Bad CPU and Good GPU vs. Good CPU and Bad GPU?

XoneRato

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Hey, i'm building a new gaming pc, and the 2 components left that i need to buy are: the cpu and the gpu. I've an Z170 Motherbard so i'm able to overclock. I looked for some options for my small budget. 1st option was to buy an i5-6600k (Because i can overclcok) and buy an GTX 950.
2nd option was to buy an i5-6500 (No Overclocking) and an GTX 960.
And the 3rd was to buy an i3 and a GTX 970.
I still need to buy a new monitor, that's why i've a small budget, so what do you guys think that is the best option for the future and money? Do you guys have any better option?

Thanks!
 
Solution
OC for newer generation isn't really anything more than a hobby. Some few games like GTA:V are very heavy on thread performance, so there clock speeds help, but the vast majority of games, it doesn't make more than a few fps difference. This only really applies to single gpus at 1080p. At 4k with SLI 1070's, yes, the added power is a bonus

iRon_Man22

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^ I 2nd Turbo's solution, You do not want any less than 4 cores for gaming. But depending on where you live I would greatly consider buying a 970 with your i5 6500. I see new or barely used 970's on Craigslist for $200 or less everyday. That would only be like $40 more than the 960
 

Karadjgne

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The i3 has hyperthreading, runs performance above the i5-6500 in single thread strong apps and right between the i5-6400 and i5-6500 in multiple threaded apps. Core count really doesn't apply to cpus only pushing avg 50-55% load at best. It's thread count and an i3 fields 4 threads at 3.7GHz. Even taking into account the lack of core bandwidth (which doesn't usually become an issue until @80% usage) the i3's faster core speed more than makes up for any shortcomings. It would pair up very nicely with a single 970.

If you decide that sli is in the future, you'd be better off with the 6500k, running igpu graphics until you can afford a 970 then running that until you can afford sli.
 

XoneRato

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Where i live (portugal) an gtx 970 costs 330$ :\
 

XoneRato

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Not the 6600k? So i guess OC is not too important for gaming?
 

Karadjgne

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OC for newer generation isn't really anything more than a hobby. Some few games like GTA:V are very heavy on thread performance, so there clock speeds help, but the vast majority of games, it doesn't make more than a few fps difference. This only really applies to single gpus at 1080p. At 4k with SLI 1070's, yes, the added power is a bonus
 
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XoneRato

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Thank you for the clarification!