Cheapest CPU that won't bottleneck with an old GTX 680?

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

I originally was going to build my girlfriend a budget pc for some light mmo gaming and standard home-office use (something worlds apart from her cheap little netbook,) hopefully without the input lag she is used to from her computers. My original plan was to go with the highest on-board graphics AMD could offer (7850K) since I had no plans to try to budget a GPU into there with it. However, recently decided to buy myself a GTX 970 to help handle the workload of my new 2560x1440 96hz setup + another 1080 monitor, and I'm willing to give her my old, but perfect-condition, 680. That of course changes things. I know I need to reassess the power supply requirements.

But I can probably move away from AMD to an Intel CPU, I think. I don't have the kind of experience to argue for one or the other myself, but many, many hours of research into the world of PC building over the years has led me to believe the consensus that Intel is the better choice when not relying on the integrated graphics to a significant extent.

tl;dr...
So, what might be a great, low-cost choice CPU for the 680? It needs to be able to keep up with the GPU, at least in GPU-dependant games (I understand some games are largely cpu-bound, but the budget still can't change regardless.)

Quick Edit: Sorry, never mentioned my budget for the PC. It should be below 450, 500 at max, since anything over 450 I'll have to cover myself. Not including the GPU or any peripherals, all of which will be free hand-me-downs. The original build that didn't account for the new 680: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/mccoolaustinm/saved/qPPhP6.
Definitely making some changes to that; for example, the case I had chosen based on price would not come close to fitting my 680.

RazerZ · Mar 13, 2015

What's your budget for the CPU? For $180 you could get a locked i5 4460 which would work great.

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

I agree with the 4460. It should even be close in price to the 7850K. It is a pretty good CPU; it should last through several GPU upgrades, should you need it to.

For the PSU, if you're still thinking about it, I'd consider the XFX 550W. It's pricier than other options, but it is a very high quality unit. Other units may not last as long, or they may even fail and take out other components with them.

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

RazerZ :

I... I almost want to go with your answer just because of your profile picture... I miss that series...

That CPU is a little bit on the expensive side since I will also need to upgrade the case and PSU to fit the 680. At least, it's about $40 more than the 7850k would've been. I might have to go with an i3 or even a little less. I agree with getting a locked edition: I don't expect her to try overclocking anything, so whatever I get should be preconfigured.

Edit: I wonder if having 4 threads would be super important? Even worth going over the original budget for? My guess is that a hyperthreaded dual-core would be pretty sweet, if those exist...

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

Yeah, I would steer clear of that PSU, even for the original plan The budget EVGA units are not particularly good. What PSU do you plan to get now?

If $180 is too much for the CPU, then we step down to either an i3 or an FX-6300. Of the two, I prefer the 6300 for performance due to a higher core count, but the i3 has a much better upgrade path and very similar performance.

Here is my recommendation. It comes out a bit pricier because of the PSU, but the unit I chose is very high quality and should give the 680 no problem at all.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($112.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.95 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $360.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 11:04 EDT-0400

Edit: Forgot to mention I didn't add a case because I think that's a subjective choice.

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

Epsilon_0EVP :

I like it! And that leaves me with some wiggle room for the case since I can ideally settle at $420 and let total after shipping/tax be under 450.

On another note, what about dipping even below an i3? Something like the G3258 which is apparently known for overclocking potentially over 4GHz consistently. I mean, I wouldn't ask her to learn how to responsibly overclock the CPU, but I can always do that myself and leave it at something stable 24/7.

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

I would not recommend the G3258 anymore in general. First of all, there's the fact you mentioned that it requires a hefty overclock. That can be dealt with, but it's still an annoyance. It's not even supported officially in motherboards in the price range, either, which I really don't like

More importantly, though, it is only a dual core. Some games are coming out that don't even run on a dual core, and that is likely to happen more and more in the coming years. It makes the G3258 a hard sell since it will pretty much require an upgrade in a few years, not because of performance but because things just won't run.

That being said, in this case it might just work out. Since this won't be a heavy gaming machine from what I read, the Pentium might suffice, and it's a nice way to save $30. I would still prefer the i3, since the hyperthreading should help it feel snappier when multi-tasking, but if saving money is the priority, the Pentium could be enough in this scenario.

RazerZ · Mar 13, 2015

I would really try to go for an i5, you won't have to worry about upgrading for a while and you won't have to worry about a CPU bottleneck. Here's what I came up with a budget in mind:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO Leggara Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Base Total: $412.95
Mail-in Rebates: -$20.00

http://www.ncixus.com/go/?Welcome-3-2015 - Get a $20 giftcard on orders $120 or more

Total: $372.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 11:21 EDT-0400

Lol a bit of a stretch but you would need to first buy the i5 from NCIX to get the $20 giftcard. The build is mITX in form factor and comes with a built in wireless adapter.

If you live near a micro center you could probably find all this stuff cheaper if you look around for open box deals.

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

That still doesn't have a case, and it's already pushing the budget

The i5 would indeed be nice, but for the light gaming and office use this machine will be for, I doubt it's strictly necessary.

I also just remembered that MMO's do like a but more CPU power, so the i3 has yet one more advantage over the Pentium, unless the Pentium is overclocked pretty high. The i5 would indeed be best, but it does come at a cost.

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

Thank you to both of you; you've each given me some good insight into this. One last question a little bit outside the scope of the original (which I consider to be answered already) if anyone has time: any opinions on a board this cheap? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130731

It seems to have strong reviews. One immediate point that I noticed was it doesn't seem to respond well to DDR3-1600, and might require 1300 for stability... as well as needing some kind of BIOS refresh that I wouldn't want to make her do for the 4160, but not for the 4130. But in terms of features, it matches the above suggestions and for half the price, which could be applied to a nicer case or even somehow budget in a 1080 monitor. (The 680 is practically wasted even on Ultra at the meager 760 or so resolution her current 19" monitor runs at.)

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

I tend to prefer avoiding parts these cheap

However, this does seem to have reliability, and for light gaming and office use this might just be a decent deal. I would still prefer getting an H97 motherboard since not only does it let you use the better 4160, but it will also be compatible with future Intel CPU's. However, for that price, I can't really find any issues with that $40 motherboard in this situation, assuming it is reliable.

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

Epsilon_0EVP :

You have a point! The cheapest H97 board I've found is about $30 more than that MSI board (I have a personal fondness of MSI for many good past purchases, though only of their high-end boards around $200) and it's ASRock (which I know nothing about) but that doesn't mean anything. Essentially, it's $30 more minimum for 0.2 GHz higher base on the CPU (4160 vs 4130) and whatever features the Haswell refresh has over the old Haswell, and possibly any added motherboard quality, which I will look into when I make that decision. Whether to choose a ~$70 board + 4160 or the ~$40 board + 4130 probably won't be final until I have concrete choices for the other parts, like a case, and can tell whether or not that $30 will make or break the budget.

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

Fair enough

AsRock is a good brand; I've used it a lot myself. They tend to have slightly less features, but they have very good prices. Either choice will be good, and the difference between the H97 and the H81 will be very small.

mccoolaustinm · Mar 13, 2015

I'm just now realizing that since she will be building this herself, with me guiding her hands over webcam, I definitely want to slide in a case that will be extremely convenient for a first-time builder. She's not naturally tech-savvy, at least not more than the average member of her generation, but she's pretty smart and won't find it too difficult I think. In fact, I don't think PC assembly is hard at all if you have some average familiarity with electronics. It's just an exercise in following directions, which I will be streaming right to her over Skype, so it will also be an exercise in... well, our communication and patience for eachother.

This should be fun. :pt1cable:

RazerZ · Mar 13, 2015

Haha good luck with that. A cheap mITX case would be a nightmare to build in.

Epsilon_0EVP · Mar 13, 2015

In that case, I recommend the Cooler Master N200. It's not ITX, but it's still a pretty small mATX case that looks rather elegant. More importantly, though, it has better quality than most cases in the price range, with no pop-out tabs for the PCIe slots, folded aluminum in most edges for safety, an so forth. I really enjoyed building in this case, and I would highly recommend it.

It will still probably be an interesting test, though

I don't think any reasonably smart person should have difficulty putting a PC together, though, even if terminology is at first an issue.

Search

Cheapest CPU that won't bottleneck with an old GTX 680?

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

Epsilon_0EVP

RazerZ

Judicious

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

RazerZ

Judicious

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

mccoolaustinm

Honorable

RazerZ

Judicious

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page