Bare minimum CPU to pair up with a GTX 1060 6GB?

[xguilhermeee3]

Self explanatory title, I was planning on getting an R5 1400, but someone told me that 1200 would work fine as well. I'm planning on getting a PC mostly for gaming(including emulators), and I want to avoid bottleneck issues.

 

[Deleted member 2121781]

An R3 shouldn't bottleneck a 1060, but if you want more threads, the 1400 or even a 1600/2600 will be nicer, not necessary though. It depends on how much you want to pay.

 

[WildCard999]

Any newer quad core would work fine if your playing at 1080P.

 

[nikoli707]

really the minimum cpu you should be getting at all would be an r5-2600(or r5 1600) or i5-8400. both offer tremendous value.

 

[xguilhermeee3]

really the minimum cpu you should be getting at all would be an r5-2600(or r5 1600) or i5-8400. both offer tremendous value.

But aren't they pretty much overkill? Why spend more on a component that won't increase performance by much?

 

[WildCard999]

Rule of thumb (I read this a long time ago and I can't remember where but it makes sense to me) is that what your spending on a CPU should be about double for the GPU for a well balanced gaming build. Now with a 1060 6gb going for around $300 then your CPU should be in the 150$ range (give or take) which would be your 8100/8400/1300X/2200G/2400G/1400/1500X/1600 range. It can also depend on your gaming, if your games only utilize 2 cores and maybe 4 threads then I've seen ppl pair this GPU with a $60 G4560 and be perfectly happy with it as the games are more graphically demanding. For those who are streaming then Ryzen with the extra threads (1400 to 1600 in that range) would be what I'd recommend. With games utilizing more cores though I would go more towards a quad core.

 

[mdd1963]

go for a 2600X.....; you won't feel 'core/thread challenged' in a year's time...

 

[nikoli707]

really the minimum cpu you should be getting at all would be an r5-2600(or r5 1600) or i5-8400. both offer tremendous value.

But aren't they pretty much overkill? Why spend more on a component that won't increase performance by much?

you can ge tthe r5 1400 and if you dont like it, upgrade to whatever r5/r7 later on.

that said, if you are building from scratch, case, psu, mobo, ram, hdd, etc... i dont see you saving much money in the total budget overall by just finding an r5 1600 on sale for around $160. i mean whats the lowest you can get an r5 1400 for???