What is the minimum CPU you would use with GTX 770 or HD7950?

[cbn]

What is the minimum CPU you would use with GTX 770/GTX 680 or HD7950/R9 280?

GTX 770/GTX 680= 1536 Kepler cores
HD7950/R9 280= 1792 GCN cores


( I am writing this question out of curiosity as I noticed Anandtech forum members are rather generous with their old video cards, although in some cases these old cards (or others like it) are getting shelved--> https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...-your-old-video-card-after-upgrading.2485395/ )

 

[DTN107]

I would think Intel 2nd gen sandy bridge would be the lowest.

 

[cbn]

I would think Intel 2nd gen sandy bridge would be the lowest.

Core i5? Stock speed?

 

[AtenRa]

For older games even Celerons, for newer games you will need a Core i3/AMD Quad Core and higher.

 

[rancherlee]

For older games even Celerons, for newer games you will need a Core i3/AMD Quad Core and higher.

I'd agree, my 8320 keeps my 7950 fed just fine most of the time UNLESS a game make use of less than 4 threads. Old i5, newish i3, or Amd quad should be well matched.

 

[lyssword]

new i3/2500k

 

[Leyawiin]

I paired an old HD 7950 (non-boost original model) with a Phenom II X4 980 BE for a build I did for my nephew for his 13th birthday this summer. Before I gave it to him I tried it out on a few games to see how it would do. Just fine @ 1080p. Fallout 4 bogged down a bit in certain NPC heavy areas, but putting the GPU in my main i7 4790k rig didn't change the experience that markedly. While better I still used the same quality settings.

So yeah, something better than the Phenom like an FX-6300 on up would be fine with those two GPUs. Of course you're not going to extract the performance from them that you would from an Intel CPU, but we already know that.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm using a Skylake Pentium G4400, overclocked to 4.45Ghz. I don't really game on it though. Unsure how badly GTA V or Witcher 3 would stutter.

 

[lyssword]

Witcher 3 and gta5 will likely need something better, they really like the core and thread count just look at http://gamegpu.com/action-/-fps-/-tps/grand-theft-auto-v-test-gpu-2015.html (scroll down to bottom of page) and http://gamegpu.com/rpg/роллевые/witcher-3-wild-hunt-blood-and-wine-test-gpu . Your oc'd g4400 will equal to i3 4330 in best case, lower/higher depending on how well threaded the game is. So it probably won't "stutter" but your fps could drop to 30-40 fps in some areas.

 

[funboy6942]

I was using a AMD 8320 OC'd to 4.5 in my sons computer and it was doing just fine with all his games maxed out, including Fall out 4, at 1080P

 

[happy medium]

q9550@4.0

 

[waltchan]

AMD A4-3300 FM1 Llano, cheaper than Intel Sandy Bridge. AMD AM3 is okay, so Sempron 130 is correct minimum processor.