oxiide :
TheLastof Me :
FX-8350 @ 4.5GHz
Crossfire r9-270x (1150/1500)
120 GB Samsung SSD
2x4GB Cosair Vengeance 1866MHz
2TB Seagate HDD
This illustrates my point pretty well. Let's assume for a second you actually owned both processors to test next to each other (it sounds like you don't, making this impossible). If you tried to conduct such a test, the R9 270X you'd have to use in both test beds is going to limit performance in the titles you're testing long before either the FX-8350 or i3 does and you'd get results that were basically equal. In most titles you'd need a faster GPU in order to give the processors enough headroom to expose the differences between them.
One possible take-away from that is that at some point ($150 or so) the processor doesn't make a huge difference in many mainstream gaming rigs. But its still beneficial to know how and when it starts to matter, because we're talking about getting the most for our money here in the worst-case scenarios. Another take-away from that is that i3's is almost universally cheaper than an FX-8350.
Since most of us cannot own every possible combination of hardware out there, and keep that hardware updated yearly/monthly/weekly, we really couldn't be educated buyers if we didn't rely somewhat on reputable review sites.
A single 270x only limited me when it came to anti-aliasing. I was gaming at 60+fps with Ultra/high settings before the second 270x. Two 270x is about the same performance of a 290x. There will be a noticeable difference in gaming depending on your CPU when Crossfiring two cards on the higher end.
Regarding this point, I have read reviews where the r7-250 performed exactly the same (avg fps) with a i7-3770k, A10 and i3. In the case of a low end card like that, the CPU does not matter. However, two r9-270x are high end cards, and the CPU will make a difference.
And relying "somewhat" is the key! LOL I read reviews also. I also have seen inconsistencies, difference performance from what I had on similar hardware and just flat out bias, specious reporting.