[SOLVED] Cheapest CPU + Motherboard for gaming

[Phantomoss]

Hi guys.

As I said in the title of the thread, I am looking for a mobo, a CPU and a RAM to upgrade to my PC.

My current specs are:
RAM: 8 GB
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1050 Ti

I upgraded to this hardware like a few months ago, because I wanted to play The Witcher 3 smoothly and my older setup wasn't able to do so.
However, now I bought Red Dead Redemption 2 and I'd like to play it, but my computer crashes as soon as I try to enter the gameplay.
So, what I'm looking forward is a cheap upgrade that will let me run RDR2 and other recent games.
Please notice that I don't want to spend hundreds of money; my objective is to keep my GPU, as it's the best item in my current setup, and upgrade motherboard, CPU and RAM in order to exploit the GTX 1050 Ti to the fullest.

Thanks

EDIT:
I forgot to tell that my current mobo is a FUJITSU D3041-A1, and it has a Socket LGA775. I'd like to upgrade it to like a Socket LGA1150 at least.

 

[sizzling]

A Ryzen 2600, B450 motherboard and 2x8gb DDR4 if speed 3000 to 3600mhz. Currently Intel makes no sense at entry to mid level CPU’s.

 

[Phantomoss]

A Ryzen 2600, B450 motherboard and 2x8gb DDR4 if speed 3000 to 3600mhz. Currently Intel makes no sense at entry to mid level CPU’s.

I checked on the Internet and it seems that Ryzen 5 2600 is way too powerful for my GPU, hence it will be substantially bottlenecked (average bottleneck percentage 100%).
I need something that will BOOST my GPU, not bottleneck it.

 

[sizzling]

I checked on the Internet and it seems that Ryzen 5 2600 is way too powerful for my GPU, hence it will be substantially bottlenecked (average bottleneck percentage 100%).
I need something that will BOOST my GPU, not bottleneck it.

You don't understand bottlenecks and I hope you are not using those garbage bottleneck calculators. A 2600 will allow your gpu to reach its maximum potential while giving you headroom for future games when they become more cpu demanding and future gpu upgrades if you want.

 

[asrockfatality213]

you can go with h110 and i3 6100 or i5 6xxx i forgot and 2x4gb ddr4 ram
pre owned are very cheap to buy and find

 

[sizzling]

you can go with h110 and i3 6100 or i5 6xxx i forgot and 2x4gb ddr4 ram
pre owned are very cheap to buy and find

But this will struggle to average 60fps in many modern cpu heavy games. I would not go with a 4 thread cpu or 8GB RAM.

 

[mkaafy]

I checked on the Internet and it seems that Ryzen 5 2600 is way too powerful for my GPU, hence it will be substantially bottlenecked (average bottleneck percentage 100%).
I need something that will BOOST my GPU, not bottleneck it.

The Witcher 3 and Red Dead 2 are some resource demanding games. You will change your mind and decide to upgrade your GPU, too. So you'd better not buy a budget CPU.

 

[OllympianGamer]

you can go with h110 and i3 6100 or i5 6xxx i forgot and 2x4gb ddr4 ram
pre owned are very cheap to buy and find

i3s are not for gaming, that 6100 is a dual core and at best would be for a media centre type system. OP Depends on your budget but in the UK you can get a b350 motherboard for £50, a ryzen 1600 with cooler for £90 and 4gb ddr4 x 2 for £35, second hand prices would be slightly less obviously. That would be a 6 core/12 thread system that should last a few years at least for gaming.

 

[sizzling]

I’d agree you can go b350 and 1600 but the b350 really limits future upgrade suitability but it’s a decent setup. However there are several games already that will stutter with 8GB, unless you have no other choice I’d strongly recommend 16GB especially if you don’t want to upgrade again in the near future.

 

[sdedu77]

Get a CPU with at least 4 cores and (prefferably) 8 threads. If gaming is the only activity your pc is relevant to you, go team blue. Otherwise, is hard to say no to team red.
Memory-wise, 8gb should be the minium ammount to consider. Ryzen loves fast memory (3000mhz and above).

 

[dorsai]

I agree completely with the 2600 and a B450 max board...it's cheap and powerful enough to last a few years and can push GPUs much stronger that the 1050ti when the time comes to move to a better GPU. Even better if funds allow would be a 3600...which is arguably a better all around gaming CPU than Intel offers until you hit the 9900 chips.

 

[USAFRet]

I checked on the Internet and it seems that Ryzen 5 2600 is way too powerful for my GPU, hence it will be substantially bottlenecked (average bottleneck percentage 100%).
I need something that will BOOST my GPU, not bottleneck it.

That's not the way "bottleneck" works.

(in addition to that bottleneck calculator being absolute garbage)

 

[Artilery]

I checked on the Internet and it seems that Ryzen 5 2600 is way too powerful for my GPU, hence it will be substantially bottlenecked (average bottleneck percentage 100%).
I need something that will BOOST my GPU, not bottleneck it.

Ryzen 5 2600 will bring gtx 1050ti to full potential, not bottleneck the GPU,
If you're really in tight budget and you not gonna overclocking your CPUs you might consider a320 board, in my country the price around 47$, for future prospek better buy b450 board, the cheapest cost arraund 70$, since its ddr4 you need buy new ram 2x4gb 2666mhz for 40$, for CPUs there's no point buying 4cores/4 threads, if u play aaa recent game, better buy ryzen 5 2600 for long lasting uses, if you gonna push the budget buy used one,

 

[Zizo007]

Hi guys.

As I said in the title of the thread, I am looking for a mobo, a CPU and a RAM to upgrade to my PC.

My current specs are:
RAM: 8 GB
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1050 Ti

I upgraded to this hardware like a few months ago, because I wanted to play The Witcher 3 smoothly and my older setup wasn't able to do so.
However, now I bought Red Dead Redemption 2 and I'd like to play it, but my computer crashes as soon as I try to enter the gameplay.
So, what I'm looking forward is a cheap upgrade that will let me run RDR2 and other recent games.
Please notice that I don't want to spend hundreds of money; my objective is to keep my GPU, as it's the best item in my current setup, and upgrade motherboard, CPU and RAM in order to exploit the GTX 1050 Ti to the fullest.

Thanks

EDIT:
I forgot to tell that my current mobo is a FUJITSU D3041-A1, and it has a Socket LGA775. I'd like to upgrade it to like a Socket LGA1150 at least.

Don't expect good fps with RDR2. Its the heaviest game right now, kinda Crysis back in the time. Your GPU 1050ti is very weak for this game unless you use lowest possible graphics and play at 720p.
Bottleneck is when your CPU slowdown your GPU and not the otherway around.

You need a completely new PC with 16Gb RAM to play RDR2. AMD Ryzen is your best choice.

 

[Zizo007]

Get a CPU with at least 4 cores and (prefferably) 8 threads. If gaming is the only activity your pc is relevant to you, go team blue. Otherwise, is hard to say no to team red.
Memory-wise, 8gb should be the minium ammount to consider. Ryzen loves fast memory (3000mhz and above).

Team blue is expensive and not worth it now nor in 2+ years.

 

[geofelt]

What is your budget?
Would you consider used?
If you buy new, you want to look at the latest 9th gen intel or ryzen .
You will need DDR4 ram. Fortunately, DDR4 ram is not overpriced today, you can get a 2 x 8gb kit for $65.

Your Q9650 was a fine processor in it's day. 4 threads and a total passmark rating of 2699 and a single thread rating of 1260.
Looking at the RD2 minimum requirements, a 2500K is mentioned. That has 4 threads and a rating of 4377/1681.

You now have a GTX1050ti, a $160 graphics card.
One rule of thumb for a balanced gamer is to budget 1/2 the cost of the graphics card for the processor.
That would be about $80.
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.
Ignore bottleneck calculators, they are junk science since they have no knowledge of the types of games you play.

Some games are cpu centric such as sims, mmo, strategy.
Best as I can tell, RD2 falls in this category.
Such games depend on the performance of a single master thread.

Fast action games depend on a strong graphics card.

Multiplayer games with many participants need a high thread count processor.

Here are two options at the $80 price point:

a) Ryzen 1600 $100 or so. 12 threads and a passmark rating of 12369/1934.
A AM4 motherboard. $65
2 x 8gb ddr4 ram $65
That will total about $230.
Pick this option if you play multiplayer games.

b) Intel 9100F $80 or so. 4 threads and a passmark rating of 7219 / 2533.
A lga1151 300 series motherboard about $60.
$205 total.
Most games play just fine with 4 threads.
If your games depend on cpu core speed, pick this option.
How can you tell?
Lower the max cpu busy % from the default of 100% to 80% and see how it impacts the game.

Either option will be a big boost from your Q9650 and will allow for a future processor upgrade.

For used, you can likely do better if you look on ebay.

 

[OllympianGamer]

What is your budget?
Would you consider used?
If you buy new, you want to look at the latest 9th gen intel or ryzen .
You will need DDR4 ram. Fortunately, DDR4 ram is not overpriced today, you can get a 2 x 8gb kit for $65.

Your Q9650 was a fine processor in it's day. 4 threads and a total passmark rating of 2699 and a single thread rating of 1260.
Looking at the RD2 minimum requirements, a 2500K is mentioned. That has 4 threads and a rating of 4377/1681.

You now have a GTX1050ti, a $160 graphics card.
One rule of thumb for a balanced gamer is to budget 1/2 the cost of the graphics card for the processor.
That would be about $80.
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.
Ignore bottleneck calculators, they are junk science since they have no knowledge of the types of games you play.

Some games are cpu centric such as sims, mmo, strategy.
Best as I can tell, RD2 falls in this category.
Such games depend on the performance of a single master thread.

Fast action games depend on a strong graphics card.

Multiplayer games with many participants need a high thread count processor.

Here are two options at the $80 price point:

a) Ryzen 1600 $100 or so. 12 threads and a passmark rating of 12369/1934.
A AM4 motherboard. $65
2 x 8gb ddr4 ram $65
That will total about $230.
Pick this option if you play multiplayer games.

b) Intel 9100F $80 or so. 4 threads and a passmark rating of 7219 / 2533.
A lga1151 300 series motherboard about $60.
$205 total.
Most games play just fine with 4 threads.
If your games depend on cpu core speed, pick this option.
How can you tell?
Lower the max cpu busy % from the default of 100% to 80% and see how it impacts the game.

Either option will be a big boost from your Q9650 and will allow for a future processor upgrade.

For used, you can likely do better if you look on ebay.

You can't run Red Dead Redemption 2 properly on a 4 thread system, hell it doesn't even like 8 thread cpus. It's why it seems to run smoother on Ryzen cpus.

 

[Zizo007]

BFV online also needs 6 core 12 thread minimum. I had Ryzen 4 core 8 threads and it was unplayable, a slideshow, until I upgraded to Ryzen 1800X 8 core 16 threads.