Would there be a noticeable, real world difference between a CPU with 3.2Mhz and a CPU with 3.5Mhz in gaming?

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

 

[Zircoben]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

 

[Zircoben]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

 

[Zircoben]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

Awesome. You won't have any issues.

If you are gaming at 1080p, the most you need is a 750 Ti, and even then, the HD 4600 in the i5 should be able to game at 720p or 1080p on ultra low presets.

Good choices overall, I'm glad you aren't like the other 90% of people that I have to convince out of buying AMD's CPUs. Have fun and good luck!

 

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

Awesome. You won't have any issues.

If you are gaming at 1080p, the most you need is a 750 Ti, and even then, the HD 4600 in the i5 should be able to game at 720p or 1080p on ultra low presets.

Good choices overall, I'm glad you aren't like the other 90% of people that I have to convince out of buying AMD's CPUs. Have fun and good luck!

That's great, can't wait to play some games, especially Civ 5. I'm getting a 1080p monitor, as long as I can downscale to 720p. So, the HD4600 could play games only on the lowest settings even on 720p?

I know AMD has excellent stuff, but I am inclined to go for Intel and Nvidia. Especially for CPUs, I keep reading that Intel generally performs best for gaming, while AMD performs best for workstations. I'm not so sure about GPUs, AMD GPUs are cheaper, but the reviews for them are iffy. Nvidia is generally pricier, but nicely reviewed on Newegg, from users. That being said, I'm looking for value.

I've been using this laptop to "game" for a couple years, and could never play above low and medium settings. It has a Phenom A10-4600M APU, and it's brutally slow. Anything would be a massive upgrade.

Thank you for the feedback and help .

 

[Zircoben]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

Awesome. You won't have any issues.

If you are gaming at 1080p, the most you need is a 750 Ti, and even then, the HD 4600 in the i5 should be able to game at 720p or 1080p on ultra low presets.

Good choices overall, I'm glad you aren't like the other 90% of people that I have to convince out of buying AMD's CPUs. Have fun and good luck!

That's great, can't wait to play some games, especially Civ 5. I'm getting a 1080p monitor, as long as I can downscale to 720p. So, the HD4600 could play games only on the lowest settings even on 720p?

I know AMD has excellent stuff, but I am inclined to go for Intel and Nvidia. Especially for CPUs, I keep reading that Intel generally performs best for gaming, while AMD performs best for workstations. I'm not so sure about GPUs, AMD GPUs are cheaper, but the reviews for them are iffy. Nvidia is generally pricier, but nicely reviewed on Newegg, from users. That being said, I'm looking for value.

I've been using this laptop to "game" for a couple years, and could never play above low and medium settings. It has a Phenom A10-4600M APU, and it's brutally slow. Anything would be a massive upgrade.

Thank you for the feedback and help .

The A10-4600M's GPU is actually pretty capable, it is better than the HD 4600. The HD 4600 should be able to game on pretty high settings at 720p, and will be able to play on ultra low settings at 1080p in some games.

http://semiaccurate.com/2013/06/10/intels-hd-4600-graphics-another-review/

An Nvidia GTX 750 Ti or GTX 760 would be great, and with the 750 Ti you could use a really cheap power supply, like the Corsair CX430. On the AMD side, an R9 280 would cost about the same as a GTX 760, and they are pretty close to each other.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

Awesome. You won't have any issues.

If you are gaming at 1080p, the most you need is a 750 Ti, and even then, the HD 4600 in the i5 should be able to game at 720p or 1080p on ultra low presets.

Good choices overall, I'm glad you aren't like the other 90% of people that I have to convince out of buying AMD's CPUs. Have fun and good luck!

That's great, can't wait to play some games, especially Civ 5. I'm getting a 1080p monitor, as long as I can downscale to 720p. So, the HD4600 could play games only on the lowest settings even on 720p?

I know AMD has excellent stuff, but I am inclined to go for Intel and Nvidia. Especially for CPUs, I keep reading that Intel generally performs best for gaming, while AMD performs best for workstations. I'm not so sure about GPUs, AMD GPUs are cheaper, but the reviews for them are iffy. Nvidia is generally pricier, but nicely reviewed on Newegg, from users. That being said, I'm looking for value.

I've been using this laptop to "game" for a couple years, and could never play above low and medium settings. It has a Phenom A10-4600M APU, and it's brutally slow. Anything would be a massive upgrade.

Thank you for the feedback and help .

The A10-4600M's GPU is actually pretty capable, it is better than the HD 4600. The HD 4600 should be able to game on pretty high settings at 720p, and will be able to play on ultra low settings at 1080p in some games.

http://semiaccurate.com/2013/06/10/intels-hd-4600-graphics-another-review/

An Nvidia GTX 750 Ti or GTX 760 would be great, and with the 750 Ti you could use a really cheap power supply, like the Corsair CX430. On the AMD side, an R9 280 would cost about the same as a GTX 760, and they are pretty close to each other.

It is eh? Games run soooo poorly on my laptop. I can only play Planetside 2, in a battle of 20 people, with like 5 frames per second, it's brutal! I guess the main issue is my laptop is terrible for dealing with heat. I also have a Radeon HD 7670m, maybe that is the issue?

I'm looking for a high quality PSU, because they're so crucial. I figured, if I end up going with a Z97, with the option to SLI down the road, then I'd probably go with a 750w PSU to be safe.
So, for the R9 280 and GTX 760, since they are similar in their performance, would it come down to whether you care about PhysX and getting Watch Dogs for free? I know some AMD GPUs get 1, 2, or 3 games free depending on how expensive they are. I'd rather choose a couple free ones from their list than get Watch Dogs, but ultimately it's the GPU I want, not a bunch of free games. Which would you choose? The R9 280 or the GTX 760?

 

[MrCanEHdian]

So, I'm juggling between the i5 4570, i5 4590, and the i5 4690. I'm wondering if the $40 or so increase for 4690 is worth it for an extra 300mhz. Would you really notice that in a gaming situation?

Thank you!

No, because none of those CPUs will bottleneck your graphics card, unless you are doing a high-end SLI. They will perform nearly identical in gaming.

Even an i5-4430/4440/4460 would do great.

So the i5 4690 would basically be a waste of $40? 😛

Yeah. What is your graphics card?

Unless you plan on doing some serious rendering and video processing and stuff like that, there is no reason to spend another $40 on an i5-4690.

The one I'm intending to buy is the GTX 760, but if I go with a cheaper CPU and save money elsewhere, I may jump it up to a better GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

In that case, I'll likely go with the i5 4590, because it's a Haswell Refresh and seems to be pretty awesome, plus it's currently on sale. I may actually just buy the i5 and try out the HD4600 GPU, since it's like 20%-30% better than the integrated GPU my laptop has xD. Ultimately, I think I'll get a dedicated GPU. Leaning towards the GTX 760.

Awesome. You won't have any issues.

If you are gaming at 1080p, the most you need is a 750 Ti, and even then, the HD 4600 in the i5 should be able to game at 720p or 1080p on ultra low presets.

Good choices overall, I'm glad you aren't like the other 90% of people that I have to convince out of buying AMD's CPUs. Have fun and good luck!

That's great, can't wait to play some games, especially Civ 5. I'm getting a 1080p monitor, as long as I can downscale to 720p. So, the HD4600 could play games only on the lowest settings even on 720p?

I know AMD has excellent stuff, but I am inclined to go for Intel and Nvidia. Especially for CPUs, I keep reading that Intel generally performs best for gaming, while AMD performs best for workstations. I'm not so sure about GPUs, AMD GPUs are cheaper, but the reviews for them are iffy. Nvidia is generally pricier, but nicely reviewed on Newegg, from users. That being said, I'm looking for value.

I've been using this laptop to "game" for a couple years, and could never play above low and medium settings. It has a Phenom A10-4600M APU, and it's brutally slow. Anything would be a massive upgrade.

Thank you for the feedback and help .

The A10-4600M's GPU is actually pretty capable, it is better than the HD 4600. The HD 4600 should be able to game on pretty high settings at 720p, and will be able to play on ultra low settings at 1080p in some games.

http://semiaccurate.com/2013/06/10/intels-hd-4600-graphics-another-review/

An Nvidia GTX 750 Ti or GTX 760 would be great, and with the 750 Ti you could use a really cheap power supply, like the Corsair CX430. On the AMD side, an R9 280 would cost about the same as a GTX 760, and they are pretty close to each other.

I also need to ask, since I will playing loads of strategy games, with loads of calculations, making them CPU intensive, will the extra 300Mhz make much difference there? Such as in Civ 5, where turn times can take a long time when playing with the AI, would 300Mhz help reduce wait times?

 

[Zircoben]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

Wow, that is a sweet deal on the GPU, it's even better on the Newegg.ca, $70 off! The extra heat over the GTX 760 is a bit sketchy though, is it a serious amount of extra heat?

That 3X is awesome, I actually cannot wait to enjoy some good strategy games! Are there any other CPUs I could look at that would outperform the i5?

Thank you!

 

[Zircoben]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

Wow, that is a sweet deal on the GPU, it's even better on the Newegg.ca, $70 off! The extra heat over the GTX 760 is a bit sketchy though, is it a serious amount of extra heat?

That 3X is awesome, I actually cannot wait to enjoy some good strategy games! Are there any other CPUs I could look at that would outperform the i5?

Thank you!

The Xeon 1230v3 is an excellent CPU that costs the same as an i5, but is the same as an i7-4770 (minus .3 GHz). That would be a better CPU overall, as it is a hyperthreaded quad core, instead of the normal quad core in the i5. Keep in mind though, there are NO integrated graphics in the Xeon, so you would need the R9 280 with it.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906&cm_re=1230v3\-_-19-116-906-_-Product

But I guess the 4690 is a lot cheaper in Canada

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989&cm_re=i5_4690-_-19-116-989-_-Product

It looks like it depends on the exact model,

But in some instances, I guess the R9 280 is cooler. I wouldn't worry about the heat. As long as the case has the airflow you need, it should be okay.

Taking a look at this:

The sapphire runs pretty cool. I wouldn't worry about it, even if you want to Crossfire it.

The i5-4690 is a stellar CPU.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

Wow, that is a sweet deal on the GPU, it's even better on the Newegg.ca, $70 off! The extra heat over the GTX 760 is a bit sketchy though, is it a serious amount of extra heat?

That 3X is awesome, I actually cannot wait to enjoy some good strategy games! Are there any other CPUs I could look at that would outperform the i5?

Thank you!

The Xeon 1230v3 is an excellent CPU that costs the same as an i5, but is the same as an i7-4770 (minus .3 GHz). That would be a better CPU overall, as it is a hyperthreaded quad core, instead of the normal quad core in the i5. Keep in mind though, there are NO integrated graphics in the Xeon, so you would need the R9 280 with it.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906&cm_re=1230v3\-_-19-116-906-_-Product

But I guess the 4690 is a lot cheaper in Canada

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989&cm_re=i5_4690-_-19-116-989-_-Product

It looks like it depends on the exact model,

But in some instances, I guess the R9 280 is cooler. I wouldn't worry about the heat. As long as the case has the airflow you need, it should be okay.

Taking a look at this:

The sapphire runs pretty cool. I wouldn't worry about it, even if you want to Crossfire it.

The i5-4690 is a stellar CPU.

The Xeon is more pricey here, but I haven't completely ruled it out, especially if it will in fact perform well in games. I may order the PC with the i5, however, and rely on the iGPU for a few weeks, then order a GPU, so I can take advantage of sales if they are still present and good.

So you would go with the R9 over the GTX?

Would you recommend the i5 4690 over the i5 4590? The clock speed is 200mhz more, but it's also around $40 or so more expensive. Are 200Mhz worth $40? I won't be sticking exclusively with this CPU, I'll likely upgrade to Broadwell down the road, if it turns out to be any good.

 

[Zircoben]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

Wow, that is a sweet deal on the GPU, it's even better on the Newegg.ca, $70 off! The extra heat over the GTX 760 is a bit sketchy though, is it a serious amount of extra heat?

That 3X is awesome, I actually cannot wait to enjoy some good strategy games! Are there any other CPUs I could look at that would outperform the i5?

Thank you!

The Xeon 1230v3 is an excellent CPU that costs the same as an i5, but is the same as an i7-4770 (minus .3 GHz). That would be a better CPU overall, as it is a hyperthreaded quad core, instead of the normal quad core in the i5. Keep in mind though, there are NO integrated graphics in the Xeon, so you would need the R9 280 with it.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906&cm_re=1230v3\-_-19-116-906-_-Product

But I guess the 4690 is a lot cheaper in Canada

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989&cm_re=i5_4690-_-19-116-989-_-Product

It looks like it depends on the exact model,

But in some instances, I guess the R9 280 is cooler. I wouldn't worry about the heat. As long as the case has the airflow you need, it should be okay.

Taking a look at this:

The sapphire runs pretty cool. I wouldn't worry about it, even if you want to Crossfire it.

The i5-4690 is a stellar CPU.

The Xeon is more pricey here, but I haven't completely ruled it out, especially if it will in fact perform well in games. I may order the PC with the i5, however, and rely on the iGPU for a few weeks, then order a GPU, so I can take advantage of sales if they are still present and good.

So you would go with the R9 over the GTX?

Would you recommend the i5 4690 over the i5 4590? The clock speed is 200mhz more, but it's also around $40 or so more expensive. Are 200Mhz worth $40? I won't be sticking exclusively with this CPU, I'll likely upgrade to Broadwell down the road, if it turns out to be any good.

Yes, i'd get an R9 280, the cheapest one in your area from a good brand (NOT PowerColor) and the i5-4590. It's not worth $40 for the 4690.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The R9 280 is a bit more powerful, and it even costs less a lot of the time. It does use more power and runs hotter than the GTX 760, and needs a good 600W power supply just for one of them.

This is a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

The i5 will easily outperform the A10. There will be no issue in CPU bottlenecks and it will run incredibly. The i5 is probably 3X more powerful than the A10 in your laptop.

Wow, that is a sweet deal on the GPU, it's even better on the Newegg.ca, $70 off! The extra heat over the GTX 760 is a bit sketchy though, is it a serious amount of extra heat?

That 3X is awesome, I actually cannot wait to enjoy some good strategy games! Are there any other CPUs I could look at that would outperform the i5?

Thank you!

The Xeon 1230v3 is an excellent CPU that costs the same as an i5, but is the same as an i7-4770 (minus .3 GHz). That would be a better CPU overall, as it is a hyperthreaded quad core, instead of the normal quad core in the i5. Keep in mind though, there are NO integrated graphics in the Xeon, so you would need the R9 280 with it.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906&cm_re=1230v3\-_-19-116-906-_-Product

But I guess the 4690 is a lot cheaper in Canada

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989&cm_re=i5_4690-_-19-116-989-_-Product

It looks like it depends on the exact model,

But in some instances, I guess the R9 280 is cooler. I wouldn't worry about the heat. As long as the case has the airflow you need, it should be okay.

Taking a look at this:

The sapphire runs pretty cool. I wouldn't worry about it, even if you want to Crossfire it.

The i5-4690 is a stellar CPU.

The Xeon is more pricey here, but I haven't completely ruled it out, especially if it will in fact perform well in games. I may order the PC with the i5, however, and rely on the iGPU for a few weeks, then order a GPU, so I can take advantage of sales if they are still present and good.

So you would go with the R9 over the GTX?

Would you recommend the i5 4690 over the i5 4590? The clock speed is 200mhz more, but it's also around $40 or so more expensive. Are 200Mhz worth $40? I won't be sticking exclusively with this CPU, I'll likely upgrade to Broadwell down the road, if it turns out to be any good.

Yes, i'd get an R9 280, the cheapest one in your area from a good brand (NOT PowerColor) and the i5-4590. It's not worth $40 for the 4690.

The R9 is somewhat more expensive than the 760 right? Ah I've seen PowerColor a few times, so they aren't so good?

Ok, the i5 4590 seems like a sweet deal, glad you agree.