Best 120$ CPU for a r9 270x

HCW123 · Jul 15, 2014

Hello everyone. I have decided the OTHER parts for my PC, however, I need help choosing a 120 dollar and below CPU that can help my r9 270x reach 40-60 frames at maximum or near ultra settings. I had originally choosen the fx 6300, but came across the i3 4310.. it seems like a REALLY good deal. I also heard about some Pentium 20th anniversary CPU that's 70 bucks that isn't very good in stock but has enormous OCing power. Any and all help is appreciated.

damric · Jul 15, 2014

It depends on the game engine. In most game engines an i3 4150 will outperform anything in its price range or lower.

The FX-6300 is good only if you overclock the snot out of it. You will need strong mobo and cooler though, and that raises the price tag into i5 territory, and an i5 will still be faster.

The unlocked pentium is a novelty to play around with. It will do pretty well in older, poorly threaded games that don't care about number of cores. In modern games it isn't even as powerful as an Athlon 760K when both are clocked same.

Speaking of Athlon 760K, that's also a good mate for an r9 270x. The problem again is that to overclock the thing you need a descent cooler and that puts you right back at i3 price tag.

HEXiT · Jul 15, 2014

if you intend replacing your pc in 3 years the i3 is a good deal, but if you intend to keep it longer get the cheapest 2.6ghz+ i5 quad, doesnt have to be a k part. it will do everything you need and more for a few years yet.
the i3 is nice but its still a dual core at heart so will get left behind sooner for gaming.

techtechie · Jul 15, 2014

stretch your budget by 20-30 and you can get an fx8320 which seems ideal for your price range

CTurbo · Jul 15, 2014

The i3 4130 and i3 4150 are easily the best cpus available for under $120. The Pentium g3258 for $69 is a fun alternative that would be better in some instances. You could slap the i3 in a $50 motherboard and call it a day. You would have to buy a Z97 motherboard and an aftermarket cooler to overclock the little Pentium. The price would be similar in the end.

HCW123 · Jul 15, 2014

I did notice the fx 8320, how is that versus the i3 4310? Now, my CPU cooler will be a hyper cooler 212 evo.I plan on playing newer games like BF4, Shogun 2, etc, but older ones like Rome Total and Medieval II, Sins of a solar empire.

techtechie · Jul 15, 2014

the 8320 passmark scores in at 8,086 and the i3 4150 comes in at 5,069. the fx8320 comes unlocked and with the evo you could overclock it a bit

here's a comparison http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4150-vs-AMD-FX-8320

CTurbo · Jul 16, 2014

I would not buy any FX at this point. They are 2 years old and have no upgrade path. Getting the Pentium or i3 would allow you to upgrade to an i5 or i7 later if you want.

HCW123 · Jul 16, 2014

I've heard that games don't use more than 4 cores, and the most I do is play games, do a lot of online wrk and web browsing, etc. My computer tends to run most of the day. Would a fx 4300 be more suited for me?

Fidgetmaster · Jul 16, 2014

i3 or.... FX 8350.....Fx 4300 ran pretty crappy with my 270... I literally can get DOUBLE Frames with my I7 920 in battlefield 4..... 4300 wanted to run around 40-60fps most time....the 920 I'm upwards into 70-120fps most of the time...

Fidgetmaster · Jul 16, 2014

Not that its logical to go find/get a 1366 board...unless for a good deal....but you can get 920's pretty cheap now in that $100-120 range very well worth that, and by all means its still hell of CPU.

HCW123 · Jul 19, 2014

I do not know the price of a I7 920, but it is much higher than my price range I beleive, so, with oru current knowledge,(sorry this post is so late) a FX 8320 would be more benefical than a i3?correct/

CTurbo · Jul 19, 2014

The i3 will still be better in anything that uses 4 cores or less, which is 90% of the time including most games.

The 8320 will be better in editing, rendering, and a very short list of games.

The i3 offers a great upgrade path.

The 8320 is old and offers no upgrade path.

Fidgetmaster · Jul 19, 2014

might as well go up to the 8350.

marooner · Jul 19, 2014

I recommend the Pentium G3258. When you're gaming, it will be the GPU and not the CPU that bottlenecks unless the CPU is crap. The Pentium is plenty fast enough, and with your extra money, you could pony up to an R9 280 or GTX 760. Remember to get a good third-party card with custom cooling and factory overclock, as it can greatly improve performance even compared to another version of the card.

DubbleClick · Jul 19, 2014

Do you really expect gaming on ultra settings from a tight budged cpu? If I were you and wanted to game on good settings for a while, I'd totally get an i5 at least.

marooner · Jul 19, 2014

DubbleClick :

I don't think he's aiming for Ultra. The CPU may be a bottleneck for that, but for high quality settings, the GPU is the more important component.

DubbleClick · Jul 19, 2014

marooner :

In most games indeed, but there are some really cpu heavy games out.

bmacsys · Jul 19, 2014

damric :

Damric, you say the 6300 is only good if you overclock the snot out of then you proceed to say the 760K is a good match with the R9 270? The 6300 is clearly better than the 760K. Same IPC, it has more cores that will clock just as high and a large L3 cache.

damric · Jul 19, 2014

bmacsys :

The L3 cache actually hurts the FX series more than it helps because its latency is as poor as DDR3, so all it's doing is adding extra heat. I can show you exactly in AIDA 64 Extreme if you are curious about that.

Yes, the Athlon 760K is great if overclocked. But like I said, to do that you will need an aftermarket cooler which jacks up the total price. The i3 fast enough at stock, runs cool on the stock cooler, and won't break the bank either.

I have owned or tested just about all of these.

Fidgetmaster · Jul 19, 2014

no the Pentium G3258 would be a huge bottleneck would have to be overclocked the piss out of it...

Fidgetmaster · Jul 19, 2014

no I have a gigabyte R9 270...and the fx 4300 was a major bottleneck/turd with it even Oced a little to 4.5ghz.... got my rampage ii board back Oced my I7 920 to 3.6-4.0ghz just Phenomenal difference.... so at least the fx 6350/8320/8350 is more ideal if go AMD route... well just in Battlefield 4 at least....Fx 4300 did ok in BF3, Skyrim/ESO etc, in BF4 I couldn't get over 40-60fps with the Fx4300....

bmacsys · Jul 19, 2014

damric :

bmacsys :

The L3 cache actually hurts the FX series more than it helps because its latency is as poor as DDR3, so all it's doing is adding extra heat. I can show you exactly in AIDA 64 Extreme if you are curious about that.

Yes, the Athlon 760K is great if overclocked. But like I said, to do that you will need an aftermarket cooler which jacks up the total price. The i3 fast enough at stock, runs cool on the stock cooler, and won't break the bank either.

I have owned or tested just about all of these.

The L3 performance is not great. That is widely known. But it still is a positive. The 6300 has better fps than the 760K in just about any gaming benchmark you can find. Or productivity benchmark for that matter. I have a A10-5800K. At 4.3 GHz it is no match for my 6300 at 4.3 GHz. Let alone my 8320 at the same speed.

damric · Jul 19, 2014

bmacsys :

damric :

The L3 performance is not great. That is widely known. But it still is a positive. The 6300 has better fps than the 760K in just about any gaming benchmark you can find. Or productivity benchmark for that matter. I have a A10-5800K. At 4.3 GHz it is no match for my 6300 at 4.3 GHz. Let alone my 8320 at the same speed.

The FX-6300 only outperforms the Athlon 760K in applications that utilize the additional module. It actually performs worse than the 760K in single threaded apps due to the better memory controller on the Richland revision.

The L3 cache is not positive. I've beat that horse to death with extensive testing. 40ns cache is fail and best left off the die.

Fidgetmaster · Jul 19, 2014

neither is that good at all.... you need the 6350/8320/8350....

Best 120$ CPU for a r9 270x

Reputable

Illustrious

Champion

Reputable

Pizza Monster

Reputable

Reputable

Pizza Monster

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Pizza Monster

Reputable

Reputable

Admirable

Reputable

Admirable

Honorable

Illustrious

Reputable

Reputable

Honorable

Illustrious

Reputable

Share this page