Best CPU and motherboard combo for $250

[matthan1]

Im building my first gaming pc and I already have an R9 270, a kingston ssd, 8gb of corsair vengeance RAM, an evga 600w psu, and an NZXT s340. All I have left to choose is the CPU and motherboard and im torn. Im also trying to strictly stay below $250. Im thinking an i5 4460 and a motherboard around $60 but im not sure if thats what i should do. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help in advance.

[LesGensMentales]

If you live in the US and you're relatively close to a MicroCenter they offer good bundles for CPU + Mobo.

 

AMD Bundles - Pretty sure the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 + FX 8350 is the best value for the money there

 

Intel Bundles - 4690K + Asrock Extreme4 is also pretty good but slightly out of your budget. Could be worth it though to spend a little bit more.

[Faceman]

Forget AMD.  If you're building a computer for gaming, you want Intel.

 

If you live near a Microcenter, an i5-4690k + Z97 is going to be available for around $260-$280.  If you don't live near a Microcenter, then a locked i5 is what you want.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JDWy8d
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JDWy8d/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($71.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $251.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-22 22:58 EST-0500

 

or, if you aren't afraid of mail in rebates, this is an amazing deal that will lend itself better to future upgrades.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Nfwh99
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Nfwh99/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A (NFC Express Edition) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $240.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-22 22:59 EST-0500

[matthan1]

Thanks for the help. The baltimore microcenter is around half an hour from where I live so it looks like ill be making that trip to get that deal on the 4690k bundle.

[Faceman]

Thanks for the help. The baltimore microcenter is around half an hour from where I live so it looks like ill be making that trip to get that deal on the 4690k bundle.

Excellent choice.  If you can, spring for the i5-4690k + Asus Z97-AR.  Should total about $270.

[dev893]

Good to see there are still so many intel fanboys in this forum. Go with what fits your budget there are a lot of Biased people in this forum. Honestly AMD does just fine I have a cheap AMD A6-5400K @4ghz paired with a radeon R7-260x (1gb version) and still average 50fps at 1080p high settings on BF3 My CPU is definatley lacking the power to run the game as it Bottle necks the video card but as I said it is cheap and old. if you were to go with an Athlon X4 or a A8 you would have good performance. Micro center looks like they have some good bundles for both AMD and Intel