Upgrade for Gaming on a Budget

[Solthas]

Thanks for the clarification. Uh... in reference to the question about cooling, specifically should I have to worry about a CPU fan/hearsink?

EDIT: Thanks, just wanted to make sure.

 

[PP Mguire]

As I pointed out a few posts ago, cooling shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Solthas]

And somehow I just realised that were I to intend to upgrade the processor to an i5 or an i7 eventually, when they were lower in price, the only way for it to save money would be for them to drop by over $130, which seems a little unlikely.

So in that case, were I to upgrade in the near future, it would be better for me to just buy the higher level processor to begin with, wouldn't it?

Or is it that the i3 is really good enough for basically anything I'll need it for? It just depends on how much I'm willing to put into the setup, but spending less in the long run would be worthwhile it seems.

 

[PP Mguire]

I have a few friends running i3s as every day rigs just fine. I mean, it's literally about 10x better than the X2. If you plan on doing heavy video editing or something like that and it matters then I would consider getting the i5. You don't need to buy the best one. An i5 4430 is only 60 bucks more currently than the i3 3220. You'd just have to get a B85 board instead of the B75 which should be the same amount of money.