Help with CPU for light gaming

[freaktoysoldier]

I'm building a machine for some light gaming, nothing serious, but need some helping deciding whitch CPU to use.
I was initially divided between an FX-8350 or an i5-4440 as they are in the same price range in my country. But, despite the 8350 having better overall performance and overclockability (is that a word?), the 4440 seems to have better single-core performance, whitch, from what I've read, is better for gaming. I'm new at this and it's kind of confusing, really. If anyone could give me a hand, that'd be great.   

[Altaren]

I'm building a machine for some light gaming, nothing serious, but need some helping deciding whitch CPU to use.

I was initially divided between an FX-8350 or an i5-4440 as they are in the same price range in my country. But, despite the 8350 having better overall performance and overclockability (is that a word?), the 4440 seems to have better single-core performance, whitch, from what I've read, is better for gaming. I'm new at this and it's kind of confusing, really. If anyone could give me a hand, that'd be great.   

Youre correct thei5 is much better in single threaded performance which is indeed more important when it comes to gaming. Whats your budget?

A high end i3 is also a great option for light gaming, even some heavier tasks as well.

[Ketcchup]

i5 4440 all the way

[Dzzope]

i5 is better all-round gaming and general use.. you can then also go for a used i7 in a few years for a drop in upgrade...

 

If your rendering or using programs that will use many threads then the 8350 edges it.

[freaktoysoldier]

Youre correct thei5 is much better in single threaded performance which is indeed more important when it comes to gaming. Whats your budget?

A high end i3 is also a great option for light gaming, even some heavier tasks as well.

I was looking for something around 200ish dollars.

What about the coming DirectX 12? Won't that change things?

[DarkEnergy]

I was looking for something around 200ish dollars.

What about the coming DirectX 12? Won't that change things?

DirectX 12 will "supposedly" work in favor for the 8350 but I don't know by how much.

[Toughasdirt]

If you really are doing light gaming get an apu. I have an A10-6800k overclocked to 4.7 with a gtx 660 and get pretty decent fps in all games I play. Shadow of Mordor, Wolfenstein games, and all the rest are older. But if you really have the money definitely get an i5.

[slay english]

DirectX 12 will "supposedly" work in favor for the 8350 but I don't know by how much.

Even in games like bf4 that support the 8 core amd cpus the i5 is still a bit faster. 

[freaktoysoldier]

DirectX 12 will "supposedly" work in favor for the 8350 but I don't know by how much.

Well, AMD certainly seems to have its hopes high.

So you think the safer route is to go with the i5 for the single threaded performance?

[ubw]

Intel for gaming, an i3/i5 should be enough (i5 more than enough).

[SteveGrabowski0]

I'm building a machine for some light gaming, nothing serious, but need some helping deciding whitch CPU to use.

I was initially divided between an FX-8350 or an i5-4440 as they are in the same price range in my country. But, despite the 8350 having better overall performance and overclockability (is that a word?), the 4440 seems to have better single-core performance, whitch, from what I've read, is better for gaming. I'm new at this and it's kind of confusing, really. If anyone could give me a hand, that'd be great.   

 

What do you mean by light gaming? If you mean CS:GO, Minecraft, TF2, League of Legends, stuff like that, then both of those CPUs are wastes of money when those games can all be played well on any modern budget CPU like an 860k or Pentium G3258.

[freaktoysoldier]

What do you mean by light gaming? If you mean CS:GO, Minecraft, TF2, League of Legends, stuff like that, then both of those CPUs are wastes of money when those games can all be played well on any modern budget CPU like an 860k or Pentium G3258.

Well, that too, but also stuff like Fallout 3/NV, Oblivion, Borderlands, Bioshock. Nothing too demanding like an extremely modded Skyrim or The Witcher 3 though.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Well, that too, but also stuff like Fallout 3/NV, Oblivion, Borderlands, Bioshock. Nothing too demanding like an extremely modded Skyrim or The Witcher 3 though.

 

A dual core like a Pentium G3258 should play those really well, except maybe the Borderlands games (I have never played those so I have no idea). Even Bioshock Infinite played great on my Pentium G3258 at the 3.2 GHz stock, and by great I mean it didn't bottleneck my GTX 970 at all. Bioshock Infinite is extremely impressive for how well it runs on such low end CPUs. Skyrim out of the box gets bottlenecked by a dual core though, even at 4.4 GHz my G3258 couldn't keep up to lock a 60 fps framerate (constant dips into the 40s). But Oblivion should run like a monster on a G3258. A Pentium G3258 and a GTX 750 Ti would be pretty killer for those games without breaking the bank. But I'd go i5 if you're planning on Fallout 4.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Well, that too, but also stuff like Fallout 3/NV, Oblivion, Borderlands, Bioshock. Nothing too demanding like an extremely modded Skyrim or The Witcher 3 though.

Get the i5-4440 or 4460...it will last you longer.

[freaktoysoldier]

A dual core like a Pentium G3258 should play those really well, except maybe the Borderlands games (I have never played those so I have no idea). Even Bioshock Infinite played great on my Pentium G3258 at the 3.2 GHz stock, and by great I mean it didn't bottleneck my GTX 970 at all. Bioshock Infinite is extremely impressive for how well it runs on such low end CPUs. Skyrim out of the box gets bottlenecked by a dual core though, even at 4.4 GHz my G3258 couldn't keep up to lock a 60 fps framerate (constant dips into the 40s). But Oblivion should run like a monster on a G3258. A Pentium G3258 and a GTX 750 Ti would be pretty killer for those games without breaking the bank. But I'd go i5 if you're planning on Fallout 4.

Yeah, I get that and I actually considered that very CPU, but then I thought of future GPU and RAM upgrades and wanted to keep the CPU for a while, you know.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Yeah, I get that and I actually considered that very CPU, but then I thought of future GPU and RAM upgrades and wanted to keep the CPU for a while, you know.

 

You might also look at the i5-4590 then, you'd get a 300 MHz bump in clockspeed over the i5-4460 at the all cores turbo which newer games would run at. It doesn't sound like much, but it's almost 10%. Maybe the pricing is different in your country, but in the US it's usually on the order of 10% more expensive for that 10% bump. Core i5 is such an awesome CPU, especially for the price when you compare it to its competitors.

[freaktoysoldier]

You might also look at the i5-4590 then, you'd get a 300 MHz bump in clockspeed over the i5-4460 at the all cores turbo which newer games would run at. It doesn't sound like much, but it's almost 10%. Maybe the pricing is different in your country, but in the US it's usually on the order of 10% more expensive for that 10% bump. Core i5 is such an awesome CPU, especially for the price when you compare it to its competitors.

I looked it up and it's almost a 25% price difference, so that 10% bump wouldn't really be worth it.

You said to go for a lower end CPU. Would it be better to go for an i3 and a better GPU? I've swapped a few parts but never done a new build from scratch so it's kinda confusing.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I looked it up and it's almost a 25% price difference, so that 10% bump wouldn't really be worth it.

You said to go for a lower end CPU. Would it be better to go for an i3 and a better GPU? I've swapped a few parts but never done a new build from scratch so it's kinda confusing.

 

What GPU would you be looking at with the i3 vs the i5?