Best cpu just under 100 dollars for gaming
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Overclocking
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Gaming
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CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
mitsosvazelos84
October 11, 2014 2:23:43 PM
How much under $100 do you want?
Read these two reports:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-c...
http://www.hardwarepal.com/best-cpu-gaming-9-processors...
Read these two reports:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-c...
http://www.hardwarepal.com/best-cpu-gaming-9-processors...
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Reply to geofelt
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G3258 in intel http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G3258-BX8... it can be oced on a H81 board which is cheap .
fx 6300 in AMD http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD6300WMHKBOX-FX-6300-Process... it can be Oced on a 970 chipset board.
but for ocing you will also need a decent aftermarket cooler.
fx 6300 in AMD http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD6300WMHKBOX-FX-6300-Process... it can be Oced on a 970 chipset board.
but for ocing you will also need a decent aftermarket cooler.
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Reply to prit87
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mitsosvazelos84
October 11, 2014 3:27:50 PM
For gaming, particularly first person shooters or fast action games, the graphics card is all important.
As a rule, a $100 cpu should be paired with a $200 gpu.
Now, if your games are not so fast action, and strategy games, they are more cpu dependent.
Many games are essentially single threaded and cpu bound. Civ 5 is one of those, I think minecraft might be another.
In general, the intel haswell cpu's are perhaps 30% faster, clock for clock.
How to choose?
Short term, at <$100, I think the FX-4300 is decent.
The problem is that you have no real upgrade path for the cpu. A FX-6300 or even FX8350 will not be signivicantly more capable.
If you pick a i3-4130, it will cost you a bit more. With a Z97 based motherboard, you have an upgrade path as high today as a i7-4790K. And, even future 14nm broadwell capability.
I have both a G3258 and a i7-4790K. For most tasks, I can't tell the difference.
My advice would be to buy a G3258 and a Z97 based motherboard. OC it to4.0- 4.4, even with the stock cooler and see how you do. Use the cpu$ saved to buy a better graphics card and you will game better.
If you ever actually need more cores, sell the G3258 and replace it with a i3 i5 or even i7.
And, yes, for most games, the i3-4150(clock 3.5) is fully the equal of a highly overclocked FX-4300
Read the details in my link on 9 gaming cpu comparisons
As a rule, a $100 cpu should be paired with a $200 gpu.
Now, if your games are not so fast action, and strategy games, they are more cpu dependent.
Many games are essentially single threaded and cpu bound. Civ 5 is one of those, I think minecraft might be another.
In general, the intel haswell cpu's are perhaps 30% faster, clock for clock.
How to choose?
Short term, at <$100, I think the FX-4300 is decent.
The problem is that you have no real upgrade path for the cpu. A FX-6300 or even FX8350 will not be signivicantly more capable.
If you pick a i3-4130, it will cost you a bit more. With a Z97 based motherboard, you have an upgrade path as high today as a i7-4790K. And, even future 14nm broadwell capability.
I have both a G3258 and a i7-4790K. For most tasks, I can't tell the difference.
My advice would be to buy a G3258 and a Z97 based motherboard. OC it to4.0- 4.4, even with the stock cooler and see how you do. Use the cpu$ saved to buy a better graphics card and you will game better.
If you ever actually need more cores, sell the G3258 and replace it with a i3 i5 or even i7.
And, yes, for most games, the i3-4150(clock 3.5) is fully the equal of a highly overclocked FX-4300
Read the details in my link on 9 gaming cpu comparisons
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Reply to geofelt
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Reply to mdocod
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mitsosvazelos84
October 12, 2014 9:35:20 AM
geofelt i have an r9 270x as we are speaking . so basicly what everyone is telling me is that i should buy the pentium with a z97 mobo and oc it hell . But in my opinion , i will need a preety good cpu cooler and mobo to actually ouperform an and fx6300 or i3 4150 . if i buy the fx 6300 ( that I was planing to do untill the pentium came ocross ) I would spend 80$ on a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard with a cm 212 evo . do you think that bying the pentium with a motherboard that costs +30$ would be better ? and if yes , i will have to oc to like 4.6ghz to outperform the fx6300 , plus the drawbacks of oc'ing ( life time and overheating , trhottling etc. ) I could even damage something if i overclocked that high . and by the way what socket is the pentium g3258 ? Do you think that i could last through the years with the pentium socket motherboards by swiching cpu's ?
The funny thing is that i have read like 10 more threads with the same topic ; non of them gave me a clear answer or any kind of answer xD
The funny thing is that i have read like 10 more threads with the same topic ; non of them gave me a clear answer or any kind of answer xD
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Reply to mitsosvazelos84
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You will be limited by the R9-270 more than by any of the cpu chips you are considering.
I like the G3258 approach, primarily because it gives you future upgrade options.
The G3258 operates at 3.2 stock. Each of the two cores at stock is about as strong as a FX core at say 3.9.
The haswell architecture is simply much more efficient per clock.
When overclocked to a conservative 4.2-4.4 the two G3258 cores does more work than all 4 cores of a FX-4300.
It is only when an app or game can truly use more than 4 cores does the i5 or FX 6 and 8 core chips win out.
That game is not common. FSX and bf3/4 multiplayer mingt be two.
Intel makes chips designed for raising the multiplier. Because of chip differences, they just can't guarantee a clock rate.
Haswell runs cool up to 1.25/1.30 vcore. It takes only entry level cooling to cope with that.
More exotic and expensive cooling will keep temperatures under control with much higher vcores and resulting higher multipliers.
The problem is that above 1.30 is not really good for 24/7 operation.
The intel haswell chips monitor their temperature and will slow down or even shut off to protect themselves from damage. The TJMAX is 105c. If your case can handle a 160mm tall tower, the $30 cm hyper212 is as good as you need to go.
The G3258 is lga1150. Most motherboards will support the G3258 including overclocking.
It is best to check unless you are looking at a Z97 based motherboard that is designed for overclocking.
Then, any will do.
I like the G3258 approach, primarily because it gives you future upgrade options.
The G3258 operates at 3.2 stock. Each of the two cores at stock is about as strong as a FX core at say 3.9.
The haswell architecture is simply much more efficient per clock.
When overclocked to a conservative 4.2-4.4 the two G3258 cores does more work than all 4 cores of a FX-4300.
It is only when an app or game can truly use more than 4 cores does the i5 or FX 6 and 8 core chips win out.
That game is not common. FSX and bf3/4 multiplayer mingt be two.
Intel makes chips designed for raising the multiplier. Because of chip differences, they just can't guarantee a clock rate.
Haswell runs cool up to 1.25/1.30 vcore. It takes only entry level cooling to cope with that.
More exotic and expensive cooling will keep temperatures under control with much higher vcores and resulting higher multipliers.
The problem is that above 1.30 is not really good for 24/7 operation.
The intel haswell chips monitor their temperature and will slow down or even shut off to protect themselves from damage. The TJMAX is 105c. If your case can handle a 160mm tall tower, the $30 cm hyper212 is as good as you need to go.
The G3258 is lga1150. Most motherboards will support the G3258 including overclocking.
It is best to check unless you are looking at a Z97 based motherboard that is designed for overclocking.
Then, any will do.
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Reply to geofelt
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mitsosvazelos84
October 12, 2014 12:23:57 PM
The Pentium gives strong results in poorly threaded games and/or in common bench-marking conditions. As soon as the compute demands of the game scales into 3 or more very active threads, the high average FPS results from benchmarks don't translate as well to real world performance. The cost of being crippled to a dual threaded CPU in a world where almost all games now are spawning 3 or more threads causes higher frame latency/variance, which manifests as "feeling" like lower FPS. This can make it hard to compare the G3258 with other 4 threaded CPUs. 40FPS averages in compute bound conditions can wind up feeling smoother than 50FPS averages when the 40FPS is delivered more consistently with better frame pacing.
Many CPU gaming benchmarks are performed in conditions that are not applicable to real world gaming because most people play multi-player, while most benchmarks are performed in single player sequences. This creates further confusion. A really powerful haswell core will produce better results in those single player benchmarks and higher peak/average FPS in conditions that become irrelevant once V-sync is enabled.
Clock for clock, a steamroller module is up to 30% faster than a non-hyper-threaded Haswell core.
Clock for clock, a haswell core is up to 50% faster than a Steamroller core.
Choose your poison wisely... Both have limitations, but it's my opinion that the limitation of the Pentium represent a greater negative than the limits of the 860K, as I would rather have the versatility of the 860K's higher combined raw execution performance, and the results that come with that. To each their own though. At the end of the day, whichever novelty strikes you as more interesting will probably win out.
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Regarding motherboard selection:
I'm not aware of any H81 boards with VRMs that I would trust for overclocking. Stick with boards that have heatsunk 4 phase VRMs if you decide to go with the G3258.
If you go FM2+ consider the MSI A88XM GAMING. Frequently sells for under $100 and is an amazing value. Great looks, blacked out IO shield, 4xsata cables included, heatunk 4+2 phase VRMs with great component quality, ALC1150 audio with a great little headphone amp and killer LAN.
If you go G3258, consider an ASRock Fatal1ty H97 board, similar price point and features and quality as the A88XM Gaming listed above. I would probably go with the microATX option to get a smaller case out of the deal, but that's just a person preference.
Many CPU gaming benchmarks are performed in conditions that are not applicable to real world gaming because most people play multi-player, while most benchmarks are performed in single player sequences. This creates further confusion. A really powerful haswell core will produce better results in those single player benchmarks and higher peak/average FPS in conditions that become irrelevant once V-sync is enabled.
Clock for clock, a steamroller module is up to 30% faster than a non-hyper-threaded Haswell core.
Clock for clock, a haswell core is up to 50% faster than a Steamroller core.
Choose your poison wisely... Both have limitations, but it's my opinion that the limitation of the Pentium represent a greater negative than the limits of the 860K, as I would rather have the versatility of the 860K's higher combined raw execution performance, and the results that come with that. To each their own though. At the end of the day, whichever novelty strikes you as more interesting will probably win out.
------------
Regarding motherboard selection:
I'm not aware of any H81 boards with VRMs that I would trust for overclocking. Stick with boards that have heatsunk 4 phase VRMs if you decide to go with the G3258.
If you go FM2+ consider the MSI A88XM GAMING. Frequently sells for under $100 and is an amazing value. Great looks, blacked out IO shield, 4xsata cables included, heatunk 4+2 phase VRMs with great component quality, ALC1150 audio with a great little headphone amp and killer LAN.
If you go G3258, consider an ASRock Fatal1ty H97 board, similar price point and features and quality as the A88XM Gaming listed above. I would probably go with the microATX option to get a smaller case out of the deal, but that's just a person preference.
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Reply to mdocod
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mitsosvazelos84
October 13, 2014 3:59:10 AM
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($177.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER H6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($90.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($156.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $621.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-13 07:10 EDT-0400
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($177.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER H6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($90.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($156.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $621.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-13 07:10 EDT-0400
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Reply to prit87
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mitsosvazelos84
October 13, 2014 4:31:35 AM
Because performance originates with the CPU and there is no way to compensate for a CPU deficit other than overclocking or installing a better CPU. On the other hand, FPS that is GPU bound can be inversely adjusted with visual quality.
The performance of an i5 is a good thing for gaming whether you are gaming at 720P with a $100 GPU, at 1080P with a $200 GPU, or at 1440P on a $400 GPU. The CPU should be matched to the compute workload generated by your FPS goals in the games you want to play, NOT to the GPU. The CPU required to fulfill your minimum ideal FPS goals is the same no matter what GPU you are selecting.
The performance of an i5 is a good thing for gaming whether you are gaming at 720P with a $100 GPU, at 1080P with a $200 GPU, or at 1440P on a $400 GPU. The CPU should be matched to the compute workload generated by your FPS goals in the games you want to play, NOT to the GPU. The CPU required to fulfill your minimum ideal FPS goals is the same no matter what GPU you are selecting.
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Reply to mdocod
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mitsosvazelos84
October 13, 2014 9:19:43 AM
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