Which budget gpu?

[yoshiii]

Hello,

 

I am building a comuter for someone.  They will use the computer for office work, entertainment, pictures, movies, etc. Maybe some light gaming, I don't know what kind.

 

Which would be a better gpu, a GTX 750, GTX950, or a GTX 960?

 

I am going to buy a i3 based computer.

[comicsansms]

R9 280, 285, 380 or 280x!!!

[Muz]

950 or if you got the dosh, 380

[HumbleMobo]

Hello,

 

I am building a comuter for someone.  They will use the computer for office work, entertainment, pictures, movies, etc. Maybe some light gaming, I don't know what kind.

 

Which would be a better gpu, a GTX 750, GTX950, or a GTX 960?

 

I am going to buy a i3 based computer.

750Ti is optimal for this build.  With a mail in rebate they get as low as 104.99$.  The aim of the 750ti*according to most reviewers and Nvidia* was a GPU that could update or be used in a simple system.  So go with the 750ti Asus model on newegg to get that bad ass 104.99$ price tag.  You can play games like BF4 on lowest settings, I think maybe even medium on this card.

[The Dragon]

r7 370

[HumbleMobo]

Hello,

 

I am building a comuter for someone.  They will use the computer for office work, entertainment, pictures, movies, etc. Maybe some light gaming, I don't know what kind.

 

Which would be a better gpu, a GTX 750, GTX950, or a GTX 960?

 

I am going to buy a i3 based computer.

Also ditch the i3, I know I'll get heat for this(pun intended) but the AMD X4 860K out performs the i3 just slightly and I don't know if this CPU is going to be overclocked but it's stock clocks are slightly higher than that of the i3 which, btw can't be over clocked!  It sucks you cant OC an i3

[HumbleMobo]

r7 370

Good suggestion I acually chose this first, but then I realized it's for really light gaming so you cant go wrong with a 105$ card the 370 is 50$ more expensive.  But good call

[yoshiii]

Also ditch the i3, I know I'll get heat for this(pun intended) but the AMD X4 860K out performs the i3 just slightly and I don't know if this CPU is going to be overclocked but it's stock clocks are slightly higher than that of the i3 which, btw can't be over clocked!  It sucks you cant OC an i3

 

Thank you

 

But the computer is not a gaming computer.  I want to build something that they can use and use for other things later if they decide too. 

[HumbleMobo]

Thank you

 

But the computer is not a gaming computer.  I want to build something that they can use and use for other things later if they decide too. 

Yes, but the AMD CPU is just slightly better

[HumbleMobo]

Thank you

 

But the computer is not a gaming computer.  I want to build something that they can use and use for other things later if they decide too. 

Even if it isn't, it's full speed is better than the i3 and you get WAAAAYYYY more value

[GDRRiley]

Also ditch the i3, I know I'll get heat for this(pun intended) but the AMD X4 860K out performs the i3 just slightly and I don't know if this CPU is going to be overclocked but it's stock clocks are slightly higher than that of the i3 which, btw can't be over clocked!  It sucks you cant OC an i3

No the I-3 is better.

[HumbleMobo]

No the I-3 is better.

No it's not, from personal experience I thought the i3 would be an upgrade even if I couldn't OC...I was wrong and I just found some benchmarks lol

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4130-vs-AMD-Athlon-X4-860K

[HumbleMobo]

No the I-3 is better.

I had an 860k then switched to the i3, the change in speed wasn't atrocious but it was noticeable plus I had to wait till I could get a i5 to OC bummer!

[Prysin]

I had an 860k then switched to the i3, the change in speed wasn't atrocious but it was noticeable plus I had to wait till I could get a i5 to OC bummer!

you can get a FX6300 for somewhere between Athlon 860k and i3 price... The FX is better then the athlon any day, as it OCs better... i have a 860k (sort of, i got a 7870k APU) and i had a FX 8320... FX gets better cinebench results with less OC.... the tradeoff of the increased IPC of the Steamroller CPUs are worse OC scaling and lower OC headroom...

honestly, if you can afford it

FX 6300

ASrock 970M PRO3 mobo

R9 285 GPU

that setup should play any game at good settings and run any program really well. While the FX is slower then i3 in single core, it absolutely destroys the i3 in multi core, hell it gets close to a i5 in multi core....

[yoshiii]

you can get a FX6300 for somewhere between Athlon 860k and i3 price... The FX is better then the athlon any day, as it OCs better... i have a 860k (sort of, i got a 7870k APU) and i had a FX 8320... FX gets better cinebench results with less OC.... the tradeoff of the increased IPC of the Steamroller CPUs are worse OC scaling and lower OC headroom...

honestly, if you can afford it

FX 6300

ASrock 970M PRO3 mobo

R9 285 GPU

that setup should play any game at good settings and run any program really well. While the FX is slower then i3 in single core, it absolutely destroys the i3 in multi core, hell it gets close to a i5 in multi core....

Will this be good for watching movies, office work, streaming movies, music etc. with the lower IPC?

[Prysin]

Will this be good for watching movies, office work, streaming movies, music etc. with the lower IPC?

should be pretty much just as good.

If you are in doubt, the FX is unlocked so you CAN overclock it. The board i mentioned can manage around 4.4 GHz at best... so if you aim for 4.1 to 4.2GHz then the board should be more then capable.

The lower ipc is well... there is a difference all right, in some applications the FX may be 1 or 2 seconds slower then a i3 in worst case scenario.

In gaming, highly depending on the game though, the FX can be faster or slower.

If game uses 4 threads or less, the FX will perform slightly worse.

If game uses 4 threads or more, the FX will perform equally or better.

If you OC the FX, it will perform equally or better in most scenarios.

[yoshiii]

should be pretty much just as good.

If you are in doubt, the FX is unlocked so you CAN overclock it. The board i mentioned can manage around 4.4 GHz at best... so if you aim for 4.1 to 4.2GHz then the board should be more then capable.

The lower ipc is well... there is a difference all right, in some applications the FX may be 1 or 2 seconds slower then a i3 in worst case scenario.

In gaming, highly depending on the game though, the FX can be faster or slower.

If game uses 4 threads or less, the FX will perform slightly worse.

If game uses 4 threads or more, the FX will perform equally or better.

If you OC the FX, it will perform equally or better in most scenarios.

What about the old tech that the AM3+ boards have?  It doesn't have PCI-E 3 or any of the other modern features.

[Prysin]

What about the old tech that the AM3+ boards have?  It doesn't have PCI-E 3 or any of the other modern features.

no GPU in existence today can saturate a 16x PCIe gen2... not even close...

the benefits of having PCIe gen3 over PCIe gen2 in gaming equates to 1-2FPS at best.... 1-2 FPS will not be the difference between playable and unplayable.

For instance, AMD has validated their newer GPUs that uses Crossfire over the PCIe bus, to be fully able to run off 8x PCIe Gen2....

 

AM3+ boards do have some neat features that cheap intel boards does not always have... often they come with a few more fan headers then intel boards, they often come with 2x PS2 connection (great if you want zero input latency mouse and keyboard), they often come with more PCIe lanes in general (cuz AMD doesnt have the PCIe controller onboard the CPU, its actually in the mobo, so they often has crazy amounts of PCIe gen2 lanes even in lower end boards)....

 

AM3+ also often support MORE memory then intel boards (more DIMM slots and or GB capacity)

 

Most AMD boards support crossfire, A LOT of intel boards does not support crossfire or SLI.... which is a bummer....

 

 

AM3+ is old, but it is not dysfunctional by any means. There will be no new CPUS, so next time you are going to upgrade you will need both CPU and a motherboard, maybe even RAM if you decide to roll with a Skylake or Zen setup... Therefore, it is not wise to invest too much money into FX...

 

For a medium power rig, a FX6300 or 6350 will be pretty adequate for now and should be for the next year or two at best.... but mind you, there is a limit to how long this setup are going to last, that goes for a i3 setup too....

Now consider this. an i3 + dirt cheap shit mobo costs 145 USD or so.... a FX + a dirt cheap mobo costs 145 USD or so.... same cost really. There will be a few idiots on these forums claiming you MUST have a aftermarket cooler to use a FX chip and to be honest with you, no, no you do NOT. AMDs stock cooler can be a bit loud sometimes, but it is WAY more then capable of cooling their CPUs.

 

 

It comes down to choice though, while the FX is starting to show its age and low IPC, it is still adequate for casual gaming. Do not expect 200FPS @ 1080p... that will not happen. But 60FPS, that is doable in almost every title aslong as you got a GPU that is capable of pushing the pixels...

 

In all honesty, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. The i3 has its benefits and downsides, as does the FX. It is simply up to you to wheigh these pro's and con's against eachother before making a decision....

 

as a summary:

FX 6300/6350

Pros:

- More actual cores, performs better in programs that support more then 4 threads

- Lower end motherboards often is more feature rich then lower end intel boards

- Overclockable

 

Cons:

- No real upgrade path. A upgrade would normally require both a new CPU and motherboard

- Low IPC (can be countered by higher clock speeds to some extent)

- Low Single core performance

 

Core i3 4xxx

Pros:

- Strong IPC

- Strong Single core performance, will perform well even if a game or program can only use one core/thread.

- Good upgrade path

- More expensive boards have features you will not find on any present AMD board.

 

Cons:

- Only two real cores, it suffers from fluctuations in games that uses a lot of cores and CPU resources.

- It is relatively expensive for what it is, considering a locked i5 is only 160 USD, but is more then twice as capable in terms of gaming and general CPU performance.....

- Lower end boards may lack features compared to equally priced AM3+ boards

[SteveGrabowski0]

The 960 is the best GPU to pair with an i3. Stay away from AMD since their DX11 drivers overwhelm Core i3s.

[norritt]

Hello,

 

I am building a comuter for someone.  They will use the computer for office work, entertainment, pictures, movies, etc. Maybe some light gaming, I don't know what kind.

 

Which would be a better gpu, a GTX 750, GTX950, or a GTX 960?

 

I am going to buy a i3 based computer.

The best GPU in terms of performance is the GTX960 out of these. So if the price difference doesn't matter tak this one if you want to save money the 950 should do well for *light* gaming too.

 

Also a good chioce to buy i3. Don't, listen to people telling you to buy an FX-6300, even a small i3 like the 4330 will completely wipe the floor not only with an FX-6300 but even with an FX-8350 or a Pheno.m X4 980BE. So don't buy AMD CPUs they are slow, outdated and inefficient and more expensive than Intel CPUs delivering the same speed. I.e. the FX-8350 goes For ~170€ in Europe but is slower than an i3-4330 for 140€