AMD Athlon X4 860K Black Edition CPU Quad Core FM2+ 4000Mhz 95W 4MB AD860KXBJABOX

Bought this Processor for a Sub-500 Dollar Computer build for a friend. The maximum performance is obviously getting items that can really extend their potential with little work and low cost, or in this case overclocking. [Athlon X4 860k, Arctic 13 Cooler (Used), R7 360 MSI Armor OC, 8GB Viper III 1600mhz Ram, 1TB 7200 HDD, Corsair Carbide Case, Gigabyte FM2+ Standard Matx Mobo, 500w EVGA Bronze PSU] = $480As someone who grew up with AMD and has tons of good experiences (primarily using i7's now), I'm extremely impressed with the performance and the compatibility of the 860k and how it integrates into the build as a whole. I would definitely recommend overclocking the processor at a minimum 4.2ghz w/ Turbo Off, as once you hit the x42 Multiplier, you will notice a strong gain in real-life scenarios, as it seems to be hitting a certain minimum performance threshold on a x64 Win7 Ultimate w/ lots of software. This processor is the definition of hitting a very respectable level of power while only costing around 75~USD. However, make sure to invest in a very strong cooling system, also make sure the fan will fit too as the Cooler Master Hyper Evo is super popular/performs well but very tall. Paired with the R7 360 OC'ed, this combo makes for a decent gaming computer for popular online games and some bigger AAA titles @ 1080p, depending on how much you like to 'optimize' your graphic settings. Heat output is okay especially at OC levels but nothing that a well fitted fan and Silver-based thermal compound can't take care of. Pretty high power consumption, but that just comes with the territory of a processor like this. Overall great processor, has a pretty high potential ceiling, super strong performance once past 4.2ghz, and the price just makes this unit so hard to fault. Even at much higher standards, if you have low temps while pushing the processor higher, you can start rivaling other bigger Intel processor lines, at-least in benchmarks, not always in real-world. You'll start noticing dips when really pushing all 4 cores/threads, but within very reasonable limits, I haven't seen any issues or big complaints (Game + Firefox/Pandora + Peripherals) Lastly, don't look at the FX series and such, those are much harder to pair up or get up and running at their 100% efficiency due to certain mobos,etc. For a pretty efficient $500 build, this processor definitely can carry its weight and then some more. Awesome processor for sure.

Astounding performance from this solid processor! as the title states, this is an AWESOME budget processor. It does not have a GPU built into it so you will need a discreet GPU. However this processor is insanely fast and believe me I know fast(My personal desktop has an i7 3930k + gtx 980ti and my brother's PC has a FX6300 + gtx 770 4Gb Ed.). I initially bought this processor because of reading the reviews and many claimed it was a very fast, in fact, one of the fastest FM2+ processors. I got it for my media center build for TV/Entertainment room. I paired this CPU with my old GTX 680. As an avid gamer, i decided to test some light games on it such as dishonored, batman AA, skyrim, even crsysis2(which is actually not light ;p), and to my surprise the PC ran all without a sweat and on max! I then tried some other games such as Assassin's creed black flag (which is terribly optimized on the whole) and even that worked well with an average of 45-55fps @ 1080p. Even with newer games like COD advanced warfare, metro last light and far cry 4, I got near 60FPS on all, ON MAX (with one or 2 settings tweaked down)! Also i urge you to get a custom cooler. I will be getting one later on. It runs a little hot on the stock cooler, but nothing to worry about and all these tests were on the stock cooler(and note: my house did NOT burn down or melt as many reviewers think you to believe). I honestly didn't expect so much power out of a $75 CPU, but hey i guess its 2015. I'm not an AMD fan but i must give praise where it is due. I know that as of now(2015) there is not a good enough upgrade path when one chooses FM2+ , but i assure you, in getting this CPU, the need for upgrading will only arise probably in the next 4-5 years, probably longer. Well done AMD with the Athlon X4 860k, well done!

5 stars because this thing performed a lot better than it should have. I will start by saying that the fan was pretty loud on mine, but I will also admit that I'm using an incredibly weak power source (600 w recommended for my setup, but I only had a 300 w sitting around), so the noise is likely due to that.Even underpowered, it peaks at over 3.9 GHz and I know it would easily do more once the new power source arrives. The temperature still stays pretty low as well.This is my first fully custom pc, and I am absolutely thrilled at the performance compared to the cost. The closest similarly equipped computer I could have purchased from a retailer was over $900. With this processor, the motherboard, case, RAM, and other items, this cost me less than $400. I can run the Xbox App and stream at the highest quality now with no glitches or lag, and my old favorite pc game Flight Simulator can now be played at full graphics and settings paired with the discreet graphics card. I dual boot into Windows 8.1 for work, and so far everything seems to load a lot faster. On both Windows 10 and 8.1, there are no more sudden forced closes, no more glitches when watching video on Amazon Prime or YouTube.For this to be a low cost processor, I'm impressed. You can bet my next processor upgrade will be an AMD.