Hey.
I've been liking the build blueprint so far, but I'm stuck between the unlocked Pentium G3258 with an aftermarket cooler vs. the Athlon X4 760K (also with a cooler). I like the 4 cores of the X4 760K, but the G3258 overclocks massively and beats the Athlon in every single god damn test. Which is better and why? If you can, cite some sources for me to view.
Thanks!
It really depends on the game/application. Any application that can truly utilize more than 2 cores will perform better than the G3258. Most games still don't use more than 2 cores primarily, which is why the G3258 is beating the 760K. Things could be changing, though, as a few games recently came out that wouldn't even start up without a quad core CPU(though it was because the developers made the game check for a quad core not that it absolutely wouldn't run on a dual core. There was a mod that allowed them to run on the G3258 and they performed fine).
I was looking at the G3258 for a budget build, and I think you should be fine, especially because if you absolutely must, you can upgrade to any of the best Intel CPU's out there.
Bump.
This is a growing trend with new games (its about time) http://www.pcper.com/news/Processors/Far-Cry-4-Does-Not-Support-Dual-Core-Processors-Budget-Landscape-Shifting
So if you are looking to play games go with a 4 core if you are just looking at something cheap to have some overclocking fun with go with the dual core.
G3258 + a 212 hyper.
Nice thing about going that rout is that you can upgrade your CPU later down the road when all the "must have latest and greatest" throw away their 4770Ks etc.
Agreed. Get the 3258 now, and upgrade to a 4690k/4790k in the future.