i3 4150 + GTX 750 Ti or Pentium G3240 + GTX 960 OC ed.

[Pattrick Levin]

I'm going to buy a new entry-level gaming pc and i need help. Will i need a better graphics card or a better processor? The i3 4150 combo is also cheaper than the GTX 960.

 

[Robert Cook]

if you want to play games like GTAV and far cry you will need a quad core processor. I am unsure of whether that i3 will run those games as it only has two physical cores, but the hyper threading may count. the 750ti is a good enough card, and I would consider an AMD FX 4300 to insure that games will run.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

if you want to play games like GTAV and far cry you will need a quad core processor. I am unsure of whether that i3 will run those games as it only has two physical cores, but the hyper threading may count. the 750ti is a good enough card, and I would consider an AMD FX 4300 to insure that games will run.

A Quad Core processor? I can't afford that for now. Furthermore i'm not going to play games such as GTA V, Far Cry 4, or other heavy games (Maybe, later..). In some benchmark, the i3 - 4150 or the Pentium G3240 isn't that bad. When gaming, is it more important to have a great gpu + good processor or a good gpu + great processor? The difference between the i3 and the Pentium is also huge, around $90 (The difference between the 750ti and the 960oc is actually $100, but i'm willing to pay more for a better gpu) . About AMD, no, i'm not going to use AMD products. It has a high power consumption rate and etc. I prefer Intel for now. Even though i can take the AMD FX 6300 rather than the pentium, still a no from me since i'm only going for Nvidia+Intel (I'm not an Nvidia fanboy tho). + Can't i really play GTA V with a pentium and a 960oc 😛 ?
Since i'm building a low budget pc that means i'm also going to buy a small monitor. 15.6' monitor maybe. 1366x768.

 

[pete_101]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

 

[pete_101]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

I'm sure you would get higher frame rates with the Pentium and 960oc. BUT you will have no upgrade options as the cpu will be at it's limit. The other way around gives you future upgrade choices and a i3 uses 4 threads which new/future games will use.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

I'm sure you would get higher frame rates with the Pentium and 960oc. BUT you will have no upgrade options as the cpu will be at it's limit. The other way around gives you future upgrade choices and a i3 uses 4 threads which new/future games will use.

Well my upgrade option might be the CPU and not GPU 😀

 

[pete_101]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

I'm sure you would get higher frame rates with the Pentium and 960oc. BUT you will have no upgrade options as the cpu will be at it's limit. The other way around gives you future upgrade choices and a i3 uses 4 threads which new/future games will use.

Well my upgrade option might be the CPU and not GPU 😀

Yes it would have to be, but then you may want a better gpu too 😀

 

[HCSn]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

"high resolution" can mean a lot of things. 1080p? 1440p? 4k? With those specs you could probably do fine on games that aren't very intensive at 1080p with decent settings.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

"high resolution" can mean a lot of things. 1080p? 1440p? 4k? With those specs you could probably do fine on games that aren't very intensive at 1080p with decent settings.

I said up there i'm just making a low budget PC, so the monitor is only 15.6'. I guess 15.6' is only standard HD or i'm wrong? 1366x768, what kind of HD is that? And i heard if i got lower HD then my performance will be better?

 

[HCSn]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

"high resolution" can mean a lot of things. 1080p? 1440p? 4k? With those specs you could probably do fine on games that aren't very intensive at 1080p with decent settings.

I said up there i'm just making a low budget PC, so the monitor is only 15.6'. Isn't 15.6' Standard HD ? 1366x768. 720p?

The size of the monitor has little to do with the resolution. 1366x768 is just barely high definition, so a 750 Ti will be more than enough.

 

[pete_101]

When gaming you need both a good processor and a good gpu. However as you are not looking to play graphics intense games, I think a i3 would be fine. And then if you only want to play at low resolution a 750Ti is all you need....you can always upgrade your gpu later as a i3 can run high end gpus but be aware that future games will work much better on a quad core.

I want to play in high resolution. If i combine i3-4150 and 750ti + pentium g3240 and gtx960oc, which one will have higher framerates? (let's say on a game that is not cpu or gpu intensive)

"high resolution" can mean a lot of things. 1080p? 1440p? 4k? With those specs you could probably do fine on games that aren't very intensive at 1080p with decent settings.

I said up there i'm just making a low budget PC, so the monitor is only 15.6'. Isn't 15.6' Standard HD ? 1366x768. 720p?

The size of the monitor has little to do with the resolution. 1366x768 is just barely high definition, so a 750 Ti will be more than enough.

Yeah, I told him he was only low resolution but then he wanted to know which would give higher frame rates. Still think the i3 with a 750Ti is best as it's more likely to run a better gpu in the future than the g3240.

 

[pete_101]

Here is more proof the i3 4150 can handle a high end gpu. In this youtube clip different cpus were tested with a GTX 980Ti to see what frame rate they could get in different modern games. It's not in English, but if you skip to about the 3 minute mark the scores are shown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NxFdHRhQ2g

 

[Pattrick Levin]

Ok then. But as i said again. I want the best for my budget. I want higher framerates in games, oh, i forgot to mention that i'll be playing games like BF4 and such, on high-ultra settings if possible.

 

[HCSn]

As we said again, the i3 and 750 Ti

 

[madmatt30]

At 1366x768 the i3+750ti 100%.

A 750ti is capable of playing any game (albeit at reduced settings on newer titles) - it'll do high settings mostly at that res though.

The pentium being 2 threaded is incapable of playing some current titles full stop.


Have you considered amd on a very tight budget??

The 860k with a r9 270 should be the same pricewise & would be a good compromise IMO.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

I know AMD is very cheap compared to Intel or Nvidia, but again, i don't actually prefer to get AMD products.
So if i actually buy pentium g3240 + gtx 960oc it'll be a total waste?

 

[HCSn]

I know AMD is very cheap compared to Intel or Nvidia, but again, i don't actually prefer to get AMD products.
So if i actually buy pentium g3240 + gtx 960oc it'll be a total waste?

No, it would no be a "total waste". The i3 is the better processor, and a 750 Ti is plenty for you, as you said you aren't doing "heavy gaming".

 

[Pattrick Levin]

I mean will the G3240 + GTX 960 be a total waste? oh and 1 more : i'm going to use a 1600mhz ram but on intel's web the g3240 only support 1333mhz. Can i use 1600mhz on this? Oh and i will rethink twice in buying the i3 combo.

 

[Pattrick Levin]

I just did a simulation with the GTX750TI and i3-4150, the price differences turns out to be only $10 with the Pentium G3240 + GTX960oc

 

[pete_101]

I know AMD is very cheap compared to Intel or Nvidia, but again, i don't actually prefer to get AMD products.
So if i actually buy pentium g3240 + gtx 960oc it'll be a total waste?

Let's put it this way. If you're happy playing the current non heavy gaming titles, then the Pentium + 960 is fine. If in the future you want to play the latest titles you will need something with 4 threads (i3) or 4 cores (i5), also if you want to go 1080 or 1440 gaming, the i3 has the cheapest upgrade option.

 

[madmatt30]

Honestly mate ,stick with peoples advice,buying the pentium now would be a foolish choice.
i3 minimum now for even a budget gaming build - a few titles released lately heavily rely on multiple threads,the pentium doesnt cope well & there are some titles it wont play at all.

Infact to me the pentium is an unimpressive chip anyway,it was rated highly as it can be overclocked massively but at stock speeds its not impressive at all.
to drag those speeds you need an aftermarket cooler & a fairly decent quality motherboard anyway which ups the cost.

I understand your choice to stick with intel ,the 860k was just another option which is very very god for the money (certainyl better than the pentium)

stick with the i3,squeeze whatever you can gpu wise into your budget - the 750ti will do ok at your resolution,still consider an amd r9 270 if you can get one in budget though - it will pretty much ultra any game at that resolution.

 

[madmatt30]

3 similarly priced builds,if you want intel then go with the i3+r9 270 combo is my advice,should you upgrade your monitor to 1080p the 270 will cope ok,the 750ti will struggle.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3240 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($188.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $284.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-20 02:57 EDT-0400



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($69.95 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB HAWK Video Card ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $279.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-20 02:58 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $291.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-20 03:04 EDT-0400

 

[Pattrick Levin]

So in overall the i3 + gtx 750 ti is better than the pentium g3240 + gtx 960oc? I guess my choice fall to the i3 then

 

[pete_101]

So in overall the i3 + gtx 750 ti is better than the pentium g3240 + gtx 960oc? I guess my choice fall to the i3 then

Wow, what made you come to that decision? 😀 Yes it is better.