CPUs for Gaming

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NateTheGreat1015

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Jan 26, 2014
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I'm building a gaming PC soon ($750 for the whole thing, including MB and OS) and I had planned to use an i3 4130. I had my dad run this by his friend who's pretty good with computers. My dad's friend (We'll call him Joe) said that the i3 I mentioned would be obsolete in a year. Joe also said that I should get an i5 at least, and probably an i7. I'd only be using this build for gaming (Nothing that demanding, DOTA, MC, Warframe), and school stuff. Joe also said I need 16 GB of RAM MINIMUM, as well as space for 32 GB. I'm beginning to doubt his judgment. Could you shine some light on the situation?
 
Solution
sunder25
Hello, an i5 will be much better than the i3, however right now, the 4130 should be able to play games decently.
8 gb of ram is enough for gaming at the moment, there's no game that needs more currently.
The videocard will have the biggest impact when it comes to gaming.
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sunder25

sunder25

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Jan 22, 2014
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Hello, an i5 will be much better than the i3, however right now, the 4130 should be able to play games decently.
8 gb of ram is enough for gaming at the moment, there's no game that needs more currently.
The videocard will have the biggest impact when it comes to gaming.
 
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Entomber

Entomber

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Apr 21, 2014
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I also doubt Joe's judgment. If you're on a budget there's no reason to randomly upgrade certain parts like an i3 to an i7 or 8GB to 16GB RAM if you aren't planning to use the system for something that would require that kind of utility.

What build are you looking at currently?
 
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sunder25

sunder25

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Jan 22, 2014
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Here's an intel build, though above your budget- this would be great for upgrades in the future and will play anything decently right now.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($196.98 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.28 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Tri-X Toxic Video Card ($249.99 @ TigerDirect)
Case: Zalman Z12 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $885.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-29 17:18 EDT-0400)

Will be back with an AMD build
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

Titan
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Apr 27, 2009
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Here is a better priced Intel build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($192.91 @ B&H)
Case: Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.99 @ TigerDirect)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $750.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-29 17:24 EDT-0400)
 
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Edric Midnightmonster

Honorable
Feb 9, 2014
51
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10,660
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ASNi
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ASNi/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ASNi/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($151.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($64.58 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $796.46
 
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sunder25

sunder25

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Jan 22, 2014
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($151.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $773.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-29 17:28 EDT-0400)
 
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D

DJLolly

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Feb 8, 2013
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10,520
On a budget, why not go for like an FX-81xx or an FX-6xxx, I'm going for a 6xxx series when i build mine, they'll be good enough for what you want. But i would go with AMD rather than intel, because at that level you will get much better price/performance.
 
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NateTheGreat1015

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
209
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10,690
Here's the build. I have an external HDD that I can convert into an internal one. I plan to pick up the monitor, case and wireless network adapter from my local Microcenter.
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3AWlY) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3AWlY/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3AWlY/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i34130) | $118.97 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h81mp33) | $49.99 @ Mwave
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d8gab) | $68.99 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42662kr) | $169.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100b10600kr) | $49.99 @ Micro Center
**Optical Drive** | [LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-optical-drive-gh24nsb0) | $15.98 @ OutletPC
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) | $84.99 @ NCIX US
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $558.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-29 18:56 EDT-0400 |
 
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NateTheGreat1015

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Jan 26, 2014
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10,690
How much performance increase will I see if I get an i5 4430? It's clocked @3GHz, but it has 4 cores. I know gaming-wise that will only make a difference in really demanding games (*cough* CRYSIS 3 *cough*) which I won't be playing. Will that help me a lot in general computer use? How much better will I be able to multitask?
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

Titan
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Apr 27, 2009
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I would spend the extra $10 more and get an R9 270x. It is a faster card than the GTX 660. If you are going to Microcenter, you might want to look at their CPU and motherboard bundles. Generally you can get any compatible motherboard discounted with the CPU they have for the bundles. If you can, I would go with an FX 6300 and a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3. That bundle is a much better buy than an i3 4130 with that H81 board.
 
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DJLolly

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Feb 8, 2013
17
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10,520
In games you would probably see an improvement, especially is you enable physx via the cpu, not sure how much though, but any CPU intensive games you should in theory see a big improvement, look at some benchmarks, I know they're not always accurate but it gives a ballpark
 
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