A more powerful processor won't actually boost your performance at higher resolutions; if anything, it’s the opposite—as you crank up the resolution, the CPU becomes less relevant, and the performance gap between different processors starts to shrink significantly.
Personally, I’m pulling the trigger on the i7. It gives me peace of mind knowing I have the top-tier CPU for this socket right out of the gate. It's essentially future-proofing my rig for the most demanding titles and ensuring I can squeeze every bit of potential out of my GTX 1070, no matter what games come our way down the road.
If you're pairing a GTX 1070, I would absolutely push for an i7 (or even a Xeon) when putting together a new PC build. At this price point, a difference of a few dozen bucks isn't a dealbreaker to jump up to an i7; in fact, it can actually end up being cheaper than trying to build an overclocked i5 setup.
Similarly, if someone already owns an i5 and just wants to upgrade their GPU, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the GTX 1070. My advice changes depending on whether you're starting from scratch or upgrading existing gear—when building a brand new system, that budget almost always makes the move to an i7 a smart play.
If you agree, there's a list on the side you can just copy—no need to mess around with creating an image. 😁
Alexander Moore67
That Xeon is basically a direct competitor to the i5-4590, which isn't exactly a great value for $600 (you could grab an i5 4460 for $466 instead). You probably meant the E3 1231 v3.
Yeah, finding a 95W Q9550 is pretty tough around here. You're better off hunting down a 945; they've popped up before, so just scour the marketplace sections on the forums.
The GPU isn't exactly a beast for gaming, but for basic 2D work, it gets the job done just fine.
Let me tell you, if you took a PC built around an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 with at least 4GB of RAM and paired it with a decent dedicated graphics card, it would absolutely crush that APU in gaming performance.
Why not just sell the old rig and put that cash toward a modern PC instead?
It’s pretty straightforward—the higher the count on the Intel Core 2 Quad series, the better you're doing (since X4 means quad-core). Just make sure your motherboard actually supports it (check if it says N/A next to the BIOS version); for your specific board, you can only run the 95W versions. Honestly, there's no point in shelling out more than $100 for these CPUs, though maybe $117 if you happen to track down a 95W Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550.
My assumption is he just picked this up recently—meaning he’s got almost his full warranty left—and it's the 4GB model. Based on the current price list, an RX 460 4GB is sitting around 1300-$467 according to the latest
I haven't spent much time looking at overseas shops in the United States, but honestly, it never seemed worth the hassle—it always ended up costing more than just buying locally. If you're looking at Germany, though, some high-end builds can actually be a great deal, provided you aren't too worried about handling a warranty claim abroad.
What Robert Rodriguez2 put together here is actually solid. It’s such a good build that I wouldn't even bother looking at used parts. My only tweak would be swapping in a Fractal Design case, assuming that's an option, just to get better airflow and a sturdier GPU bracket, and maybe grabbing this CPU to save a little cash—that should easily offset the extra cost of the case.
It’s possible you're looking at the admin view, where the shopping cart displays the highest price point—like the interest rate and such—rather than the actual cash amount.
$59 It’s actually pricier than the 4GB reference models we used to see
One guy snagged the 8GB version through his company for $762 from Best Buy
That's just the MSRP including tax, before any markup. At the end of the day, it all comes down to whatever discount the retailer gets from the manufacturer and what kind of margin they decide to slap on the product.