Gaming CPU and GPU

[Christian713]

What is best for gaming pc? Intel Core i5 3570k and Palit Geforce TX 650 OC 1GB GDDR5 or Intel Core i3 3220(or AMD FX 6300) and Sapphire HD 7850 OC 1GB GDDR5? I will be playing Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, BF3 and Black Ops 2.

 

[13thmonkey]

the 7850 is much better than the 650, but the 3570k is much better than the 3220.

personally i'd go 3570k and then be ready to run on lower settings and update the gpu in 12months.

or

go for the 7850 and be ready for some stuttering (for which you cannot lower settings) and be ready to upgrade the cpu in 12 months. BUT with haswell round the corner GPU's are inherently more upgradable than cpu's hence i'd go with the first as you can adjust settings to 'make it work'

 

[13thmonkey]

or there is a 3350p? and a better gpu.

 

[simon12]

3350p is a bargain at the moment but out of the 2 I would go i3 and 7850 it will play games much better .

 

[13thmonkey]

problem is bf3, on small maps with many players it is unplayable, it was unplayable on my Q9550...

 

[simon12]

but 9 out of 10 (or more) games are GPU limited but I see your point that you can lower settings to make up for lack of GPU power but not CPU.