Better for Gaming?

[fourdegrees11]

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.

 

[exar333]

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.

 

[fourdegrees11]

Is there any way to know what MBs will support IB? Thats another factor I'm looking at, AM3 is dead.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Yes.
Asus:
http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/PCIe3_Ready/

Gigabyte:
http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1048

 

[fourdegrees11]

Awesome, thanks for the links! So if I got the following MB, I would have no issues with Intels next gen CPUs. That gives me even more reason to go that route.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131716

 

[Vesku]

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.

 

[fourdegrees11]

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

 

[fourdegrees11]

makes me wonder if I should just fork over $50 more for an i5-2400

 

[Vesku]

2500K + Z68 or Phenom II X6 (X4 if it means more GPU). Nothing else really makes sense for gaming, unless it eats too much into GPU budget.

This is from "Hot Deals" http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2203577

Wish Fry's still did bundles like this, no Microcenter near me.

 

[exar333]

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.

 

[Vesku]

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.

 

[lehtv]

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

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'.

 

[Fefster]

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.

 

[Vesku]

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!

 

[Fefster]

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!

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.

 

[GoStumpy]

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.

 

[lehtv]

You can upgrade to i5-2400 on a h67 board too... P67/Z68 only needed if you plan to upgrade to K-series.

 

[Vesku]

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.

 

[mosox]

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.

 

[fourdegrees11]

Alright I guess I can just start looking at $250 video cards

 

[SZLiao214]

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.

 

[Hubb1e]

Alright I guess I can just start looking at $250 video cards

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.

 

[IGhzI]

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

 

[toyota]

even the 2100 i3 beats the 955 X4 in gaming. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0

and that faster 2100 only uses about 30-35 watts while a 955 uses about 95 watts.

 

[fffblackmage]

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

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.