Need advice balancing cpu and gpu on 2 builds

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rrod518

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Sep 23, 2010
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My girlfriend and I are moving away from consoles this generation due to the lack of coop on the last generation. I don't have an exact budget, but I'm building 2 computers so cost is double, just keep that in mind.

I'm interested in going with single gtx 970's, they're are a good value for the performance. The problem is, I was originally going to go with 4690k's, and this will really bring costs pretty high. So I'm looking to skimp on the cpu, but I'm not sure what the cheapest cpu I can go with without squandering the 970's potential. Can I go with an i3 or 8350?

If not then the other option is to go with either the 760 or r9 280.

If I can get away with an 8320 this would save me $200.

Right now on amazon:
8320 $109.99
8350 $149.99

More info. We will be using 1080p screens for now, and play a little bit of everything except mmorpg's. If we get 970's, we will grab a second one when nvidia releases their next cards and grab a pair of 1440p monitors.

Thanks for the help, let me know if you need more info.
 
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Your MoBo has to be z97 if you want to overclock in the future as far as I know. Also, I've been told here on forums that pretty much any i5 can hold the GTX970 pretty well (even the 4430 or 4440), no possible bottleneck or anything, it could be a matter of getting 4430's for now in order to reduce expenses, and after maybe a year or two, upgrade to 4690Ks or anything new that Intels throws... the z97 architecture are supposed to be ready for next gen intel CPUs. I would pick the Asus Z97-A MoBo.
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atmos929

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Your MoBo has to be z97 if you want to overclock in the future as far as I know. Also, I've been told here on forums that pretty much any i5 can hold the GTX970 pretty well (even the 4430 or 4440), no possible bottleneck or anything, it could be a matter of getting 4430's for now in order to reduce expenses, and after maybe a year or two, upgrade to 4690Ks or anything new that Intels throws... the z97 architecture are supposed to be ready for next gen intel CPUs. I would pick the Asus Z97-A MoBo.
 
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rrod518

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Did you mean FX 8320 + GTX 760 / R9 280x? If so that might be the way we go, 8320 + r9 280. I really want the 970 but Id hate to have 2 spend $200 on cpu power per pc just to run it properly.
 
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rrod518

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@atmos929, I didn't state this before hand, but I was planning on going with a z97 anyway for future sli options. I was also looking at that specific board because it's cheap and supports sli at x8/x8. I know in the past x8/x8 made almost no difference, is this still true when it comes to 2 970's?

edit: Also, I like you're cpu recomendation, I didn't realize the low end i5's have come down in price so much. I may stick with that, thanks.
 
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rrod518

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FX 8320 + R9 280X is a good rig . It will run any game
Click to expand...

It does look like a good value setup. I'm not biased towards either amd or intel, I go with whoever has the best performance per dollar within my budget at the time. My only concern with amd is if I go sli and 1440p in a year, I don't want the cpu to bottleneck the system. It's hard to beat an i5 for value and performance but... like I said the 8320 is 109.99 right now.

Internal struggle I guess lol.
 
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rrod518

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I have an i3 2100 in my htpc, I might just grab a gtx 970 and play around with it in that rig and make a choice from there. Thanks to the advice here, I think I will go with the asus z97-a, gtx 970, and I'll decide on the cpu after I see how much my i3 limits the gpu.

Either way, with the z97 I can always upgrade the cpu when intel releases them, and add another 970 when they release their next cards.

I'm moving up from an 8800gtx (and consoles) so... I'd like my choice to last like that one did, even though I let that one last a little too long.
 
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