How important is a CPU for gaming w/gtx 970?

[MadMorigan]

Currently have:

12gb ddr3 RAM
i5 3350p CPU
500 W PSU (evga bronze)
760 GTX reference
1 tb hdd @ 7200 rpm

I want to know if my CPU will hurt the performance of my msi gaming gtx 970 being delivered tomorrow and what alternate CPU I can get for under $300 if it does. IF it bottlenecks only an fps frame drop of only 5 or so then I don't mind. I want it to handle next gen games. If my CPU is good, lemme know. I have not really noticed any problems when running w/gtx 760 and Shadow Mordor. I can't wait to play farcry 4 on this!

Thanks guys and I greatly appreciate your feedback!

 

[theonerm2]

You should be fine with that CPU although it's a lower-end Core i5 it's still a very good processor.

 

[Lmah]

Yea, no need to upgrade, the reason most people go for the K chips is to get as much performance as possible out of them, but in reality is 5-20fps in most cases.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

It's still the top tier for not being overclocked.

I wouldn't recommend upgrading your CPU unless you absolutely need to, the money can be better spent elsewhere.

 

[Joshua Martinez]

I think your good because my neighbor has almost the exact setup but the cpu is the i5-4460 which is almost the exact thing, and it runs him pretty good.
But if you still in doubt then go which 4690k should do the job! But then you have to change it like in 2 years when games start taking up more threads. So if your willing you buy a cpu at exactly $300 you can get a 4790k. Just saying.

 

[RockyPlays]

Currently have:

12gb ddr3 RAM
i5 3350p CPU
500 W PSU (evga bronze)
760 GTX reference
1 tb hdd @ 7200 rpm

I want to know if my CPU will hurt the performance of my msi gaming gtx 970 being delivered tomorrow and what alternate CPU I can get for under $300 if it does. IF it bottlenecks only an fps frame drop of only 5 or so then I don't mind. I want it to handle next gen games. If my CPU is good, lemme know. I have not really noticed any problems when running w/gtx 760 and Shadow Mordor. I can't wait to play farcry 4 on this!

Thanks guys and I greatly appreciate your feedback!

Oh, you already have that cpu. In that case, that will work fine for the time being.

 

[Wisecracker]

Don't spend $$$ on a 'new' Intel CPU with Broadwell and Skylake likely hitting retail in 6 months ...

 

[Lmah]

Don't spend $$$ on a 'new' Intel CPU with Broadwell and Skylake likely hitting retail in 6 months ...

Agreed.. Haswell has very little performance improvement over IvyBridge, the OP's best bet is wait and see what Broadwell and Skylake have to offer. It would be poor money management to upgrade the CPU right now.

If $300 is burning a hole in your pocket though, why don't you look at other components you may want to improve on, such as Case, cooling setup, SSD.

 

[MadMorigan]

Thanks guys, I will do my best to find something else to upgrade. Since I'm not an overclocker, I guess I will just go for the case and I already got a hybrid drive coming in a week.

Thanks again, Happy Holidays!