Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2012 (Archive)

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damric

damric

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Sep 17, 2010
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Don, Don, Don

FX-4350 and Phenom II x4 ranked higher than the Athlon 860K?

Seriously drop down the FX-quads and Phenom II quads and move up the 860K. In most games the 860K performs better than the FX-6300.

It should also fill the gap after the Pentium. Actually I don't know how the Pentium still gets a full recommendation seeing how some modern games won't even start up with it.

Also. Recording/streaming games is here now and it is here to stay. This makes the FX-8core more relevent and also the i7/Xeon/E, since the quads and synthetic quads choke when recording at high quality.
 
xbizzaroz

xbizzaroz

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Feb 9, 2014
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It's unfortunate but dual-core CPU's need to stop being on the recommended charts. For a few dollars more you can get a decent AMD quad-core that will be able to open the new games coming out today.
 
iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

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Jul 4, 2010
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It's unfortunate but dual-core CPU's need to stop being on the recommended charts. For a few dollars more you can get a decent AMD quad-core that will be able to open the new games coming out today.
Click to expand...
the i3 is dual core but has HT and generally wipes the floor with quad core amd's, and even beats the 8 core model in a few games.
 
xbizzaroz

xbizzaroz

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True, I was aware of the i3's hyper-threading, but I have also heard/ read that i3's were having issues while trying to open Dragon Age Inquisition or Far Cry 4. Is this still an issue?
 
alextheblue

alextheblue

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Apr 3, 2001
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It's unfortunate but dual-core CPU's need to stop being on the recommended charts. For a few dollars more you can get a decent AMD quad-core that will be able to open the new games coming out today.
Click to expand...
That would be somewhat more evident if they'd take the aging Starcraft II engine out of the test and replace it with something more modern in the strategy genre. Replace Far Cry 3 with 4, and maybe add a fourth game test. But frankly I'd be somewhat stunned if that happened in a timely fashion.
 
alextheblue

alextheblue

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It's unfortunate but dual-core CPU's need to stop being on the recommended charts. For a few dollars more you can get a decent AMD quad-core that will be able to open the new games coming out today.
Click to expand...
Dual-THREAD CPUs need to drop off this list. Dual-core HT models do quite well in most titles.
 
G

Grognak

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A desktop i3 can run Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's obviously not ideal if you've got a beefy GPU but it gets results similar to an FX 6300, which is slighlty cheaper but doesn't have the same variety of motherboards. I agree though, the Pentium really should get a disclaimer of some sort and also give one of the Athlon X4 a recommendation for cheapest quad core available.
 
CptBarbossa

CptBarbossa

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Jan 10, 2014
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I agree. Pentium may have a fast single core performance, but if you are running anything in the background or even just want to listen to music while playing a game you are asking too much for the cores. Not to mention Mantle and Dx12 both leverage more cores over single core performance. It is irresponsible to tell someone to buy a dual core that wont be able to run new titles in 6 months.
 
backoffmanImascientist

backoffmanImascientist

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I'm curious what the author thinks of the i7-5820k as a gaming solution between the 4790k and the 5930k?

You've got $340 / $390 / $580 price points, and the 5820k's turbo is only 100 mhz less than the 5930k with the same 6 cores for $190 less cost, though the lanes are down to 28 vs 40 which only matters above dual GPU territory.

I think the lane loss is offset by the higher o.c. potential - several tests have shown the 5820k consistently hits stable oc's higher than the 5930k.
 
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vertexx

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Apr 2, 2013
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Does anyone have any stats on how a 7850K will match up against a Pentium G + GT 730? Reason I'm asking is these are the two lowest recommendations on TH "Best Of" and they add up to $140. The 7850K can be had now for $140.

Only direct comparison I could find was on Passmark 3D Mark Benchmarks. GT 730 gets a 931 vs. 7850K's 996, not that either of these scores is anything to shout about.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

Personally I think the A10-7800 or A8-7600 are more compelling than 7850K with 45W mode for a very small form factor HTPC/Light Gamer.
 
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WFang

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Once DX12 hits, if the tech does what is promised and allow (efficient) pooling of multiple GPU's, the the AMD APU's might suddenly gain some more teeth as 'best gaming cpu for the money'.. I was a bit bummed that these 'rumors' were not discussed more in the intro, since other rumors and trends are discussed.. I guess its because there is so little (no) concrete data available to speculate around.
 
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Grognak

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@ vertexx - Performance should be more or less similar, maybe a small advantage to the A10 and the lack of dedicated card will allow you to get a smaller case. It'll benefit more from DX12 in the future and it's technically a quad-core, too. No contest in my opinion.
 
danielbsipe

danielbsipe

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Aug 14, 2012
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Its the single thread score on the dual core intel cpus that keep them in the game.

Its sad, but the AMD flag ship chips still have a single thread score comparable to the first generation i7's...... from 2009.
 
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BigJimJack

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My new Pentium g3258 @ 4.5 roflstomps my old amd phenom II 955 oc'd to 3.8. Believe it or that includes games like Planetside 2. No comparison. You just gotta know what to turn off in the BG and everything runs swimmingly. I don't multitask just game on my desktop so of course if you do more than that then yes you should move along.
 
C

Cryio

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Tom's really really needs to update its gaming charts and *stop* recommending dual core CPUs, however capable when overclocked they are. If games can not start on them, they're irrelevant.
 
NightAntilli

NightAntilli

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Jun 12, 2014
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Try running Dragon Age Inquisition and see if it's still being 'roflstomped'.
 
K

Konmarin Marinkon

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Everything below a8-7600(45w-65w),Athlon x4 860k(95w),fx-6300(95w),i3 4160(54w) is irrelevant.Also i believe best value for money platform for AMD is fm2+ for apu and athlon series.Also A8-7600 is ideal low power consumption cpu combined with internal graphics that is capable playing games at 720p youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TfMjdznekE do you ever try to play that games with i3 4160 at 720p at the same price??? Also start point for dedicated graphics cards is athlon x4 860k or fx-6300 or i3 4160.
 
Fr33Th1nk3r

Fr33Th1nk3r

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Feb 22, 2014
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Nobody plays Farcry 3 anymore. Use Dragon Age Inquisition and Farcry 4. If that dual core pentium can't run it, you need to stop recommending it and go with a cheap quad core 860k or that a8 7800.
 
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