Old CPU/New GPU gaming

[SexuaIPredator]

Today I came across this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQZ8meWUZcQ), and started wondering how much money do you really need to spend on your CPU (only for gaming)? I was thinking if you could spend like 60$-80$ on old CPU (like Core2Extreme in this case) and 250$-300$ on GPU. I had nightmares with bottlenecks in the past and never would've even thought about this until today. I was not talking about all ultra 60+ FPS, but medium setting 30 FPS on some modern games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Fallout 4.

I'm not really into hardware and stuff as you can see so sorry to experts if this is a dumb question.

 

[KiL3MaNjAr0W]

give more money to the GPU and just make sure the CPU is just good enough to do what it's gotta do. If you are building a pc you can go with an amd fx series and get a decent cpu for 80$ that will be overly sufficient for gaming alone... Also, don't mind the AMD haters that will naysay their processors, they are decent.

 

[thor220]

give more money to the GPU and just make sure the CPU is just good enough to do what it's gotta do. If you are building a pc you can go with an amd fx series and get a decent cpu for 80$ that will be overly sufficient for gaming alone... Also, don't mind the AMD haters that will naysay their processors, they are decent.

They are decent, as you say, and really only excel with multi-threading. You will bottleneck any decent GPU with even AMD's top FX CPUs. Go look at the CPU performance section of any benchmark.

With a $250 - $300 GPU you are going to want a newer quad core Intel CPU. A core2extreme will heavily bottleneck. Intel's 3000, 4000 series are still very good so if you can find a deal on them go for it. A good setup would be something like an i5 6400 and an RX 480 / 470 / 1060. Buying used can save you money. R9 390s can be found for around $220 which is a steal given their power (just make sure you have a good enough PSU).

 

[jaguarskx]

I generally recommend getting a current generation dual core like the i3-6100 (3.7GHz). There has been a significant improvement in CPU performance since 2006. Below is a CPU performance benchmark for Fallout 4 using a nVidia GTX 980 Ti with various CPUs from Techspot. The i3-6100 performs pretty well.

While the Core 2 Quad series were pretty powerful way back when... today not so much. I think they would provide performance similar to the Athlon X4 860k.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page5.html

 

[jaguarskx]

One more thing.... As a public notice to all...


OP, due to the fact that your user name can be deemed as offensive to other forum members I am going to disable your account. Please try to use a username that people in a public forum may not find offensive.

 

[spdragoo]

It can depend on the game.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page5.html: Yes, AMD's FX chips struggle when compared to the Intel chips (have no idea why it can be beat by i3 chips, to be honest, but that's a completely different discussion). However, they can run the game, whereas a Core 2 Quad almost certainly won't (doesn't meet the minimum requirement of a Sandy Bridge i5/Phenom II X4 945). And with a decent $250 card (i.e. one geared for 1080p resolutions, like an RX 470/480 or GTX 1060), you should still be able to hit 40+ FPS on Ultra settings, & probably hit 60 by turning down the details a bit.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page5.html: Again, a Core 2 Quad is going to have trouble running this, when they recommend a Sandy Bridge i5 or Phenom II X4 940 as a minimum. However, in this case the AMD chips put up a much better showing, with the FX-8350 not only pulling slightly ahead of the i3, but both chips are within 15% of the performance of a Haswell/Broadwell i7. Just make sure you turn HairWorks off (http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page6.html), as it really kills performance (even for the nVidia GPUs). With this game, though, you could easily hit 60+ FPS with a 3GB or 6GB GTX 1060 (http://www.techspot.com/review/1237-msi-geforce-gtx-1060-3gb/page6.html) or RX 480 (http://www.techspot.com/review/1198-amd-radeon-rx-480/page2.html), & even hit 50+ FPS with an RX 470 (http://www.techspot.com/review/1220-amd-radeon-rx-470/page2.html).

If you're going to play older games, then a Core 2 Quad might be OK. But if you're looking for a cheap "older" system that can still run more modern games, your best bet will be an AMD FX-based system.

 

[chainers]

I went with the FX 6350 chipset about 3 years ago and have had no real issues in my gaming (haven't OC yet, but may be doing so in the future because I am thinking of an upgrade). While the Intel chips are indeed stronger, it is like bringing a shotgun to parry some fat off of meat. It will do it, but it is kind of overkill.

That being said, after 3 years I am getting ready for an upgrade, and am looking to see what the Zen is capable of before making any decisions.

Post edit: I do want to clarify while I enjoy my FX 6350 processor now, I probably wouldn't get it at this point. The Zen is coming out with a completely different socket for a MoBo, and I believe these processors are going to get phased out. It would really be a waste of money, and you should wait until next year when the new chips are announced if you can. If you want/need a computer now, I would be looking at Intel.

 

[thor220]

I went with the FX 6350 chipset about 3 years ago and have had no real issues in my gaming (haven't OC yet, but may be doing so in the future because I am thinking of an upgrade). While the Intel chips are indeed stronger, it is like bringing a shotgun to parry some fat off of meat. It will do it, but it is kind of overkill.

That being said, after 3 years I am getting ready for an upgrade, and am looking to see what the Zen is capable of before making any decisions.

Post edit: I do want to clarify while I enjoy my FX 6350 processor now, I probably wouldn't get it at this point. The Zen is coming out with a completely different socket for a MoBo, and I believe these processors are going to get phased out. It would really be a waste of money, and you should wait until next year when the new chips are announced if you can. If you want/need a computer now, I would be looking at Intel.

The benchmarks over the years don't like. Right now Intel has a significant lead, especially in single threaded games and when going above 60 FPS. AMD CPUs can handle a 1060 / RX 480 in games that are well optimized at 60 FPS. That's about as much GPU you can drive with even the top FX CPUs and only in games that take advantage of it. Forget about playing eSports, higher FPS requires a higher IPC processor.

In my opinion, everyone who wants to drop big money on a computer should just wait for Zen. It only needs to live up to a portion of the hype and it would still be a good processor.