AMD FX 8-Core Black Edition FX-8300 3.3 GHz with 4.2 GHz Turbo Octa core Processor (FD8300WMHKBOX)

I gave myself a project to build a virtual pinball setup. I wanted to be able to run tables from The Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2. Some of the tables can be fairly demanding at the highest settings, so I needed a good mid-range system with adequate CPU, RAM, and GPU. I bought a custom-built mid-tower system off someone nearby on Craigslist.Gigabyte motherboard with AM3+ CPU socketAthlon II FX4 640 CPU with Rocketfish cooler8GB RAM250GB SSD (with Win10)500 GB HDD (for other storage)GeForce GTX 750 Ti GPUDVD/RW optical driveNetwork card6 USB3 portsAll at a very attractive price. I added an Xbox controller with force feedback to work the flippers, plunger, and select tables. I also built a frame to set a 46" Samsung 1080p TV sloped in the vertical orientation, as the pinball playing surface. I stand up and play or sit on a bar stool. It's the same height as a real pinball machine. Finally, I mounted satellite speakers to the sides of the frame, and added a subwoofer from an old PC speaker set.I loaded Steam and the pinball software, and then bought and downloaded about 20 tables. They ran pretty well, and we had a lot of fun in the rec room. You could sometimes experience a slight lag with the flippers and sometimes in multiball when a lot of activity was going on. I could tweak the settings to minimize this.After about 5 months, I decided an upgrade to a beefier CPU would get it up to prime specs for pinball. The AM3+ supports the final generation of AMD FX chips. I was looking at the FX-8300, FX-8320, and FX-8350. While they all come from the same die, the 8320 and 8350 passed higher benchmark tests at the factory when overclocked. You can really push these chips. The last 2 run at 125 watts, while the 8300 runs at 95 watts. Not a big issue, but we all want our chips to run as cool as possible.For the price/performance, and power issues, the FX-8300 was the best option. I do not plan on overclocking, as it is fast out of the box. It's nice to know this CPU arrives unlocked, and my bios allows me to boost if if I want.The Verdict:I couldn't believe how much faster this CPU runs than the old Athlon quad core CPU. It's night and day. Windows boots faster, the games load faster, and they run perfectly smooth on high settings. I am extremely happy with this CPU and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an AM3+ CPU socket. It's not the latest and greatest, but for the money, it is hard if not impossible to get more computing power at a price anywhere close to this. Any Intel chip that is comparable costs twice as much.With the 46" TV, the booming speakers, and the flipper controller, it looks great, sounds great, and plays great. I expect to have many pinball sessions with friends and family over the years. New tables are available every few months, and there are already well over 100 to choose from, so I will never run out of new pinball tables to play. It's like having a massive pinball collection in my rec room. In some ways, it is not the same as playing the real thing, but I'll never have to repair a finicky pinball machine, as they are always breaking down. My system should be trouble-free for many years. Some day I may build a more authentic looking cabinet so it looks and feels more like a real pinball machine.

One of the best processor even to this day, I feel it can support most games and applications.Pros:* Multi processor cpu.* Fast stock speeds* An amazing overclocker, got mine upto 4.7Ghz on air.* Works amazing under Linux operating system* Cheaper than Intel 8 core processor.Cons:* Already old technology* Not as powerful as some of the Intel CPU but a lot cheaper than most Intel Chips.*Generate to much heat due to the TDP of the processor compare to Intel CPU so you need a good cooler like Hyper 212, Noctua NH-D14 or Be quiet! Dark Pro 3 cpu cooler etc... or a Corsair H100+ CPU cooler.

It was a good process until the end. I have to upgrade due to MS and MSI placing chipset limits

This product was shipped to me broken locked in at 1.4 ghz safety mode. I just found out recently after 4 months of owning the cpu unfortunately and i went through diagnostic hell thinking it was my motherboard and almost replaced everything else except for the CPU. it was the last test I did with an old 1100T amd that confirmed it was the FX-8300 Cpu sent to me.I am using: Msi 970 gaming motherboard Ms-7693.In the photo I am stress testing the CPU with CPU-Z and it is incapable of going past 1.4ghz. Temps are great ofcourse being so downclocked. logical explanation is the previous owner pushed it way beyond it's capabilitiesHigh performance mode on-Maximum processor state: 100% Minimum processor state: 100%680watt psu with RTX 2070Temperature is at 30°c ofcourse being so severely underclocked

Processor works great and had no problems installing in mothereboard. The only issue is cost. A little high in price for being " USED ".

Great value, but average performance.

i have put two FX series Cpu's in to my computers. and love the performance i get for the price.i have the 8300 in one computer and the 6300 in the other. iv set them up with the 8300 in the bedroom of my house and the 6300 in the living area. I use the Computer with the 8300 to run my games and stream them to the 6300 downstairs. why? (asked nobody) pretty much because i can. But i can easily say, pared with a good gpu this setup works very well.i wouldn't mind building a few more computers with this cpu. dated as it is. it holds up pretty well. and for the price i'm very happy with it. as in, it does a fantastic job.cons: the cpu cooler it comes with is garbage. get a hyper 212 evo or a water block to cool it. it run HOT. if you don't.hot = bad.

The product is highly rated for its value, meaning its total efficient is high per the cost to the consumer. The FX-8300 does three things very well. Gaming, video/audio encoding, and parallel tasks such as desktop or work productivity apps. The product pairs well with another AMD video card in the R9, RX or Vega product classes, making it quite effective for parallel computing on the desktop and high demand apps such as the latest games. I'd recommend this product for its cost/value as a computing investment over the next three years, at which time AMD Zen 2+ CPU/GPU products in the 7 nm and smaller fab process sizing will be the affordable replacement for next-gen games, media, and apps.