minimum CPU for gaming

P4Clock · 7 Sep 2014 at 22:28

Doing a build for a friend on a very low budget, so i want to know whats the minimum CPU you can get away with for gaming.

only interested in real CPU's not APU's
can you game on an FX-4300 or i3-4150, or can you go lower to Pentium?

What would be bottom budget CPU to go for

mickyflinn · 7 Sep 2014 at 22:34

Pentium G3258 if you overclock will give good performance.

jamiehavok · 7 Sep 2014 at 23:52

yes any haswell based pentium so overclocable anniversary would be a good choice, with a mid range gpu like a radeon 265, or nvidia 750ti makes for a good budget gaming build, with most games playable on medium/high 1080p

anthony566 · 8 Sep 2014 at 00:33

P4Clock said:
Doing a build for a friend on a very low budget, so i want to know whats the minimum CPU you can get away with for gaming.

only interested in real CPU's not APU's
can you game on an FX-4300 or i3-4150, or can you go lower to Pentium?

What would be bottom budget CPU to go for

Yes you can game on a FX4300 if you are gaming on a budget do you already have any parts ??

MrMD · 8 Sep 2014 at 00:47

Definitely go for the Pentium G3258 if its a fresh budget build.

Overclocked it easily outperforms I3's and in some scenarios will match I5's.It is the best Value CPU on the market.

Its crazy good

P4Clock · 8 Sep 2014 at 07:58

No there is no parts right now, the old system he as is an Pentium D. guy wants a new system as his xbox gave in and dont want a new xbox one.

so if i went with a G3258 -> 8gb ram -> R9 270. that would give future upgrade options to an i5 on the 1150 board but most important in would game right now?

jamiehavok · 8 Sep 2014 at 08:41

P4Clock said:
No there is no parts right now, the old system he as is an Pentium D. guy wants a new system as his xbox gave in and dont want a new xbox one.

so if i went with a G3258 -> 8gb ram -> R9 270. that would give future upgrade options to an i5 on the 1150 board but most important in would game right now?

yes i know a guy with a similar build except he has an older pentium, he can run most games on high, sometimes medium.
interesting vid on cpu bottlenecking! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAgpvWc4VBM

P4Clock · 8 Sep 2014 at 09:48

Thanks for the advice,
What mother board would work with this set up

Martini1991 · 8 Sep 2014 at 11:27

I'd probably never pick an FX4300 over any modern Intel system for a gaming PC, but I'd want to upgrade that Pentium sooner rather than later.

P4Clock · 8 Sep 2014 at 18:41

Martini1991 said:
I'd probably never pick an FX4300 over any modern Intel system for a gaming PC, but I'd want to upgrade that Pentium sooner rather than later.

the upgrade will be latter, do you think the Pentium is the wrong choice