Would this CPU Bottleneck my GPU

[Keiji99]

It's the i3-3240 and the Radeon HD 7950. I'm asking because I'm not sure if I want to spend $210 on the i5-4670, when I can get the i3 for much cheaper and for good performance too.

I plan on playing games like Total War, Starcraft, Eve Online, and Sins of a Solar Empire

 

[oczdude8]

I would get a stronger cpu, especially for RTS style games (some may be cpu hogs). why not get the i5-3xxx ?

 

[rolli59]

I would at least get an I5 for that card. 4570 $190 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116896&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[fosj988]

The i3-3240 should be able to handle those games with an HD 7950. There may be some bottlenecking in certain games/programs but not a lot.

 

[gbryan101]

It's all going to depend on what you are doing. The i3 is a hyper-threaded dual core and performance is going to suffer for games that either lack multithreading or where it's implemented poorly. While I don't play EVE, a little research and I saw that it has some threading issues that really affect performance. Star Craft and Sins run fine on dual core processors. I don't know what Total War you are referring to, but Rome II recommends an i5.

For general system performance, an i3 leaves a lot to be desired after you open ten tabs of Chrome and realize you want music in the background as well.

In short, you would probably be best served by getting the i5, either 3xxx or 4xxx series, provided you get a quad core and not some low power dual core chip.

 

[johnnyb105]

Yes it will

 

[johnnyb105]

You need either a I5 or higher cpu quad core even if you overclocked the thing to piss it still bottle neck the gpu. For example you dont put a high performance transmission in a car thats got a real low end motor the car rev like hell but get no where fast build a computer is like part of the puzzel all pieces can and will fit but do it right to get the full picture.