• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Better for Gaming?

fourdegrees11

fourdegrees11

Senior member
i3-2120 vs Phenom II 980 or 1100T. An i3-2120 with a budget board (MSI H61M-E33?) will cost me $200, or $10-30 (negligible) more then the best AM3 chips. Which would be a more worthwhile upgrade for gaming at 1680x1050? I also plan on getting a 6870 or GTX560, or possibly waiting for the 7000 series gpus.
 
It really depends on the game. The i3-2120 will be better in single-threaded games, but could definitely show it's age faster than the 980 or 1100T. That said, if you get the 2120 now, with a MB that supports IB, you could drop-in a budget quad later on for little net cost.
 
Just put a x6 1090T in my main PC. Great value if you are on a budget. I'd go 2500K on Z68 if the budget can be stretched though.
 
x6 is not the best for gaming, unless you plan to overclock a lot. Clock-speed is king for gaming, and the x4 will start higher.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you are gaming and not overclocking, you are leaving a lot of performance off the table. Just got in an x6 1090t, hit 3.8GHz 2600NB out the gate on a Hyper 212+. If I had the next step up in cooling I'm pretty confident it would get 4-4.2GHz at comfortable temps. By all means get a x4 955 or 960T if it means a beefier GPU, just make sure to get at least the easy overclock out of them.

Thing I like about the x6 is I can leave other stuff running and still have 4 cores for gaming.
 
fourdegrees11 said:
With Skyrim in mind, does anyone know if the hyper threading on the i3 gives quad core performance in games? They list a quad core as a "recommended" component.

http://www.systemrequirements.in/system-requirements-for-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim.html
Click to expand...

i3-2100 3.1GHz performs as well as Phenom II X4 910 2.6GHz in heavily multithreaded tasks like Cinebench multi-threaded test, see here. Since this make it faster than many quad-core phenoms and athlons, and since games are not nearly as dependent on multithreaded performance as Cinebench, I'd say it's easily powerful enough to count as 'recommended'.
 
Last edited:
Get the i3.It consumes 1/2 of the power consumed by pIIs,it gives you an upgrade path,and it just plain faster in video games,it has a huge advantage in 2-threaded games and it is still ahead in games that support 3 or more cores.
 
Not much of an upgrade path with a H61 budget board, need a Z68 for potential K series and IB.

Also, most of US shouldn't sweat the power difference especially as gaming is a power user category. It's like running an incadescent bulb versus a CFL. OMG my power bill is $4 higher!
 
Last edited:
Vesku said:
Not much of an upgrade path with a H61 budget board, need a Z68 for potential K series and IB.

Also, most of US shouldn't sweat the power difference. It's like running an incadescent bulb versus a CFL. OMG my power bill is $4 higher!
Click to expand...

h61 budget boards by asus and gigabyte will support IB.Who cares if it won't overclock,i bet the cheapest IB i5 will be plenty fast.As i see it if you have the money right now you should go for an i5,if you can't,i think that i3s are a better choice compared to phenom IIs.
 
i3 preferably in a p67 or z67 board is the best route.
i3 in an h67 board is next best


This way IF you need more CPU power, you can upgrade to i5-2400 or an i7 chip, and nothing else needs to be done!

But stock the i3 IMHO blows all AMD chips away.
 
You can upgrade to i5-2400 on a h67 board too... P67/Z68 only needed if you plan to upgrade to K-series.
 
I would not recommend a motherboard that can't handle the K-series. Future value offsets the price difference, imo. I'd go so far as to say 2100 with Z68 over 2400 on H series, if those are the only choices. Can sell the 2100 and get a nice gaming chip when extra PC money is available.
 
You have a Phenom II X3 720, don't bother with either of those CPUs, just get a video card. For your resolution a HD 6870 is very good.
 
Would you be willing to spend a little more for the 2500k+mobo combos? The performance difference is immense and less then 50-75 more then what you are planning on spending.
 
fourdegrees11 said:
Alright I guess I can just start looking at $250 video cards
Click to expand...

Or you can simply get a $150 GPU and save your cash for the next upgrade to IB. The X3 and a 6850 will be a great system for 16x10 gaming. Your resolution doesn't demand anything more at this time.
 
Best bang for gaming is a 955be.. No reason for anything else just take a look at the benchmarks on anandtech. I've got one and it does everything but im running a 5770 which needs to be bumped up to a 6950. But the 5770 does plays everything even bf3 very well infact lol. But youve got to grab a 990fx board to future proof your rig. Unless you plain on going Intel later on just grab a older style chipset board either way you'll be happy

Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
 
Last edited:
IGhzI said:
Best bang for gaming is a 955be.. No reason for anything else just take a look at the benchmarks on anandtech. I've got one and it does everything but im running a 5770 which needs to be bumped up to a 6950. But the 5770 does plays everything even bf3 very well infact lol. But youve got to grab a 990fx board to future proof your rig. Unless you plain on going Intel later on just grab a older style chipset board either way you'll be happy
Click to expand...
No.

A lot of games just aren't quad core optimized, and in these cases, the i3-2100 tends to outperform the 955's slower cores. (See toyota's post above, or just check the Anandtech bench)

At least by going i3-2100, you have the option of an i5-2500k or IB down the road. I don't see that kind of future with an AMD platform right now, and BD just isn't much of an upgrade from a PhII X4 955.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top