which CPU to match a 380?

[Bosstralia]

Hey guys, I will mainly be using my new rig for less demanding games (lol,wow), triple a titles (BF4), and movies in that order at 1080p 60FPS. I am expecting to get only 1-2 years before upgrading at least gpu & cpu. My budget is around $600 and I've settled on the R9 380. So my question is which CPU should i go with? I'd prefer intel, i thought i5-6400 but paired with 380 it seems like id be waisting a lot of its potential, so should i just go with the i3 6100?

 

[Starelementpoke]

1 minute ago, Bosstralia said:

Hey guys, I will mainly be using my new rig for less demanding games (lol,wow), triple a titles (BF4), and movies in that order at 1080p 60FPS. I am expecting to get only 1-2 years before upgrading at least gpu & cpu. My budget is around $600 and I've settled on the R9 380. So my question is which CPU should i go with? I'd prefer intel, i thought i5-6400 but paired with 380 it seems like id be waisting a lot of its potential, so should i just go with the i3 6100?

 

At minimum? Not factoring upgrade path, a slightly oced 860k. Optimally? An I3 from at least haswell or above.

[Rodniz]

I would take the i3. Definitely skylake rout, since u will get the best possible upgrade path for the future. (thats what u wanted, huh?)

 

I would go with an crossfire motherboard, so u can slam in another 380 if it isnt enough. (Dont judge me on that, i like crossfire. Never had any problems)

[Yoinkerman]

6400 all the way, 4 real cores is great

[Enderman]

there is no wasted potential

both the CPU and GPU contribute to performance

a better CPU will still give you extra performance

[don_svetlio]

i5

[mhonor]

At a $600 budget IMO it does not make sense to go with a Skylake build. If you could save a bit of money then an i5-4460 would be ideal, paired with a cheap H97 mobo and DDR3. It's still a plenty powerful quad core CPU and will pair well with your 380. 

 

Yes, with a skylake i3 you get an upgrade path, but consider: if you spend $125 on the i3-6100 now, and then maybe $200-250 on something higher end in a couple years, that's a lot of cash. You could have gotten a 6500 or even 6600K which would serve you well for many years to come. I guess what I am saying is your CPU should last you longer than 1-2 years. 

[Ansau]

For a 380 you will start to need an i5 4460/6400. I wouldn't recommend an i3, games start to push 4 true cores easily once you play with high/ultra settings, which a 380 is aimed for.

[ShiftHitTheFan]

3 minutes ago, Ansau said:

For a 380 you will start to need an i5 4460/6400. I wouldn't recommend an i3, games start to push 4 true cores easily once you play with high/ultra settings, which a 380 is aimed for.

Agree, I5 is the best way. Most games require more than 2 cores. 

[Bosstralia]

So im not sure if I should start new thread or not...But should i consider any AMD processors?

[Demonking]

11 minutes ago, Bosstralia said:

So im not sure if I should start new thread or not...But should i consider any AMD processors?

Yeah Zen, but its not out so no Intel skylake.

[SteveGrabowski0]

i3s couldn't handle R9 380s in Haswell, i5s could. Maybe Skylake's i3 is powerful enough, but I'd get an i5 to be on the safe side.

[Nena Trinity]

Anything that is not a dual-core!

[jc980]

i3 6100 if you can't find a good deal with i5 Haswell CPUs(ideally the i5 4460/4590).