i5 4460+R7 260x or i3 4130+GTX 760

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bayonet14

bayonet14

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Hi guys, I'm on a limited budget so I'd like to sacrifice either gpu or cpu. I've been eyeing on the i5 since last year but lately people have been arguing that a graphics card is a much wiser investment because I'll use this for gaming and nothing but gaming. There are people who said an i5 is better because it's future proof and games will be using more cores in the future. Hmm..

My current setup:
Operating System
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i3 4130 @ 3.40GHz 41 °C
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. H81M-DS2 (SOCKET 0) 28 °C
Graphics
2250W (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4400 (Gigabyte)
2048MB ATI AMD Radeon R7 200 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner) 38 °C
Storage
149GB Seagate ST3160215AS (SATA) 38 °C
465GB Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 (SATA) 33 °C
Optical Drives
HP DVD Writer 1265d
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
PSU
HEC Cougar SL 600 watts

If you recommend a graphics card, please no AMD. Me and a lot of people with R7 and R9 graphics cards are having headaches with instability and black screens and is a known issue with AMD right now. So I need an Nvidia card for my upgrade at around $200 or less. I want to play Battlefield 4 and fps games at high settings.

If I ever get an i5 will there be improvements in fps? Any bottlenecks? Thanks
 
Solution
SproutSchon
Alright let's start again.
As of now you have: a decent CPU and not so good GPU.
If you had tons of money I would suggest to upgrade both.

For a limited budget, the best strategy is to get the best GPU you can today and to upgrade your CPU later.
Even with the best GPU possible, the i3 won't limit you 99.9% of the time.
Only marginally in heavily multi-threaded games like BF4 you might experience some frame rate dips here and there.
But those games are absolutely not the majority today.
Most of games are single-threaded and 99% do not use more than two threads.
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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Nov 24, 2014
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If you are limited and want the best gaming system now (meaning best graphic details and higher fps) stick with the i3 + GTX 760.

Tbh the drivers / instability issues are not a concern anymore with AMD and those cards in your price range are the best bang for your bucks.
It is up to you.
 
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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Your i3 is fine for gaming.
Very few games uses more than one thread and 95% of them do not use more than two.
You might only lose a couple frames here and there in very CPU demanding games like BF4 (but nothing dramatic).

Your GPU is gonna dictate how much fps you will get, and this is where your money should go.
 
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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Your R7 will limit much more your framerate but yeah ideally you would like to upgrade both.

I think you should upgrade your GPU first (and for something better than a GTX 760) and then your CPU down the road.
 
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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Nov 24, 2014
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Alright let's start again.
As of now you have: a decent CPU and not so good GPU.
If you had tons of money I would suggest to upgrade both.

For a limited budget, the best strategy is to get the best GPU you can today and to upgrade your CPU later.
Even with the best GPU possible, the i3 won't limit you 99.9% of the time.
Only marginally in heavily multi-threaded games like BF4 you might experience some frame rate dips here and there.
But those games are absolutely not the majority today.
Most of games are single-threaded and 99% do not use more than two threads.
 
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Solution
bayonet14

bayonet14

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Alright then, the GTX 760 it is. One last question, how does a 4th gen i3, a dual core with HT run a next gen game that requires an i5 as a minimum requirement? example, far cry 4, evil within, assassins creed unity, shadow of mordor. Is a 4th gen i3 that powerful? Should I trust the minimum requirements for next gen games nowadays? Or should I trust my i3 and finally end this confusion. Thanks
 
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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Nov 24, 2014
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Like I said you can't upgrade now, so don't bother with those questions.
You may lose some frames here and there but you will still be way above what you have with your current GPU and a better CPU.
You will be fine.
 
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D

DragonBorn1511

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I'd like to point out the minimum requirements for Far Cry 4 is an i5 750.

The first Generation i CPU's are nowhere near as good as the 4th gens. (There was a huge setup in performance between 1st and 2nd gen, and since then, the increase in performance hasn;t been considerably more)

Therefore IMHO the i3 4130 would run far better than the i5 750.

Someone else may think different, but that's what I think. :)

an i3 + gtx 760 would run circles around an i5 + R7 260x.
R7 260X is considered a budget GPU, so I wouldn't recommend it to you at all.
 
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DragonBorn1511

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Yup, the i3 really is an underrated CPU. Here in the UK it costs £60 less than the lowest spec i5 4th gen. Personally I'd buy an i3 even if I had the money for an i5, and put that extra £60 towards an EVEN better GPU.
 
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SproutSchon

SproutSchon

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I just built an m-ITX HTPC with an i3-4160.
As I had the budget to snatch a GTX 970 for my desktop, I reuse my GTX 660 coupled with the i3.
I really love that build for couch gaming and I am sure it would perform very well with the 970.
 
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