Budget gaming processor
 

I'm looking to buy a new processor for my pc with the intent of increasing gaming power! Even if by a little! Obviously I will have to buy a new mobo due to the change in socket! I currently have a q6600! I have a 7750 gpu! I am on a budget but flexible too! Of about £110. But as I said flexible!! So if you could recommend the best processor for the sort of price! I have looked myself but am stuck at picking the best! I'm gonna be buying from scan . Co. UK or ebuyer. Co. UK!

Cheers in advance

Save up and get an i5-3570K. Probably close to £150 / $225.

Tom's Hardware > Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: April 2013

What is your budget for CPU, mobo, and ram? How many gigs of ram do you want?

Your CPU is not limiting your gaming, the video card is.

Budget for cpu mobo and ram is about 300ish..but as I say I am pretty flexible!! Is my gpu no good?? Thanks for your help

I have 8gb ram at the moment

As well just quickly I don't play really high end games! Just mid range! Just wanna be able to play them as fast as possible!

Your GPU is good for what it is, but it *IS* a low end card.

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Hello again, am literally just about to order the components you suggest 'glc' is there any leeway on the motherboard? is there a slightly cheaper one that is just as good or slightly lower quality! I dont want to cut any corners on the build but, I am just enquiring! :) Cheers

They only recommend proven products but you can research on a B75 motherboard if you want to go cheaper.

How much cheaper?

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Before you buy let me ask you a few questions. What resolution do you game at, what are your most commonly played games, and what power supply is in your rig right now?

The reason I ask is because the q6600 you are currently using is not a bad processor, it will run most games just fine. The q6600 is pretty close to the amd x4 645 AnandTech | Bench - CPU
and that processor was compared to several high end modern cpu's with a 7970(670/680 like speed) to check for bottlenecking.
Radeon HD 7970 CPU scaling performance review - Introduction

As long as your playing at a higher res than 1600x1200 you should be fine with the cpu you have for a little while longer. I would suggest you invest in a modern mid tier gpu from your favorite manufacturer.

great reply birddog_61!

My resolution is 1680x1050 for games. Is this good enough?
Admittedly I know the Q6600 isnt a bad processor but was just looking to make my pc as fast as possible! I bought an SSD today to contain my OS and the main games that I play. I have a Corsair GS800. Any good? I am not like a hardcore gamer!! My most played games are the sims 3, sim city. basically any game like that I love!! BUT.. i would like to try out assassins creed 3! I have the q6600 processor at 2.8ghz. (overclocked slightly) I have 8gb RAM, A 120GB SSD and 360gb Seagate HDD!! I just want to be able to play the games like the ones I have suggested at a good frame rate, no lag etc!! :)
Thanks again and I look forward to your reply.
Harry

You game at what is considered a low resolution these days, the most common is 1920x1080. The reason that the lower the resolution the more you notice processor performance is that any mid level modern card should be able to play any game on max with out having to utilize 100% of the cards potential at 1680x1050. If you know how to overclock (it sounds like you have done a little) you can pretty much solve your issues by upping your clock speed to 3.0ghz+, depending on the cpu cooler you are using this shouldn't be an issue. What sort of FPS are you getting right now on your games? What % gpu usage are you seeing in game?