Thats $210 minus 6% cashback, etc.

The new Vishera amd chip is extremely competitive with the 3570k. It uses a lot more power though but in terms of price its right up there. An 8320 is $160ish while a 3570k is $200ish. I have yet to see overclocking benchmarks though that compare the two at max frequency.

Quote from Brooklynite : I go by passmark, and trust me AMD has ALWAYS been faster for the $$ since I had my first 80286 along with the optional and expensive 80287 coprocessor in 1990: AMD FX-8150 -> Passmark 7830 [cpubenchmark.net] Intel i5-3570k -> Passmark 7118 [cpubenchmark.net] With Intel you pay for the gorgeous TV ads as a nice chuck of money that you pay towards the CPU, so you get less CPU for your dollar (because you are paying for those ads) but at least are supporting American jobs at your local TV station. Dan Din Don. (o wait, Intel may be making those TV ads in China?)

So you're taking a single completely synthetic and proprietary mark over the ~2 dozen real-life and synthetic benchmarks provided by someone reliable like the Anadtech bench? Well, that's really good for you, honest! Most of us prefer some measure of reliability, but if it makes you sleep better at night, go for it.

Quote from MeatCatalog : LOL can I get some of the drugs you are taking? MC is available to at most 2% of the US. If you are near one and get to save $30 on a cpu over newegg or tigerdirect, more power to you. After tax, the real cost of driving, dealing with traffic and waiting in line, the $30 at most that you save might be worth it. For the rest of us, having it delivered to the front door with no hassle is a better choice. As for $189 for a 3570k. Yes, once per year. After cash back you can find it for $200ish a couple of times a month. Thats $210 minus 6% cashback, etc. The new Vishera amd chip is extremely competitive with the 3570k. It uses a lot more power though but in terms of price its right up there. An 8320 is $160ish while a 3570k is $200ish. I have yet to see overclocking benchmarks though that compare the two at max frequency.

Wow, really? Try something called "MATH". It's new and cool!

Let's consider the top 10 metro areas of the US:

New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Dallas-Fort Worth
Houston
Philadelphia
Washington DC
Miami-Fort Lauderdale
Atlanta
Boston

Of those, only Miami does NOT have a MC within the metro area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...ical_Areas
http://www.microcenter.com/site/s...fault.aspx

Now counting JUST the metro areas, not including areas outside of the metro area where people can easily drive into the city to go to MC... it gives us 75 million people. Which is 23% of the population, if you're keeping score.

That's just 8 - that's right - 8 MC locations. Every major city in Ohio has a MC (add ~5 million), Denver (~3.5 mil), several more locations in the midwest, and a few more on the coasts, serving densely populated areas like NJ and SoCal. It's easily 100 million people in just metro areas. Add in rural areas which allow easy access to one of these locations, and you easily have half the population.

As far as AMD vs Intel. The FX-8320 is behind the i5-3570k in pretty much every single test again in a compilation of benchmarks [anandtech.com]. Yes there are a couple of places where it actually holds its own, but for general CPU-heavy usage (gaming, photoshop, media encoding), it performs worse on every single one.