Best CPU for budget gaming

TeamSupreme · Jun 4, 2014

I am looking for a CPU in the 80-130 dollar range that I could play games like minecraft, Garry's mod and far cry 3 on. (I am willing to make an exception for the price if it has an onboard GPU but I would prefer not to) I have been leaning towards the fx 6300 but I would also like good single thread performance as well for minecraft. My budget is about $550

damric · Jun 4, 2014

This and clock the heck out of it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M Pro4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($59.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar Archon ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $517.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 00:42 EDT-0400)

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($118.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill AEGIS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.13 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Archon ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $505.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 00:43 EDT-0400)

CTurbo · Jun 4, 2014

I3 4150 is the best cpu you can get for under $120.

Do you need to buy windows or a monitor with your budget?

TeamSupreme · Jun 4, 2014

I Would Prefer to go with a quad core unlike the Intel 4130 if possible and do you you have any idea what fps I could get with the x4 760k? Also wouldn't I need water cooling for an over clock?

damric · Jun 4, 2014

You don't need water cooling. I'm using $30 tower cooler like the Hyper 212 and mine clocks like you see in my signature (the green and black one).

I run Skyrim and BF3 with very little hiccups.

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

AMD FX 4300 or 6300

damric · Jun 4, 2014

Fidgetmaster :

Eww no.

CTurbo · Jun 4, 2014

I'm pretty sure the i3 4150 or 4130 would be better in almost every game than the Athlon x4 760k.

damric · Jun 4, 2014

CTurbo :

Definitely. The trade off is worse GPU, but I like the low power rig all on 300W PSU

TeamSupreme · Jun 4, 2014

What about a budget intel build using the 4150?

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

Don't be ewwwing about that....they are good value/performance for that price.... and don't get/waste money on any of the R7 cards they are crap.... GTX 750 is kinda crappy too.

damric · Jun 4, 2014

TeamSupreme :

I like it:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($118.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill AEGIS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.13 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Archon ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $559.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 00:58 EDT-0400)

damric · Jun 4, 2014

Fidgetmaster :

The FX-4300 is more expensive and slower than the Athlon 760K just based on the improved Richland memory controller and the FX's lousy L3 latency that is as slow as standard DDR3 latency, You can add two more slow cores with the FX-6300 and you will be WAY over budget.

My r7 265 clocked at 1200/1500 that runs ultra detail games at solid 60FPS on 1080p says otherwise.

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

No don't get G.skill ram...go with Kingston/HyperX

TeamSupreme · Jun 4, 2014

That look really good thanks, but all I am wondering about is how it will be able to perform and as I stated before I would prefer a quad core without compromising single thread performance if possible.

damric · Jun 4, 2014

Fidgetmaster :

All current G.Skill RAM uses 30nm Samsung ICs. There is no better.

damric · Jun 4, 2014

TeamSupreme :

Then go with this and clock it to the extreme. It's very similar to what I run.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M Pro4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($59.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar Archon ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $517.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 01:04 EDT-0400)

CTurbo · Jun 4, 2014

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9zym3C
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9zym3C/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9zym3C/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($118.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $542.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 01:04 EDT-0400)

or

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qpgdxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qpgdxr/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qpgdxr/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($58.03 @ Mwave)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $539.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 01:08 EDT-0400)

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

no the 760k is pretty comparable to the fx4300 but certain benchmarking the fx 4300 still blows it away...

damric · Jun 4, 2014

Fidgetmaster :

My hardwarebot account says otherwise.

damric · Jun 4, 2014

FM2+ still has one more APU series coming after Kaveri with Excavator die.

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

Idk man its kinda looks grim for all the AM3/AM3+ FM2+ etc lol

damric · Jun 4, 2014

I sold off all my AM3+ after I benched them. I still have one AM3 CPU left though.

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

still though not bad performers at all basing off of/building a $500ish rig.

Fidgetmaster · Jun 4, 2014

I would go up with at least 7870 or R9270 with a build like these mentioned here though. much better performing card.

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