Best CPU and MOBO for a R9 380X

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Okay so i just got a R9 380X and my CPU atm is a Phenom II X4 945, but it is horrible with my GPU with the Bottleneck, so i was wondering what CPU/MOBO set would be best, Preferably a better more expensive CPU than MOBO. I would rather have Intel aswell but i guess AMD works. I need it to be from 200-250 dollars at absolute max.

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

There are only a handful of CPUs that make sense:

i3 6100 - $120
i5 6500 - $200
i5 6600K - $220 + cooler
i7 6700 - $300
i7 6700K - $320 + cooler

The i3 will perform the same as the i5's and i7's in 90% of games. The i5 will perform the same as an i7 in 99% of games. The i7 is useful if you intend to do other things while gaming, such as leaving video capture running in the background. Most people consider an i3 to be the sweet spot for a budget PC that still performs very well, an i5 to be the sweet spot for more serious gaming, and an i7 the sweet spot for a power user who often leaves lots of computationally expensive stuff open all the time.

Any of these CPUs will work in any socket 1151 motherboard. H110 chipset boards are limited to 2 RAM slots and 1 PCIe 16x slot. B150 and H170 boards are a little more expensive and get more slots and connectors, but are otherwise the same. Z170 boards, when paired with a "K" CPU, allow overclocking. You can get a Z170 board for about $80, and an H110 board for about $50.

Overclocking setups tend to offer worse value but higher absolute performance. You have to spend $30 more on a motherboard, and the CPUs don't come with their own cooler, so there's another $30. They're also $20 more expensive than their non-K counterparts, adding a total of about $80 to your build for the "privilege" of overclocking. You can expect to get 10-15% extra performance from overclocking to your chip's limits.

Zedjulz316 · Aug 28, 2016

Maybe a B85 with an i5 4590 or a b150 with a Skylake i5.

If thats too much than I guess a h110 motherboard with an i3-6100.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Zedjulz316 :

Will refurbished mater? (The MOBO)

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Ecky :

There are only a handful of CPUs that make sense:

i3 6100 - $120
i5 6500 - $200
i5 6600K - $220 + cooler
i7 6700 - $300
i7 6700K - $320 + cooler

The i3 will perform the same as the i5's and i7's in 90% of games. The i5 will perform the same as an i7 in 99% of games. The i7 is useful if you intend to do other things while gaming, such as leaving video capture running in the background. Most people consider an i3 to be the sweet spot for a budget PC that still performs very well, an i5 to be the sweet spot for more serious gaming, and an i7 the sweet spot for a power user who often leaves lots of computationally expensive stuff open all the time.

Any of these CPUs will work in any socket 1151 motherboard. H110 chipset boards are limited to 2 RAM slots and 1 PCIe 16x slot. B150 and H170 boards are a little more expensive and get more slots and connectors, but are otherwise the same. Z170 boards, when paired with a "K" CPU, allow overclocking. You can get a Z170 board for about $80, and an H110 board for about $50.

Overclocking setups tend to offer worse value but higher absolute performance. You have to spend $30 more on a motherboard, and the CPUs don't come with their own cooler, so there's another $30. They're also $20 more expensive than their non-K counterparts, adding a total of about $80 to your build for the "privilege" of overclocking. You can expect to get 10-15% extra performance from overclocking to your chip's limits.

I was looking at the I3-6300 but i didnt know if it will give any bottlenecks same with 6100. And i kinda want the I5 6500 with a 50 dollar MOBO.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Okay i know what i want i want the Intel I5-4590 Haswell paired with the MSI H81M-P33 MOBO. Is that a decent MOBO that will work well with the 4590?

plasmastorm · Aug 28, 2016

The i3 inst going to bottleneck it, it's a R9 380 not a gtx 1080

I have a friend using a Q6600 with a r9 390 and there's no bottleneck.

All come down to how you set up and use the system going by what resolution you are running. I assume if you are thinking of i3's and only have a 380 then 1080p. Nothing to worry about.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

plasmastorm :

Its the X version but i was thinking more of a I5 instead of a I3 for the extra core power.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

And the 380 is still a beast GPU. I been getting a 7500 3dmark score with it. Can go to 8000 though with a Intel CPU.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

So real question now. Is the I5-4590 going to work well with the MSI H81M-P33 MOBO?? Is the MOBO going to last 3-5 or more years?

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

CPU bottlenecks don't change with GPUs. An i3 6100 will bottleneck the lowest-end GPUs just as much (or as little) as the highest-end GPUs.

I don't recommend going with Intel's older Haswell architecture. Most Haswell motherboards have been discontinued and the CPUs probably won't be sold for much longer., either On top of that, it uses DDR3 and not DDR4; DDR3 production is dropping and prices are starting to rise. Any future RAM upgrades will be more expensive with the older Haswell platform, and there will be far fewer upgrade and replacement options.

An i5 6500 + $50 H110 motherboard would be a fine combination.

Regarding the GPU,"beast" is relative, I'm sure. It's a lot slower than the $180 RX 470, which makes it solidly a "budget" card these days. I'm sure it fulfills your needs, but don't be under the illusion that it's high-end.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Ecky :

I dont care about that, i just want a PC that can play my games i dont care if DDR3 is going obsolete because i only have DDR3 im not buying DDR4. And of course its not better than a RX 470 the GPU is NEW for mother Neptune sake. That dont mean its not a beast though, only 11 GPU's are above it in performance maybe a little more but still..

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

As long as you're alright with buying older, discontinued hardware and have no intention of ever upgrading, Haswell will work fine for you. It's a little slower per clock; the i3 6100 performs about as well as a Haswell i5 4xxx, but at least with Haswell you can reuse your DDR3, and it will get you the performance you're looking for with the least money out of your pocket today. The H81 board you listed should work fine with the i5 4590.

Another perspective on the 380 is that there are only 5 "gaming" GPUs below it, while there are 11 above it. I'm not sure if AMD is still producing any of the 2xx GPUs, so you have the 370, 370x, and nVidia's 750Ti, 950, and 960. I'm not trying to dis on your GPU, but many people are upgrading from 380's now as they're finding them insufficient for high settings in many games even at 1080P. If you're happy with it, that's wonderful. I'm very happy with my HD7850.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Ecky :

Anyway can you recommend CPU/MOBO for 200 dollars that will be ddr3 but still give me a CPU upgrade path?....

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

Skylake uses DDR4. Haswell uses DDR3 but will not be receiving any new CPUs. You still have one option if you go with the i5 4xxx + H81 setup - an i7 4790K is a faster drop-in upgrade, but otherwise you can either buy an older platform with DDR3, or a newer platform with DDR4.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Im not buying DDR4 so ill go DDR3, i just got my DDR3 ram so i dont want to do that.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

whats better in gaming a I5 4590 or a I3 6300 or 6100? I only know AMD line CPU's.

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

The 6100 is slightly worse right?

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

Intel's newer architecture is faster per clock. The older i5 has two more cores, while the i3 is faster per clock and has hyperthreading. The i3 will win in any task that does not fully utilize all 4 of the i5's cores, and still comes relatively close in multithreaded scenarios due to hyperthreading. However, the two overall are pretty close.

Food for thought: 8GB DDR4 is only $25, while the i5 is $80 more expensive than the i3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAA443S23194&cm_re=8gb_ddr4-_-9SIAA443S23194-_-Product

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Ecky :

Intel's newer architecture is faster per clock. The older i5 has two more cores, while the i3 is faster per clock and has hyperthreading. The i3 will win in any task that does not fully utilize all 4 of the i5's cores, and still comes relatively close in multithreaded scenarios due to hyperthreading. However, the two overall are pretty close.

Food for thought: 8GB DDR4 is only $25, while the i5 is $80 more expensive than the i3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAA443S23194&cm_re=8gb_ddr4-_-9SIAA443S23194-_-Product

Thats 50 dollars not 25.

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

I'm seeing it for $25. Regardless, here's another stick for $30:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313740

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Okay that one is a good deal.

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

If you have $200 to spend, I would probably suggest going with a slightly better motherboard with 4 RAM slots, the i3 6100, and 2x 4GB or 1x 8GB DDR4. This board is the cheapest quality board with 4 RAM slots:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128881

popeyetyty · Aug 28, 2016

Ecky :

Already to much money on a mobo and i found a ddr3 mobo that supports a 6100 and 6300 for 50-55

Ecky · Aug 28, 2016

You cannot use 1.5v DDR3, it will burn out the memory controller. If your DDR3 is 1.35v or below it's safe to use.

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