Best CPU for 1440 x 900 gaming?

[blake0812]

1440 x 900 is my resolution that I game at. Should I go for a newer Intel CPU or would an FX 8350 be good enough?

 

[amenx]

FX8350 is good enough. But if you have to upgrade something, I would go with a bigger monitor (ie, 1920x1080). It will bring you far more gaming satisfaction than a CPU change.

 

[crashtech]

Do we know what the OP is running now? Hard to say what to change to if we don't know what they would be changing from.

 

[blake0812]

Do we know what the OP is running now? Hard to say what to change to if we don't know what they would be changing from.

From a Phenom II. I'm thinking if I should OC this one or wait a few months for some money to come in and order a new one.

FX8350 is good enough. But if you have to upgrade something, I would go with a bigger monitor (ie, 1920x1080). It will bring you far more gaming satisfaction than a CPU change.

Well, I HAD a 1080 monitor. My dad and I got into an argument, and I guess you can go from there.

 

[frozentundra123456]

1440 x 900 is my resolution that I game at. Should I go for a newer Intel CPU or would an FX 8350 be good enough?

Yes to both actually, but an i5 will give better performance in poorly threaded games and use less energy.
If you are building a system from scratch, you might ask the mods to move your post to general hardware and you can get good advice on building a well balanced system.

 

[blake0812]

Yes to both actually, but an i5 will give better performance in poorly threaded games and use less energy.
If you are building a system from scratch, you might ask the mods to move your post to general hardware and you can get good advice on building a well balanced system.

Not from scratch, just upgrading.

 

[crashtech]

If upgrading, detailed specs of everything in your system would be very helpful. Phenom II spanned AM2+ and AM3, each of which will max out differently.

 

[blake0812]

If upgrading, detailed specs of everything in your system would be very helpful. Phenom II spanned AM2+ and AM3, each of which will max out differently.

Phenom II x4 945 AM3
GTX 760 2GB
8GB Ram
Asrock n68c-s UCC AM2+/AM3

 

[cytg111]

There is something to be said for cpu-drop-in upgrades, replace, boot, done .. Other way around you'd wanna reinstall your OS, all apps, settings etc.. a giant pain IMO. That being said, i5/i7 smashes everything the competition has to offer.

 

[crashtech]

No FX is gonna drop into that board:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68C-S UCC/?cat=CPU

Time for a platform upgrade.

 

[blake0812]

No FX is gonna drop into that board:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68C-S UCC/?cat=CPU

Time for a platform upgrade.

I was kinda expecting that to be the case. Oh well.

 

[AtenRa]

What is your budget for a mobo + CPU ?
Also, what PSU do you currently have and what games are you planning to play ??

 

[cytg111]

No FX is gonna drop into that board:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68C-S UCC/?cat=CPU

Time for a platform upgrade.

argh .. then haswell i5 or i7 IMO.
Also keep in mind that absolute performance increments have been minimal the last three generations and will likely continue for the next decade, in other words, get a good i5 or i7 now and it could just last you a decade.

 

[NTMBK]

Overclock the Phenom II and save up for a bit longer. Not really worth upgrading the CPU at this point with that resolution.

 

[TreVader]

I'm really exited to see if they release an unlocked Pentium. I'd pay $120 to have a haswell pentium at 5Ghz. Probably be faster than a 4960X in a lot of games.



That said, an i5 is unnecessary for 1440x900. Get a Haswell i3-4330, better single core performance than an i5 and the same number of threads.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm really exited to see if they release an unlocked Pentium. I'd pay $120 to have a haswell pentium at 5Ghz. Probably be faster than a 4960X in a lot of games.



That said, an i5 is unnecessary for 1440x900. Get a Haswell i3-4330, better single core performance than an i5 and the same number of threads.

An unlocked Pentium will still be missing tons of instructions, and hyperthreading gives an i3 a tremendous advantage over a Pentium. I imagine a 5GHz Pentium wouldn't be much, if any better than a stock Haswell i3, and lack certain features.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I'm really exited to see if they release an unlocked Pentium. I'd pay $120 to have a haswell pentium at 5Ghz. Probably be faster than a 4960X in a lot of games.

Must be nice to always get golden chips.

There certainly do exist games (Skyrim, SC, WoW) where the pentium would be a strong contender. But given the TIM situation on LGA 2011 vs. mainstream, I'd say that your odds of 5 GHz on the 4960 are much higher than on an unlocked pentium.

That said, an i5 is unnecessary for 1440x900. Get a Haswell i3-4330, better single core performance than an i5 and the same number of threads.

Depends on the games. Depending on the exact pricing, spending money for a .1 GHz speed bump from the i3-4130 to the i3-4330 is probably a waste of money. Also, the i5-4570's max single-core turbo is 3.6, so in actual single-threaded scenarios, the i5 still pulls ahead of either i3.

 

[cytg111]

I dont get the i3 or below reasoning, unless you're really on a budget .. Sure I can understand finding your personal sweetspot on the exponential growth curve of moores law .. if that was still the case.. but it isnt. To me, saving those 100$ now is giving me 60-70% instead of 90-100% over the next 5 years.. now integrate(?) that space and tell me that it is worth 100$ over 5 years?
Graphics? Sure, still moving... CPU? not so much.

 

[pantsaregood]

Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton), overclock to 3200+ speeds.

 

[lehtv]

If you're truly gaming on 1440x900... how about upgrade to 1080p first? Your GTX 760 can handle it. Since the CPU is your limiting factor on 1440x900, increasing the resolution should not have much of an impact on framerates.

 

[blake0812]

If you're truly gaming on 1440x900... how about upgrade to 1080p first? Your GTX 760 can handle it. Since the CPU is your limiting factor on 1440x900, increasing the resolution should not have much of an impact on framerates.

I've been looking to run 3 monitors (2 1440x900 1 1280x1024), so 1080p isn't all that big for me. Besides, this monitor display is sharp as hell! I love it :biggrin:

 

[tweakboy]

Grab a 4670k with a 660 Ti monitor. gl