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Need Help picking a CPU for gaming.

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dazza216

dazza216

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Jun 10, 2013
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Hi all,

I'm going to be building a new PC at christmas and I'm confused as to what CPU I should go for considering my parts.

What would be the best CPU for these specs:

GPU: GTX 750 ti (Already bought from previous build)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 8GB 1600
PSU: Seasonic S12II-520w
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 (Have to pick this because of case restrictions, if there's a better sub 150mm cooler, I'm all for it)


Will I see any noticeable difference in gaming if I pick say...an i5 4690k over an fx-8350 (or even an athlon 860k) considering my GPU?

Thanks.
 
im using a 4790K with a GTX 780 for gaming and it was so so id say about maybe 15% to 25% faster than my i7 965 with the same card. it also depends on weather your more of a fan of AMD or Intel. I have always stuck with intel lol even in the Netburst days. lately it seems like Intel is on top so again its your choice. what is your current system?
 
Current system:

AMD Athlon II x2 270
Stock cooler
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
MSI K9N6PGM2-V Motherboard
MSI GTX 750 Ti
Generic PSU
Aerocool V3X Advanced Case

It's quite the little trooper, it surprised me in performance in some games.
It's not that bad, it was able to run BF4 on low-medium settings at 1080p at 29-30FPS, but there was a good bit of stuttering happening and it was able to run Payday 2 on Ultra at 1080p at 45Fps. But I would be aiming to get 50-60FPS on very high settings with my next build. A "console killer" if you like.

Would I see a big improvement if I got the i5?
 
From a dual core Athlon? Surely you would. Dual cores are generally not good for gaming these days. ;)

Once you upgrade your CPU, then that GPU becomes the 'problem'. While it does OK at 1080p, I'm not sure you will be getting 50-60 FPS on modern titles using the highest settings.

I also note you have a "generic PSU". Get a new one. A QUALITY. Unit (see PSU Guide link in my signature).
 
fx-8350+generic PSU will likely not end well.

With a 750 Ti playing BF4 you are likely not going to notice a difference running either a Fx-8350 or a 4690k. You need to take into account that if running a Fx 8350 you need a stout motherboard to accompany it. Budget motherboards need not apply when trying to run a Fx 8xxx cpu. They also need really good cooling and/or ventilation especially if OCing is a consideration, more so then the Intel counterparts. I do not feel the Athlon 860k is a terrible choice but there are better. A suggestion if you're looking to save money is a Fx 63XX cpu, they produce less heat then the Fx 83xx chips, are less expensive then the I5-4690k and will play BF4 just fine. I have a Fx 6300 and play BF4 with it without any issues.
Here's a suggested build
Capture2.PNG
 
There are two builds I've come up with. One AMD, one Intel. They're the same except for the CPU and mobo.

So I could either get a 4690k (with an ASRock Z97 Pro3) or FX 8350 (with an Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0) with these common components:

RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) crucial Ballistix Sport 1600Mhz
GPU: 750 Ti (I bought this in June and can't afford to buy a better GPU)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W

Now about a cooler, I have an Aerocool V3X Case which only supports a CPU cooler height of 150mm. So the 212 EVO is too tall for the case. So could you suggest the best Air cooler under 150mm

Anyway, which build would be worth it?
 
Last edited:
You need to take into account that if running a Fx 8350 you need a stout motherboard to accompany it. Budget motherboards need not apply when trying to run a Fx 8xxx cpu.
Click to expand...
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 <---A 4+2 VRM section motherboard is not going to cut it with a Fx 83xx chip.

Did you take into consideration the build I posted above?
 
I've seen alot of people running an 8350 on the mobo I have and it's considered a budget motherboard. The UD3P has been great so far.

With my build I play BF4 and I play on ultimate with FPS staying right at 50-60+ easily. I have to turn on Vsync though and on ultimate it stays at 60FPS constant.
 
Gigabyte 970a UD3P
Click to expand...
If you're talking about this board Ray I wouldn't consider it a budget board. It has the VRM section to run a Fx 8xxx, to me a budget board is one with a 4+1/2 Power Phase Vrm section or a board with no heatsinks on the aforementioned section.
 
Mandrake4565 said:
If you're talking about this board Ray I wouldn't consider it a budget board. It has the VRM section to run a Fx 8xxx, to me a budget board is one with a 4+1/2 Power Phase Vrm section or a board with no heatsinks on the aforementioned section.
Click to expand...

Oh ok, didn't think of it like that lol
 
When someone says budget, I think $... and this was a cheap board...not many like that around...

OCN approves it in their AMD VRM thread for Octo's. ;)
 
If we are considering an AMD setup, I'm going to throw in my vote for the build I just did. Get a 15 dollar off of 100 coupon for tiger direct (google around, they ALWAYS have this), then buy this 8310 for 110 dollars.
Get yourself a 212 evo for 30 dollars, get the 970A-UD3P from microcenter for 85 dollars right now, or 90 dollars after rebate at newegg.

Take a potato, some overclocking, and baby - you got cheap gaming rig.

And just to be clear, this board has an 8+2 phase. However, of course, if money is not an issue here then you should go with intel.
 
Last edited:
You say "gaming", but what games?

If you play say Guild Wars 2 or Tera MMOs for example, an AMD would be a dismal experience, and in fact, your fps numbers would more than double by getting pretty much ANY i5 over an 8350 or higher AMD cpu.
 
there are still alot of games that run more then fine with two cores. just depends on how much money there is to play with, the G3258 would be me choice cpu for someone on a budget and wanting ocing.
 
baris_ said:
How do you guys know how many cores a single game uses?

Tried to do some searches but it's not like theres a general website (or at least not to my knowledge) that offers info on this. Whatever I did find was mostly just users who happen to post up some screenshots of their experience like this:

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/pc-m...dogs-confirmed-to-use-all-8-threads-31284235/
Click to expand...

You can monitor the usage yourself.

It is wise to have 4 cores/4 threads for gaming now. Some games require at least 4 threads to run now and will not even launch on a 2 thread system.
You close a lot of doors for yourself when you choose a dual core CPU. I would go with at least an i5 for gaming, unless you are on an extremely tight budget.
 
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