System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: Budget Gaming PC
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pauldh
September 23, 2014 11:55:17 AM
Paul Henningsen kicks off our System Builder Marathon with a stunning low-cost system that leans on Intel's Pentium G3258 processor, a Radeon R9 270 graphics card, and plenty of DDR3 memory. His hardware costs add up to just over $500, too!
System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: Budget Gaming PC : Read more
System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: Budget Gaming PC : Read more
More about : system builder marathon 2014 budget gaming
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Related resources
- Help! System Builder Marathon, Q2 2014: Our Budget Gaming PC - Forum
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ScienceGuy3
September 23, 2014 1:51:35 PM
elbert
September 23, 2014 1:57:22 PM
Quote:
serves up to 30 A across its +12 V rails.Its rated to serve up to 30 Amps but can do far more. Tests on this little gem shows it can output 22amps on each rail and maxes out around 38~39 Amps on both. Im paraphrasing a popular power supply testing site. Max wattage is about 553ish which is a good deal more than rated. This power supply can't be certified due to it lacks a circuit required but exceeds 80 percent efficiency.
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a lot of things went right for this build: amd introduced the full pitcairn/curacao gpu based r9 270 under 150w, needing single 6 pin pcie power connector, cryptocurrency craze was over and gfx card prices came down, hdd prices came down to sane levels, cpu-overhead-reducing gfx card drivers came out, intel released an unlocked dual core cpu and allowed o.c. bioses....
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jdwii
September 23, 2014 2:06:21 PM
I'm just not sure for one they didn't show latency times. I'm pretty sure this build will suck for future gaming to such as GTA5.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overc...
When toms reviewed this CPU it was shown to have poor latency
For a 500$ build i would probably do a 6300+265 build. 600$ i would probably jump the build up to a I5+265 or 8320+270X.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overc...
When toms reviewed this CPU it was shown to have poor latency
For a 500$ build i would probably do a 6300+265 build. 600$ i would probably jump the build up to a I5+265 or 8320+270X.
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akula2
September 23, 2014 3:13:27 PM
Since this CPU is super performer on various fronts (single core), so why not this config?
Pentium G3258 - $69.97
NZXT Kraken X31 - $73.98
Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO - $203.99
G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 - $184.99
Crucial M550 1TB 2.5" SSD - $447.98
Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX - $349.99
NZXT Phantom 530 (White) - $121.98
EVGA 650W ATX12V - $64.99 (not sure about its power good signal value?)
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer - $16.99
Asus VG248QE Monitor - $264.99
D-Link DWA-171 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 2.0 - $29.27
Logitech MK550 w/Laser Mouse - $49.99
Corsair Vengeance 2100 - $79.99
Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch - $69.99
Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit) - $170.99
Total: $2200
What you guys think? Usage? Racing Games at homes, audio/video encoding etc. I don't need K CPUs because I'm not in a hurry in this case.
Power source: 100% green aka Solar energy.
Pentium G3258 - $69.97
NZXT Kraken X31 - $73.98
Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO - $203.99
G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 - $184.99
Crucial M550 1TB 2.5" SSD - $447.98
Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX - $349.99
NZXT Phantom 530 (White) - $121.98
EVGA 650W ATX12V - $64.99 (not sure about its power good signal value?)
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer - $16.99
Asus VG248QE Monitor - $264.99
D-Link DWA-171 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 2.0 - $29.27
Logitech MK550 w/Laser Mouse - $49.99
Corsair Vengeance 2100 - $79.99
Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch - $69.99
Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit) - $170.99
Total: $2200
What you guys think? Usage? Racing Games at homes, audio/video encoding etc. I don't need K CPUs because I'm not in a hurry in this case.
Power source: 100% green aka Solar energy.
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Janemba
September 23, 2014 3:46:21 PM
alchemy69
September 23, 2014 3:52:44 PM
Tzn
September 23, 2014 4:24:55 PM
elbert said:
Quote:
serves up to 30 A across its +12 V rails.Its rated to serve up to 30 Amps but can do far more. Tests on this little gem shows it can output 22amps on each rail and maxes out around 38~39 Amps on both. This power supply can't be certified due to it lacks a circuit required but exceeds 80 percent efficiency.
To be more specific, the VP450 lacks PFC circuitry and as you said, this is required for 80+ certification. If the VP450 had it, it might manage 80+ Bronze.
I bought one last month to replace an old PSU (Antec SmartPower SL350) that got damaged by a power surge. At a glance, it looks like a nice little unit... and it is tier-2b too, which means close to as-good-as-it-gets.
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gallovfc
September 23, 2014 6:20:50 PM
Amdlova
September 23, 2014 8:52:53 PM
Rafy93
September 24, 2014 2:02:59 AM
Rafy93
September 24, 2014 2:06:01 AM
milkod2001
September 24, 2014 2:49:52 AM
@akula2
you could possibly get mobo for half of your estimated price and put this money towards better CPU(that's necessary for video/audio encoding).
Also Crucial M550 1TB 2.5" SSD - $447.98 is overkill, you'll be better off with 256GB SSD & 3 TB regular HDD = more capacity and your saved money could be spent on better PSU(Seasonic, Corsair, whatever).
you could possibly get mobo for half of your estimated price and put this money towards better CPU(that's necessary for video/audio encoding).
Also Crucial M550 1TB 2.5" SSD - $447.98 is overkill, you'll be better off with 256GB SSD & 3 TB regular HDD = more capacity and your saved money could be spent on better PSU(Seasonic, Corsair, whatever).
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elbert
September 24, 2014 4:31:51 AM
@milkod2001
You may want to put Antec at the first place in that list. Look them up as they are oldest and second to none in power supply companys. Seasonic was once their main manufacturer and many of their units are designed off Antecs leading power supply designs. Look up on newegg for example the highest rated power supply and you will see the Antec earthwatt 380. At the 650 Watt they again are the highest rated with Seasonic in about a second place. Their 750 hcg is about a tight with Corsairs much higher priced HX 750i.
Trust me that PSU is the best part of that build. While it doesn't have a second PCI-e power plug you could use a molex to PCI-e connecter and run a R9 285. Again this power supply is highly under rated in both watts and Amps output.
You may want to put Antec at the first place in that list. Look them up as they are oldest and second to none in power supply companys. Seasonic was once their main manufacturer and many of their units are designed off Antecs leading power supply designs. Look up on newegg for example the highest rated power supply and you will see the Antec earthwatt 380. At the 650 Watt they again are the highest rated with Seasonic in about a second place. Their 750 hcg is about a tight with Corsairs much higher priced HX 750i.
Trust me that PSU is the best part of that build. While it doesn't have a second PCI-e power plug you could use a molex to PCI-e connecter and run a R9 285. Again this power supply is highly under rated in both watts and Amps output.
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Reply to elbert
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Although I agree that Antec is one of the better PSU companies out there today, they did release a few stinkers maybe 10-12 years ago (Smartpower, iirc). They were not built by Seasonic, and used inferior capacitors, that failed. Back then when I was building PCs I wouldn't touch an Antec PSU; now it is one of my preferred choices. I haven't used a VP-450 yet, but have put numerous EA-380D's out there, with no failures yet.
This is what Corsair is doing now, with their CX (and I believe GS) lines; CWT builds them with Samxon capacitors that can't take heat. If you're interested, you can read more about these over on the badcaps.org forum.
This is what Corsair is doing now, with their CX (and I believe GS) lines; CWT builds them with Samxon capacitors that can't take heat. If you're interested, you can read more about these over on the badcaps.org forum.
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Reply to Onus
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in what future is the athlon II x4 more future proof? AMD land..... every year people post this crap and every year games demand cores that can move as much info as quickly as possible rather then a bushel of slow cores.
P.S. I have a Phenom II x4 in one of CPUs and have built with more AMD CPUs then intel but that doesn't mean I spew this AMD "future proof" jargon line
P.S. I have a Phenom II x4 in one of CPUs and have built with more AMD CPUs then intel but that doesn't mean I spew this AMD "future proof" jargon line
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pauldh
September 24, 2014 6:40:54 AM
Yep Onus, Antec has come a long way since those days. I had numerous (originally bundled) SmartPower and SmartPower 2.0's fail and come back within the 3-5 year time frame. The move to EarthWatts was a huge plus for their cases w/power supplies.
@ elbert, Just to clarify, There was no intent to discount the familiar VP-450 in any way, and my original "30 Amp combined +12V rating" got toned down a bit in edits, for the sake of a better read. When discounted/priced competitively it has become my go-to PSU for budget builds requiring auxiliary power.
@ elbert, Just to clarify, There was no intent to discount the familiar VP-450 in any way, and my original "30 Amp combined +12V rating" got toned down a bit in edits, for the sake of a better read. When discounted/priced competitively it has become my go-to PSU for budget builds requiring auxiliary power.
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ABagOfFritos
September 24, 2014 7:30:39 AM
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bmyton
September 24, 2014 10:09:13 AM
I am very curious if these builds were purchased after availability of the GTX-970's and 980's. At a minimum the Mid-Range build could swap a $330 970 for the $400 r9-290 they used last quarter and use the savings to boost its system value. The Q2 $1600 build could save $100 by cutting back from the i7-4770k to the i5-4670k and use that savings to convert the $530 r9-290x to an SLI pair of $330 GTX 970's.
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I wonder if there will be a bonus build this quarter. Sometimes, they answer questions raised in past builds, or address specific community interests or requests.
For my part, I'd like a question answered, which is "Can the AM1 platform with its 25W CPUs and x4 PCIe lane limitation be taken seriously for modern gaming on "good" settings on a single 1920x1080 monitor? PCPer.com used a GTX750Ti with one and it looked promising... TH has yet to address it though.
For my part, I'd like a question answered, which is "Can the AM1 platform with its 25W CPUs and x4 PCIe lane limitation be taken seriously for modern gaming on "good" settings on a single 1920x1080 monitor? PCPer.com used a GTX750Ti with one and it looked promising... TH has yet to address it though.
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Reply to Onus
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Onus said:
I wonder if there will be a bonus build this quarter. Sometimes, they answer questions raised in past builds, or address specific community interests or requests.For my part, I'd like a question answered, which is "Can the AM1 platform with its 25W CPUs and x4 PCIe lane limitation be taken seriously for modern gaming on "good" settings on a single 1920x1080 monitor? PCPer.com used a GTX750Ti with one and it looked promising... TH has yet to address it though.
amd has released two new athlon cpus for the am1 platform
http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2014/2014092201_Athlon_X4...
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jedik1
September 24, 2014 12:43:43 PM
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SirTrollsALot
September 24, 2014 1:54:06 PM
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Patrick Tobin
September 24, 2014 2:54:26 PM
Patrick Tobin said:
i3-4150 (3.5GHz) is only $99... why would anybody purchase the Pentium?The Pentium G3258 is unlocked and with overclocking it will beat the i3 in lightly-threaded code... and lightly threaded describes the bulk of software and games out there, which makes it a pretty decent entry-level pick.
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Sig2525
September 24, 2014 11:05:05 PM
jimhood82
September 25, 2014 1:45:37 PM
@dirtyferret
You claim they weren't future proof, then sort of admit they are. I too have AMD Phenom X4 based PC's, and they are no less future proof than the Core 2 Quads in their time. And they have all been proven to be capable gaming chips even today. Of course, they do need a bit of an overclock to really keep up, but they do. A 9450 @ 3.6Ghz (that is where I ran mine for years) will still play any game on the market @ 1080P.... Just as an OC' Phenom X4 would. Given their age, I would say that is exactly what future proof looks like.
You claim they weren't future proof, then sort of admit they are. I too have AMD Phenom X4 based PC's, and they are no less future proof than the Core 2 Quads in their time. And they have all been proven to be capable gaming chips even today. Of course, they do need a bit of an overclock to really keep up, but they do. A 9450 @ 3.6Ghz (that is where I ran mine for years) will still play any game on the market @ 1080P.... Just as an OC' Phenom X4 would. Given their age, I would say that is exactly what future proof looks like.
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fandroid
September 25, 2014 3:12:13 PM
lesmore2222
September 25, 2014 4:14:44 PM
I decided to use this build as a template for a build I'm doing for my little brother.
I shopped around and using almost identical parts I was able to knock ~$92 off the total price shown in the article.
These are the parts I ordered:
CPU : Intel Pentium G3258
$59.99
tigerdirect.com
MB : MSI H81M-P33
$50.38
newegg.com
RAM : Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
$69.99
newegg.com
GPU : PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 270 2GBD5-TDHE/OC
$144.49 ( w/ promo code until 9/30 )
newegg.com
Hard Drive : Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB
$44.36 ( $59.36 -$15 w/ e-mail promo code for online order over $100...CPU + HD from tigerdirect.com)
tigerdirect.com
PSU : Antec VP-450
$39.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/12 )
newegg.com
Case : Rosewill FBM-02 Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower
$21.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
Optical Drive : ASUS DVD-Writer
$14.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$84.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
Total = $531.17
Hopefully the actual build will go smoothly. Thanks for the great ariticle.
I shopped around and using almost identical parts I was able to knock ~$92 off the total price shown in the article.
These are the parts I ordered:
CPU : Intel Pentium G3258
$59.99
tigerdirect.com
MB : MSI H81M-P33
$50.38
newegg.com
RAM : Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
$69.99
newegg.com
GPU : PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 270 2GBD5-TDHE/OC
$144.49 ( w/ promo code until 9/30 )
newegg.com
Hard Drive : Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB
$44.36 ( $59.36 -$15 w/ e-mail promo code for online order over $100...CPU + HD from tigerdirect.com)
tigerdirect.com
PSU : Antec VP-450
$39.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/12 )
newegg.com
Case : Rosewill FBM-02 Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower
$21.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
Optical Drive : ASUS DVD-Writer
$14.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$84.99 ( w/ promo code until 10/1 )
newegg.com
Total = $531.17
Hopefully the actual build will go smoothly. Thanks for the great ariticle.
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Reply to lesmore2222
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My only concern is the use of a $45 USD motherboard, your practically guaranteed to run into problems sooner rather then later. Also this seems to be twinked to win single player low threaded benchmarks more then anything because two cores isn't going to be enough for an actual real world system with a 270. Better overall to go with an i3 or a 860K even if it means stepping down a bit in the graphics department. Lower benchmarks but better, more consistent real world performance.
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jimhood82
September 26, 2014 5:07:56 AM
@ palladin 9479 - Those little cheap MSI boards hold up better than people realize. I know I personally have given away several of those to friends who still use them daily after 5 or 6 years. MSI cuts corners on connectivity, not quality in many of their boards. So long as you get solid caps, you are good to go.
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Cheap MSI AM3+ boards are notorious for weak VRMs. I've been using https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ag... as a reference.
I would expect this to be equally true on the Intel side; they are perhaps saved by Intel CPUs' much lower power consumption.
Paul, did you happen to point an IR thermometer at the VRMs during this build? I think that would be a useful thing to do in the SBM.
I would expect this to be equally true on the Intel side; they are perhaps saved by Intel CPUs' much lower power consumption.
Paul, did you happen to point an IR thermometer at the VRMs during this build? I think that would be a useful thing to do in the SBM.
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pauldh
September 26, 2014 6:09:15 AM
@ Onus, yes I did, and without concern (stock vs.OC). I always spot check (surrounding board components) when raising voltages and overclocking, especially on low-phase/budget boards.
Keep in mind also, I used the stock cooler, which is designed to help cool the surrounding VRMs. (Plus there were two large case fans nearby.) Once you introduce tower-style after market cooling, the game takes a change. Moderation and caution is always key, and it's wrong to assume an after market cooler allows higher voltages. It keeps the CPU itself cooler, that's it. But it then introduces other issues in apparently enabling higher voltages, yet very often cooling surrounding board components less. I wonder how many budget Intel boards pop VRMs with stock Intel cooling. I'd imagine it's very low, and deviation (voltage + after market cooling) is probably the real culprit.
@Palladin, keep in mind, this is overclocking a 53W part with stock cooling. We are not suggesting attempts in overclocking i5/i7, nor seeking higher voltages with aftermarket cooling. That said, long term I would prefer a drop to 4.0 GHz @ 1.20 V Even 3.8 GHz with stock voltage delivers a nice boost for the meek. But many enthusiasts would instead take the risk and ring out all they can, considering the parts are cheaply replaceable. Given the theme, that's more the route I chose for testing.
Concerning i3 vs. Pentium. Sure I too favor i3. But on a budget, $120 vs. $70 is a massive knock to graphics. Also keep in mind, this 4.1 GHz Pentium actually BEAT the i3-4130 (Q1's $750 PC), overall in applications.
Keep in mind also, I used the stock cooler, which is designed to help cool the surrounding VRMs. (Plus there were two large case fans nearby.) Once you introduce tower-style after market cooling, the game takes a change. Moderation and caution is always key, and it's wrong to assume an after market cooler allows higher voltages. It keeps the CPU itself cooler, that's it. But it then introduces other issues in apparently enabling higher voltages, yet very often cooling surrounding board components less. I wonder how many budget Intel boards pop VRMs with stock Intel cooling. I'd imagine it's very low, and deviation (voltage + after market cooling) is probably the real culprit.
@Palladin, keep in mind, this is overclocking a 53W part with stock cooling. We are not suggesting attempts in overclocking i5/i7, nor seeking higher voltages with aftermarket cooling. That said, long term I would prefer a drop to 4.0 GHz @ 1.20 V Even 3.8 GHz with stock voltage delivers a nice boost for the meek. But many enthusiasts would instead take the risk and ring out all they can, considering the parts are cheaply replaceable. Given the theme, that's more the route I chose for testing.
Concerning i3 vs. Pentium. Sure I too favor i3. But on a budget, $120 vs. $70 is a massive knock to graphics. Also keep in mind, this 4.1 GHz Pentium actually BEAT the i3-4130 (Q1's $750 PC), overall in applications.
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Phillip Wager
September 27, 2014 9:31:16 AM
Zircoben said:
AMD 860K: If you need to record your games or do light editing and multitasking.Pentium G3258: Strict gaming.
I think this brings up a great point. I'd like to see "game + recording" added to the benchmarks. It's all well and good to say a given CPU plays "game XYZZY" at certain framerates, but if the player also wants to record, being unable to do so would be a dealbreaker that your current methodology does not expose.
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xenon
September 30, 2014 6:00:11 AM
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Diffin
September 30, 2014 2:20:50 PM
dirtyferret said:
in what future is the athlon II x4 more future proof? AMD land..... every year people post this crap and every year games demand cores that can move as much info as quickly as possible rather then a bushel of slow cores. P.S. I have a Phenom II x4 in one of CPUs and have built with more AMD CPUs then intel but that doesn't mean I spew this AMD "future proof" jargon line
Implying the Phenom II X4 is future proof...
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yahyaelgayar
October 2, 2014 11:53:09 AM
yahyaelgayar said:
really? pentium? i think an amd one will be much better than this garbage.Based purely on benchmarks, the raw performance of the overclocked Pentium will beat most AMD offerings in most games. I do want to see the stuttering issue more thoroughly explored though, before I'll even think about it.
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Kiril1512
October 2, 2014 2:50:38 PM
Onus said:
yahyaelgayar said:
really? pentium? i think an amd one will be much better than this garbage.Based purely on benchmarks, the raw performance of the overclocked Pentium will beat most AMD offerings in most games. I do want to see the stuttering issue more thoroughly explored though, before I'll even think about it.
It's the difference between a "real world" PC and a "benchmark" PC. In the real world your not going to be running this super clean, everything disabled, system that's only purpose is to record how many frames were rendered to the frame buffer. You will have some AV software at a minimum, probably a webbrowser and while FF/WF is single process, Chrome will actually use different process's to render different tabs and plugins. You might even have some sort of voice communication software running, Skype, Teamspeak or Ventrillo. Video streaming / capture is also an option for those two do that sort of thing. A person just needs one or two of the items above and suddenly their system usage just altered significantly enough that there won't be enough processing resources available to the game to run at full, its going to get task swapped and when that happens *bam* stutter. Especially in a game like BF4 where there are dozens of interactions happening every second in multi-player (who the f*ck buys a modern FPS and doesn't play online). This is why I would never recommend a dual core solution to anyone wanting to play games. I used to never recommend i3's prior to Haswell but the upgrade to the ALU enables it to get quite a bit more out of HT and so you end up with about the same CPU resources that a 860K or FX4 would have, though single thread processing is going to be better.
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