How do I know how much CPU power I need?

[franktastic4]

As you get a better and better video card, how do you know how good a CPU you need to avoid bottlenecking?

Like with i5 duo core in a laptop + 580m would it play BF3 just as fast as a i7 with a 580m?

 

[akxpckwb]

A good rule seems to be spend the same ammount of money on both. Let's say you got a 100$ CPU then you should get a GPU around the same price.
Then it kind of depends on what you are running. BF3 likes multi cored CPU's so probably an i7 would be better then an i5

 

[amuffin]

Wait until june/july until kepler, and intel ivybridge. This is another reason why I am waiting too, both kepler and ivybridge bring more performance and use less battery life. This means your gaming laptop will have roughly 30-50% more battery life probably bringing it around 3-5hours of battery life instead of 1-2.

 

[franktastic4]

Best answer selected by franktastic4.