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*** Budget Gaming PC Question ***

ttechf

ttechf

Senior member
Hi,

I know if you can get a beefy K series i5 or i7 Intel processor for gaming or your PC, then its probably a smart move. BUT, if Im using a PC JUST for gaming, watching videos and surfing the web do you really need such processor?

I guess my theory goes to the Playstation 4. It has a beefy graphics card but its processor has been compared to that of a low end Pentium. And its hard to find a straight answer on does the processor REALLY matter that much? Because Playstation 4's processor is nothing crazy special. It's a 8 core clocked at 1.6Ghz. So really a 4 core because AMD doesn't have a real 8 core.

I've read from a few sources you could put an i3 in a gaming PC with a good graphics card and 8GB of memory and be very set and well off.

Just want to know thoughts and opinions of the best budget gaming PC processor for the money.


Thank you!!
 
I'd really try to get a Quad in there if you can. i3 would be the next best.

I am using a 860K + 750 Ti in a low profile rig and it works well. Plays games great for all I do.

Thing thing is if you go Quad now (i5) it will last you forever for not a lot more cost upfront.

2500K's are still good enough for almost any everyday gaming rig.
 
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The vast majority of new games will all use 4-8 threads. There are some older poorly optimized engines (Arma series) that still won't.

Also, the Jaguar chip used in the PS4 and XBOne have eight real physical cores. They are not based on the bulldozer/piledriver core. Although even then the piledriver has eight physical cores, just arranged in a different manner. Intel i7's are the ones with four physical cores and four hyperthreaded cores.

If you plan on playing modern AAA games, you want the best chip you can afford.
 
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That CPU will play the vast majority of games out there without issue. There are only a few that may struggle with that. BF4 being the one that comes to mind first. It runs my 4690K @4.5GHz at 85-90% CPU on all cores. And the only reason it doesnt go higher is because I am GPU limited.

Not that the game would be unplayable for you, it just wouldn't run as well. For the vast majority of gaming it will be fine.
 
ttechf said:
Thanks for the answers guys. So I could get away with something like this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117302


Also, I wouldn't be buying one until Skylake anyway. But I wanted to ask the question to clear up confusion, lol.
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Yes that Quad Core 4460 would work. Until last week i was still using a Quad Core Phenom II 955 with a R9 270. I could still play games including BF4 at 1080p resolutions. With DX12 using AMD Mantle optimizations they created for low end CPU's the GPU is definitely more important than the CPU. But i would never get a dual core again even if the intel i3's are better than an Phenom II quad core.
 
The desktop Haswell i3 is a beast for gaming considering its relatively low price compared to the i5 and i7. It will easily keep up with flagship graphics cards on 99% of games. I don't know any games that truly utilise more than 3 cores.
 
There have been a number of "poorly optimized" games released (GTA IV comes immediately to mind) that really required a quad to run smoothly. And the fact is, whether the game is well optimized or not, if it needs a quad to run smooth and you don't have one, you aren't going to enjoy the experience.
 
If you're just gaming then an i3 is probably fine. But what happens when you decide you'd like to stream or run some other 3rd party game-related apps? You might run into problems.
 
I would definitely go with the i5. An i3 will have a higher clockspeed, and might be slightly faster in a few older games, but the i5 should play those games without problems. There are a few newer games however, where the i5 will be smoother, and an i3 will struggle.
 
sm625 said:
If you're just gaming then an i3 is probably fine. But what happens when you decide you'd like to stream or run some other 3rd party game-related apps? You might run into problems.
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No you won't,you may lose a few fps but that's about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tKrlFABd4c farcry 4 on celeron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8jcX7rXVdk gtaIV on celeron while video transcoding

If a game won't run smoothly on two cores than its a programming fault (bad optimization) like in dragon age which is totally messed up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlm2guF4nxk
 
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