What CPU would work best for gaming?

[UnknownGamer132]

Hello! So I have a AMD FX-8320 @ 4.5gHz (overclocked from 3.5gHz base clock), and I do not get as good performance as I would hope for in some games (H1Z1, Battlefield, etc..), and I have been debating on wanting to switch to an intel cpu (i5 or i7) that would be good for gaming but do not have alot of knowledge around intel, and even with the different types of motherboards and RAM needed for it. I am willing to spend somewhere below $400 if possible? (I also have a Club3D R9 280x for my gpu which could be a bottleneck but I dunno) Any help will be appreciated!!

[Crunchy Dragon]

If you can grab a cheap Core i5-4690K or even a Core i7-4790K and a compatible board, do that and reuse your current memory and GPU. And an R9 280X wouldn't be a bottleneck.

[3 Lions]

Go for the i5 8400 and wait for B360 boards to come out. 

[m0k]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

If you can grab a cheap Core i5-4690K or even a Core i7-4790K and a compatible board, do that and reuse your current memory and GPU. And an R9 280X wouldn't be a bottleneck.

that would be ideal

and with the money you saved you can look forward to upgrading other parts of your computer sooner than later, like a new GPU, SSD etc

[Silver47]

26 minutes ago, UnknownGamer132 said:

I am willing to spend somewhere below $400 if possible?

I'd say buy a used Core i5 4670k or 4690k and a compatible Z87 or Z97 chipset mainboard. They can be obtained pretty cheap these days but still have a ton of performance in them, Haswell and Devil's Canyon have very similar (even slightly better) ipc values than Ryzen and can be oc'd higher. These two chips are the way to go these days if your on a budget and don't mind buying used.

A used Core i5 4690k will cost you around 150€ and capable, upper-midrange Z87 or Z97 mainboards can be had for about 100€, so well within your budget, granted the prices are similar in the states (or where ever you live).

38 minutes ago, UnknownGamer132 said:

(I also have a Club3D R9 280x for my gpu which could be a bottleneck but I dunno)

I don't think your gpu is a bottleneck for 1080p gaming yet, at least if you don't crank the settings all the way that is.

40 minutes ago, UnknownGamer132 said:

and even with the different types of motherboards and RAM needed for it

For a Core i5 4690k/4670k you would be able to use the RAM from your old build, since the Z87/97 chipsets use the same kind of memory as your AM3+ mainboard did (both use DDR3).

[mankeez]

I would (obviously) recommend a 7700K, but if you're looking for other options, 7th generation core i5s are ok/good and I personally like the 4790K. It overclocks great and it's temps are low.

[SteveGrabowski0]

nm