Cheapest CPU that won't bottleneck R9 280x?

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modernwar99

modernwar99

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Straight up and simple: what's the cheapest CPU that won't bottleneck an R9 280x even in CPU intensive games like Civ 5 and BF4? Reason why I ask is I was considering a FX-8320(E?) with a R9 280, but someone told me "Less CPU, more GPU = higher frames in games". Btw, I would be buying the CPU at microcenter if the discount was worth the drive (1 hour roughly).
 
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smorizio

smorizio

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micro center has the 4590 non k for 160.00. they also have combo mb deals. the issue with the amd fx line it a dead cpu slot. intel haswell are a lot faster then the amd cpu for the money. if you get a h97 or z97 mb to go with the intel cpu you can still drop in a brodwell into it in a few years if you need a faster cpu. next year some time intel replacing the haswell/brodwell with skylake. intel skylake drops there no real news on if it faster or slower then haswell.
 
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Shuffman37

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If you can find an original Phenom II X4 960-980 or similar new for cheaper I'd go with that. I've got a box running that a GTX480 OC'd as loud as I can stand and the CPU rarely gets above 40-50% utilization in GTA IV, BFBC2, BF3, Crysis Warhead, etc while running at 3.0 GHZ using K10stat.
 
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Zircoben

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An i5-4690 for $160 is a no-brainer. That will have NO issues with the R9 280x, an i5-4690 can handle a 2-card R9 290X crossfire.

An i5-4690 will smoke any AMD CPU in nearly every task, besides games that can take advantage of all 8 cores, and editing that can also use all 8 threads, and even in those tasks, an i5-4690 would be right on it's tail. For $160, it is absolutely unbeatable.

Pair it with an H97/Z97 motherboard and you will be able to upgrade to a Broadwell i7 a couple years down the line for even more performance. AMD simply can't touch that.
 
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Zircoben

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What? That CPU is ancient by today's standards and there is absolutely no reason to buy it for a new build.
 
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modernwar99

modernwar99

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Not sure if a 4690 is in my budget range. In order to get a R9 280x, I can't spend more than ~$200 on a CPU/mobo. I wouldn't even bother with a Z97/H97 mobo. Since Intel has AMD beat in almost every category except entry level gaming CPUs, Intel is focusing on lowering power consumption for Broadwell rather than increased performance. Not sure if that applies to Skylake, but Z97/H97 most likely won't support Skylake CPUs anyways. AMD is still my go-to company for GPUs though. Not sure why I would pay an extra $80-100 for "more reliable drivers and support" from Nvidia.

Screw i7s... If I was going to upgrade in the future, it would be to an LGA1150 Xeon E3 that offers the same performance as an i7 4790, but $60 cheaper.
 
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Zircoben

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For $200, this would be an excellent option:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($121.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $198.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-26 23:29 EDT-0400

I chose an H97 motherboard simply because it doesn't cost much more than the H81 motherboards, and having that upgrade path may be well worth the extra $20 you spend now if you want to upgrade to a Broadwell i5 or Xeon when the time comes.


Check this out: http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/734/bench/CPU_01.png

i3's aren't the optimal choice of course, but it will will definitely keep up, as you can see in the link with the i3-3220.
 
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Goodeggray

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If you are going to drive to a Microcenter you can get a i5 4690k and Asus XZ97-AR mobo combo for $300. Just make sure pre-order online so they have it set aside for you so the drive is not wasted. For $210 you can get the AMD FX8320 and Gigabyte GA990FXA-UD3. You'll be able to OC with a aftermarket cpu cooler later.
 
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mrdolphinsboy

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The absolute cheapest would be an intel g3258 30th anniversary edition, not the regular one. I say this because it is only 70 dollars and once you overclock it, it performs on par with an i7.
 
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mlga91

mlga91

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The i5 4590 with a h81 mobo will do the trick, that would be like $210 bucks, other option would be a fx 6300 with a nice 970 Mobo, thats around $170 bucks, i suggest you to go with the i5, that cpu will last you more time than the 6300.
 
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modernwar99

modernwar99

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I wonder if an i3-4160 would bottleneck a 280x? The anniversary Pentium would perform better than any i3, but the Pentium plus a 212 EVO and an overclocking H97/Z97 mobo would be more expensive than probably an i5, and an i5 will perform better than on OC'ed Pentium in any game that uses more than 2 cores.
 
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Zircoben

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No, the G3258 is not neccesarily better than an i3-4160.

The G3258 is behind the i3 about 50% in multithreaded performance until you overclock. It takes a very high overclock to reach an i3's performance, and that would require a more expensive motherboard and the inclusion of a Hyper 212 EVO or another cooler. You'd be spending more money than an i3-4160 with the stock cooler.

In the end, you haven't gained anything by getting a G3258 besides a higher power bill and the stress of running an overclocked CPU.
 
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modernwar99

modernwar99

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Well I called Microcenter and they said if I stopped in sometime before next week, they would put an i3-4160 and ASRock H97 PRO4 mobo aside for me and the combo would cost $160. That's a nice $50 saving. I also just realized R9 290s are down to just above $200 now... wow just wow... I could buy one of them with the $50 savings, but I think that would be overkill for 1080p gaming. Would rather just save that money instead of feeling the need to spend all of my budget :) Here's the link to the deal on newegg if anyone's interested:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161459&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
I would imagine the manager of AMD's marketing department is counting a lot more benjamins right now than Nvidia is lol.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback!

Btw, anyone else finding TH extremely slow tonight? Took like 5 minutes to post this, and it double posted....
 
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anbello262

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I'd get that 290 if possible!
I have a 7970 (similar to a 280x) and I can't max out everything in some new games (bad ports, like watch dogs). Sometimes I have to lower ambient occlusion or Antialiasing. So the 290 would probably not have that issue.
Still, 280x is a GREAT card, can max out almost everything with very good fps.
 
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modernwar99

modernwar99

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Watchdogs? I hate that game lol... Although I have a feeling GTA V when it comes out on PC (if it ever does...) will just be a console port with terrible optimization too.

Either AMD is doing really poorly and needed to lower prices a lot, or they are trying to outsell Nvidia. I mean that kind of graphics power used to be the HD6990 and GTX 690 and you needed to be really wealthy to afford its $1000 price tag. Now you get that kind of processing power for only $200... which even most high schoolers like me can afford, it's crazy. No idea how Nvidia is surviving in a competitive market like this. Must be the loyal customer base they have. Only reason I bought a Nvidia card is I got one REALLY cheap used. I have nothing aganist Nvidia, but AMD offers much better price/performance.
 
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Zircoben

Zircoben

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Tomshardware is very slow tonight, you are not alone modernwar99.

That $160 combo is a great deal, and I would definitely get it. I would work with them and see if you can manage to fit an i5 and an H81 motherboard in for under $200 though. An i5 is a much better long term investment.

 
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titus1

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titus1

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modernwar99

modernwar99

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The Broadwell Xeon E5s might but the desktop CPUs will be LGA1150, but not all current LGA1150 mobos will be compatible, iirc only Z97/H97. I think someone mentioned it in this thead?



Newer Intel CPUs Ivy-Bridge and Haswell have MUCH better per thread performance than any AMD CPU does, even OC'ed. It will yield much better performance over AMD in games that use fewer cores, and that gap will close in games that use all of the cores of AMD CPUs. BF4 isn't so much CPU intensive, but it benefits from having more cores and is AMD optimized. Anyways, I would never buy a bulldozer CPU lol.

Also that benchmark is using a 290x which can use the mantle API which basically gets rid of all CPU bottlenecks.
 
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