Witcher 3, upgrading CPU

CloudeKr · December 1, 2015

My old rig consisted of a Core 2 duo E8400 (I think, not too relevant) and the Asus 750ti OC GPU. That had Witcher 3 running at an unplayable 20+ fps at everything set at dirt low. I'm thinking that the 750ti couldn't play that much a role in that as it could run Bioshock Infinite at Ultra at about 60fps, so I'm guessing Witcher 3 was simply just a game that had high CPU requirements. So here's my question, would upgrading to an i5-6500 (which I will be) be enough to get Witcher onto 60 fps, or must I upgrade the GPU too to a 960? Will i5-6500 + 750ti be enough to run Witcher 3 at 60 fps at 1080?

Bazilias · December 1, 2015

My old rig consisted of a Core 2 duo E8400 (I think, not too relevant) and the Asus 750ti OC GPU. That had Witcher 3 running at an unplayable 20+ fps at everything set at dirt low. I'm thinking that the 750ti couldn't play that much a role in that as it could run Bioshock Infinite at Ultra at about 60fps, so I'm guessing Witcher 3 was simply just a game that had high CPU requirements. So here's my question, would upgrading to an i5-6500 (which I will be) be enough to get Witcher onto 60 fps, or must I upgrade the GPU too to a 960? Will i5-6500 + 750ti be enough to run Witcher 3 at 60 fps at 1080?

Go with an Intel Core i5 4460 with MSI AMD R9 380 4GB.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.75 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.89 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Micro Center)

Total: $560.62

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 09:58 EST-0500

CloudeKr · December 1, 2015

Go with an Intel Core i5 4460 with MSI AMD R9 380 4GB.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.75 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.89 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Micro Center)

Total: $560.62

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 09:58 EST-0500

Thanks so much for your response. Maybe I should have made it clear that the 6500 is probably a done deal. My dad's getting it and I have no obligations to tell him not to. I'd rather him get the i5-4590 as I see much more value in the Haswell generation. Oh well, but it's his money. Do you think "future-proofing" a system is a legitimate argument for getting the 6th gen? He believes getting the 6500 leaves room to upgrade to another chip that might use the same socket in the future, so we'd only need to buy one motherboard, as compared to if he had gotten a Haswell board and then had to get another one for the possible 7th gen CPUs. I find it unnecessary (the 4790K is probably better than anything I'll ever need). But back to the topic though.

Bazilias · December 1, 2015

Thanks so much for your response. Maybe I should have made it clear that the 6500 is probably a done deal. My dad's getting it and I have no obligations to tell him not to. I'd rather him get the i5-4590 as I see much more value in the Haswell generation. Oh well, but it's his money. Do you think "future-proofing" a system is a legitimate argument for getting the 6th gen? He believes getting the 6500 leaves room to upgrade to another chip that might use the same socket in the future, so we'd only need to buy one motherboard, as compared to if he had gotten a Haswell board and then had to get another one for the possible 7th gen CPUs. I find it unnecessary (the 4790K is probably better than anything I'll ever need). But back to the topic though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI B150 PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Micro Center)

Total: $585.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 10:08 EST-0500