Best CPU for the R9 290

At this point, it's Intel vs AMD.

Intel will usually be stronger, but it's also more expensive.  The FX-8350 is still a very good chip as well, and is a monster if the application can utilize 8 threads.

I'm personally an Intel fanboy, so I'm trying to give you the facts.  Look up what programs you are going to use and see if they are multithreaded well.  If they are, go AMD.  If not, Intel.

8320 or 4670k. You honestly don't need 4770k or 8350 if all you are doing is gaming and word. If you were doing video editing or something similar then the flagship cpu would be better. Save that money and put it elsewhere in your build.

honestly for the price im leaning towards the 8350, little bit more expensive but far cheaper then the i5 or i7 and i dont mind the bit extra on it.

+1 a good summary.

I would say an i7-4770k if you dont mind throwing down the cash, but if you want to be reasonable.

Overclocking: i5-4670k

Not overclocking: Xeon E3-1230 v3

The AMD 8350 is great for budget builds, but if you got the money, go for the intel right now.

 

fx 8320 with a good mobo. if you really want the 8350 fine but with a fx 8320 you could buy a better motherboard or a better cpu cooler. gigabyte 990fx ud3 r4 is pretty good. jayz2cents did a review of that. m5a97 evo r2.0/m5a99x evo r2.0/m5ag99fx pro r2.0 looks also good. you don't need a better motherboard for just gaming.

The AMD options right now are not as good as the intel ones.. the i5-4670k is better than the 8350 except for very intensive 8 thread tasks. That includes overclocks and most 8 thread tasks (lesser intensity). If you are gaming and have the money, then get the i5. I would also recommend an asrock z87 extreme 3 or extreme 4. Asrock makes great boards that are reliable and they are usually cheaper than Asus.

The amd's really only shine at higher overclocks as well... not saying they are bad, but if you want the amd to really compete with the i5 single core performance then you need to overclock it quite a bit, and it uses more power.

The 8350 is better than the i5-3570k, but not the i5-4670k