Buying new CPU for my pc

[CatMan9001]

Howdy

I'm getting into gaming (coz there isnt anything better to do with my life) and i need help deciding what i5 cpu i need
I have a NVidia GeForce 950 Ti as my GPU and an average motherboard and power supply and a crappy i3 ( an obviously obvious bottleneck ) and i want to improve it

( I am not going to want to play AAA titles at 60 fps but at least 20-30 fps on optimised settings )

If you need i could check my PSU as well but that will have to wait till tomorrow and yeah ( as said i am looking for an i5 under the price range of $400 ).

( Thinking sorda a 4430

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

you need to input your specs here....mobo details, ram etc

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/account/specs

 

[Frick]

The i3's aren't crappy. Just saying. if anything the GPU is holding you back.

What motherboard do you have? Will there be overclocking? Plan on an SSD? What PSU do you have?

 

[hapkiman]

A decent current gen i5 for gaming is the Skylake i5-6500 which sells for around $200. But it's hard to tell you much more with the limited info you provided. List all of your specifications and components by name and brand.

The i5-6500 is only ~$20 more than the i5 4430, and the 6500 is a faster and newer proc.

60FPS is the gold standard in frame rates, with many folks now preferring much higher with the influx of 120-140Hz monitors, but certainly you never want to go down to 20FPS. 30FPS is the lowest you'd ever want to try and play a game at, and often that will look like a slide show.

The GTX 950 Ti is only a entry level card, but if you're just playing at 1920x1080 you should achieve close to 60FPS with a little setting tweaks on most games. A few more demanding titles like Witcher III and GTA V will give you a little trouble though -you should still be around 45-50FPS.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Yeah, we need more information. What chip set does your motherboard have? What brand/model PSU do you have. What speed and how much RAM do you have? i3 CPUs are not bad. There have been several gaming systems built with i3 cpus that yield very good gaming performance. Remember, while the i3 may be a dual core, it acts like a quad. I agree with Frick that the i3 is probably NOT your bottleneck, and that it's more than likely your GTX 950ti that's causing the bottleneck.

A decent current gen i5 for gaming is the Skylake i5-6500 which sells for around $200. But it's hard to tell you much more with the limited info you provided. List all of your specifications and components by name and brand.

The i5-6500 is only ~$20 more than the i5 4430, and the 6500 is a faster and newer proc.

60FPS is the gold standard in frame rates, with many folks now preferring much higher with the influx of 120-140Hz monitors, but certainly you never want to go down to 20FPS. 30FPS is the lowest you'd ever want to try and play a game at, and often that will look like a slide show.

I seriously doubt the OP has a system compatible with a brand new i5 6500. If they are looking at the 4430, they probably have a Haswell system.

 

[rtwjunkie]

We need to know WHICH i3 you have. As has been said, a number of i3's are very capable for gaming, which surprises most people. I also am leaning toward upgrading the GPU before anything else, for the biggest results.

 

[Vayra86]

If you intend to swap system parts, dive into it and open the case. Check what power supply you got and what it can deliver, what brand name etc.

Also figure out details about the other parts, then look up a review on the i3 that you have now and how it compares to an i5.

After that, decide whether you really want to upgrade CPU. In general, i3's can carry most gaming up to 60 fps very well, and like others pointed out, GPU upgrade can be more worthwhile. I am of the opinion you should decide for yourself if the CPU upgrade is worth it - so take a peek at actual ingame performance gain first.

400 bucks can buy a new i5 + motherboard, so if you have an old socket, that may be an option too.

 

[cdawall]

$400 will buy a GPU that will actually increase framerate in games. i3's run games just fine 950's however do not.

 

[peche]

an i3 could handle gaming sir, with a decent video card and enough memory it could bring great times gaming...
fill your specs complete including all fields and details...

Regards,

 

[GreiverBlade]

as many said ... miss some information and also the i3 depending the gen are quite capable and probably not a bottleneck

based on your 4430 idea i think you might not need to change anythings

i use, myself, for my HTPC/STEAM box a i3-4130T (2.9ghz X2 +Hyperthreading) 8gb DDR3 1600 paired with a GTX 750TI (GT860M technically but since it's not in a laptop i can clock it back to a 750Ti level), i have yet to find any games on my steam library that need a lowering further than high settings (inclusive Skyrim with a ENB and just high res pack deactivated.) to run under 40fps (high 50 most of the time on optimized settings on some games) heck i even play BF3 and 4 on it with no issues at all ...

and i am comparing the HTPC performances with my main rig ... (i5-6600K @4.4 GTX 980 @1275/3606 16gb DDR4 2800) while i need to lower some settings the output is still very acceptable (both in look and performances )

 

[ASOT]

Increasing the cpu doesnt mean it performs better in games,graphics actually is the key important.

An average i3 with a GTX960/380 or better can play games at high frames with good quality images @1080p

 

[GreiverBlade]

Increasing the cpu doesnt mean it performs better in games,graphics actually is the key important.

An average i3 with a GTX960/380 or better can play games at high frames with good quality images @1080p

another vote for the i3 ... indeed CPU influence mostly on minimal FPS rather than average or maximal (that's what i saw from going from a FX-6300 to a i5-4690K then a i5-6600K )

tho i disagree on the GPU as my GT860M shows that a GTX 750Ti is still quite capable, so would be a GTX950

altho if the OP can find a good price on a 960/380 and sell his 950 for a correct price, it's also an option.

 

[Devon68]

I am really disappointed in everybody. Most of you said that the GeForce GTX 950 Ti is not good for gaming, but most have missed the fact that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GTX 950 Ti. Maybe a GTX 950.
Regardless I do agree that the i3 is a pretty capable little cpu. You should change your gpu to a model that your power supply can handle.

 

[Vayra86]

I am really disappointed in everybody. Most of you said that the GeForce GTX 950 Ti is not good for gaming, but most have missed the fact that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GTX 950 Ti. Maybe a GTX 950.
Regardless I do agree that the i3 is a pretty capable little cpu. You should change your gpu to a model that your power supply can handle.

So what difference would the 5% theoretical performance make to any kind of advice?

 

[GreiverBlade]

I am really disappointed in everybody. Most of you said that the GeForce GTX 950 Ti is not good for gaming, but most have missed the fact that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GTX 950 Ti. Maybe a GTX 950.
Regardless I do agree that the i3 is a pretty capable little cpu. You should change your gpu to a model that your power supply can handle.

oh ... oh well so my 860m might aswell be slightly under the 950 the OP (that didn't answered or re posted since he started that thread) has, instead of way under ... ah whatever ...

950Ti with nvidia you'll never know ... after all they have a 760Ti 1.5gb ...

 

[peche]

my friend is running a i3 4330 paired with an GTX 660ti and have no problems so far, also runs 8GB DDR3 memory, quite interesting rig,

Regards,

 

[redeye]

An i3-6300 will be about 20% slower than the full fat i7... (The i3-6300 has 4MB cache, half that of the 8MB 6700) (in practice, on real games. Of course if you are x265 encoding it will be half as fast... As the 6700.



Your GPU will more limit you than the processor.

 

[cdawall]

An i3-6300 will be about 20% slower than the full fat i7... (The i3-6300 has 4MB cache, half that of the 8MB 6700) (in practice, on real games. Of course if you are x265 encoding it will be half as fast... As the 6700.

So how did you make those numbers up? Completely dependent on game there is no way you can say something will be 20% slower with literally no source based off of cache.

Here is the pentium G3258 vs the 4770K with and without overclocking. Notice how it makes no difference.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/6...niversary-cpu-gaming-performance/index10.html

 

[GreiverBlade]

So how did you make those numbers up? Completely dependent on game there is no way you can say something will be 20% slower with literally no source based off of cache.

Here is the pentium G3258 vs the 4770K with and without overclocking. Notice how it makes no difference.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/6...niversary-cpu-gaming-performance/index10.html

some i3 have HT which make them worth for gaming since for gaming a i5 make more sense than a i7 if budget limited so is a i3 over a i5, nonetheless if a game take advantage of more than 4 threads (RTS some MMO's and some other that you can count on one hand ) a i7 have some sense ...

yet for standard gaming a i3, provided he has HyperThreading, is technically good to go, but not a G3258 tho it has the advantage of the OC, albeit the fact that just to be a little safer i would prefer 2 core + HT over 2 core without, tho the G3258 is a fantastic budget CPU

if my HTPC mobo wasn't a H81 i would gladly test one for the laugh tho i can put a G3258/4590/4590T/4690/4690K i place of the 4130T, they would just be limited to 2.9ghz and no OC option (which is a turndown for the G3258/4690/4690K )

now i would like to wait to see what the op @CatMan9001 has to answer ... if he ever intend to look at that thread

 

[cdawall]

some i3 have HT which make them worth for gaming since for gaming a i5 make more sense than a i7 if budget limited so is a i3 over a i5, nonetheless if a game take advantage of more than 4 threads (RTS some MMO's and some other that you can count on one hand ) a i7 have some sense ...

Quite a few games don't address more than 2 threads and in those games that do are there any actual gains?

 

[GreiverBlade]

Quite a few games don't address more than 2 threads and in those games that do are there any actual gains?

exactly ... there is no gain in these few games indeed (or little sometime which is weird... I.E.: in some basic steam games i have disabling HT on my i3 actually make them run smoother ... )

 

[cdawall]

exactly ... there is no gain in these few games indeed (or little sometime which is weird... I.E.: in some basic steam games i have disabling HT on my i3 actually make them run smoother ... )

Hence my original comment to just buy a graphics card that can play games well.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Id be very suprised is an i3 was holding back a 950.i cant say since u dont mention wat i3, but the 950 is a lower end card,not to mention, i have an i3 power a livingroom pc with a gtx 970,and it runs great all day.
a true quad would be an upgrade, but not a deal chnger, mountains wont move aftrr the upgrade,cuz i alsohave a 4690k with a gtx970 too.

 

[cdawall]

Id be very suprised is an i3 was holding back a 950.i cant say since u dont mention wat i3, but the 950 is a lower end card,not to mention, i have an i3 power a livingroom pc with a gtx 970,and it runs great all day.
a true quad would be an upgrade, but not a deal chnger, mountains wont move aftrr the upgrade,cuz i alsohave a 4690k with a gtx970 too.

Nothing will change in the vast majority of games, but changing from a GTX950 to a 290/970/980/etc will.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Nothing will change in the vast majority of games, but changing from a GTX950 to a 290/970/980/etc will.

of course a GPU upgrade will make a diff.

but i wasnt speaking of GPU upgrades, i was speaking of CPU upgrades.