Take weak cpu with strong gpu or both equal in quality?

[gedalus]

1. I am thinking about buying a new cpu and gpu, i5-4460 and either gtx 960 or r9 380. I was wondering whether or not will that cpu be a bottleneck to those gpus?

2. Some people are advising me to take a cheaper cpu so I can invest more in gpu side of the budget, how low can I go without significant performance drops/bottlenecks?

 

[Mattios]

1 - no it will be fine.
2 - the general rule is spend the same, or similar, on CPU and GPU. Don't skimp out on one.

Perhaps try to find the money for a 970? That and a 4460 would be a good pair.

 

[geofelt]

My rule of thumb for a balanced gamer is to budget 2x the cpu cost for the graphics card.
Here, you are about 1 to 1, About $200 for each.

That is not bad if you anticipate a future graphics card upgrade and you have a fixed budget.


Actually, I suggest you wait a couple of weeks and see what the Skylake launch brings.

 

[gedalus]

Thank you Mattios, as far as my needs are concerned I checked the benchmarks and I don't currently don't have need for anything more powerful than 960/380. All that power would go to waste as I'm a casual gamer, I play at 1080p usually at medium/high without the intensive stuff like FSAA, MSAA and others.

Geofelt, hmmm, interesting rule, actually, no, In my country 380 costs more than that cpu, when converted to dollars it looks like this: 228$ : 314$, which is more like 1:1,5. Only future upgrades I plan are if those cards become obsolete in 1080p performance, then I might buy something new. Thanks for giving me ideas though.

Gonna wait for at least one more answer

 

[gedalus]

Pardon me, I should have mentioned that in my first post and I see how it could be misleading Mattios!

 

[geofelt]

What do you have now?
Why do you think you need an upgrade?

 

[geofelt]

What do you have now?
Why do you think you need an upgrade?

 

[gedalus]

Well, my current setup is becoming obsolete for modern gaming at 1080p. Also warranty has expired and some parts are faulty, don't want to risk it any further. There are already games I can't play even on low with atleast 30 frames, like unity.

Anyway, the setup

CPU: Pentium G840 2.8GHz, one core is prone to faults
GPU: 7790
PSU: 500W
RAM: 4 GB
Have no idea which motherboard, I can open the case if needed.

 

[geofelt]

I think it is time for a new build.
What is your budget?

7790 is still a decent card, but you are probably looking at a $200 card like a GTX960 for a decent upgrade.
4gb of ram is not enough; 8gb is plenty.

I3-4170 would be a good upgrade, but you could go better.

If your os is not on a SSD, plan on one.

Actually, wait a week or so, the next Intel generation, Skylake is due along with a new lga1151 socket.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Feel free to keep discussing it in this thread. No bans, since it's your thread.

 

[gedalus]

Thanks man!