i3 2100 for BF3 enough?

[GoStumpy]

Nice to see

Here's a newer version of mine with a bit more gameplay:

(All settings high, HBAO off, no AA, Vsync off)
My Framerates:
Min: 48
Max: 86
Avg: 68.383

 

[skipsneeky2]

Nice to see

Here's a newer version of mine with a bit more gameplay:

(All settings high, HBAO off, no AA, Vsync off)
My Framerates:
Min: 48
Max: 86
Avg: 68.383

Did you turn down your clocks on the card?

Other chart had a bit more dipping involved that suggested a minor cpu bottleneck .

Anything more then a oced 6850 i bet and it will be bottlenecked i am sure .

 

[Stuka87]

The i3-2100 certainly is capable of playing the game as shown here. What I would be leery of is if anything in the background happens, with the cores being so high, is you are going to get some major frame drop. As there is not much room for overhead of any other (Windows related or otherwise) processes that pop up while playing.

 

[Termie]

Nice to see

Here's a newer version of mine with a bit more gameplay:

(All settings high, HBAO off, no AA, Vsync off)
My Framerates:
Min: 48
Max: 86
Avg: 68.383

You're getting great performance, but I'd say you're already slightly CPU-limited. Not a problem since it's a pretty nice balance, but it seems that the 2100/6850 is the limit. Your 6850 should be absolutely and completely pegged at 99% in this game, as my 5850 was before I crossfired.

I think that's also why the 6790 graph is slightly different - because it's slightly weaker than the 6850, the balance tips just enough to peg it at 99%.

By the way, 68fps at high is great. I think in part the patches have helped, because this would have been impossible at launch. I assume this is at 1680x1050 (remember that resolution is actually more important than any individual setting in terms of affecting frame rates).

 

[GoStumpy]

I hate forgetting to post my resolution Yes 1680x1050.

One day I'll get a 1080p monitor, but then I'll want to upgrade my GPU!

I'm quite sure I'll be upgrading to a 2500k within 6 months or so, and then eventually change my motherboard so I can overclock. the 2100 will go in the wife's gaming PC (currently has a G530) and I'll be able to build a new computer.

The 2100 is the perfect tide-me-over CPU in the LGA1155 platform to allow for future upgrades. IMHO it's 'just enough' to play any game at *playable* framerates.

 

[skipsneeky2]

You're getting great performance, but I'd say you're already slightly CPU-limited. Not a problem since it's a pretty nice balance, but it seems that the 2100/6850 is the limit. Your 6850 should be absolutely and completely pegged at 99% in this game, as my 5850 was before I crossfired.

I think that's also why the 6790 graph is slightly different - because it's slightly weaker than the 6850, the balance tips just enough to peg it at 99%.

By the way, 68fps at high is great. I think in part the patches have helped, because this would have been impossible at launch. I assume this is at 1680x1050 (remember that resolution is actually more important than any individual setting in terms of affecting frame rates).

I figured the 6790 would be a perfect match for the i3 2100 when i run it at stock the charts are topped with the usage being a solid straight line with no dipping.

I apply a 900 core,1200 memory oc and i get the chart you see on page two indicating the cpu is on the edge of bottlenecking it.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I hate forgetting to post my resolution Yes 1680x1050.

One day I'll get a 1080p monitor, but then I'll want to upgrade my GPU!

I'm quite sure I'll be upgrading to a 2500k within 6 months or so, and then eventually change my motherboard so I can overclock. the 2100 will go in the wife's gaming PC (currently has a G530) and I'll be able to build a new computer.

The 2100 is the perfect tide-me-over CPU in the LGA1155 platform to allow for future upgrades. IMHO it's 'just enough' to play any game at *playable* framerates.

When Ivy comes if we have a $200 replacement for the 2500k depending on official motherboard requirements and prices i may pop one in or go for a i7 2600 non k and consider my h67 set up maxed out and drop in a 7950 or 7970 at the same time.

I used to do my cpu and gpu upgrades at the same time:
p4 2.4gh+7800gs
e6750+8800gts 512mb
q6600+gtx280
i7 940+gtx295<this rig i sold when i lost interest in gaming for a while
i5 2500k+9800gtx<friend ruined this rig
e8200+6750<still have this e8200 for testing if need be
i3 2100+6790<hold over until ivy is here and radeon 7000 series

 

[suklee]

I have a q6600 @3.1 now. Will there be improvements with a 2500k vs the 2100?

Will be using 560ti.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I have a q6600 @3.1 now. Will there be improvements with a 2500k vs the 2100?

Will be using 560ti.

2500k would only make sense the q6600 at 3.1ghz will be faster then a i3 2100 i am sure.

i3 2100 would make sense if you are coming off a dual core 775 or perhaps am3.

 

[obobot]

I have got Intel Pentium G840 CPU with stock cooler.
I am not overclocking my CPU.
CPU idle temperature is 35 degrees cels, under load - 55 degrees cels.

My GPU is nVidia GeForce 560 Ti, it is not overclocked too. Temperatures are:
29 degrees cels idle, 55 under heavy load.

I have several questions:
1) when I play Bettlefield 3 sometimes the game lags and task manager shows 100% constant cpu load. After unloading programs from system tray the game is playable, but not perfect, CPU load is 95-100% at this time. Is it common for G840 CPUs, or something is wrong with my system?
2) Are the temperatures of my CPU in idle state and under heavy load correct for the stock cooler? (35-55 deg. cels.)

Thank you in advance.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I have got Intel Pentium G840 CPU with stock cooler.
I am not overclocking my CPU.
CPU idle temperature is 35 degrees cels, under load - 55 degrees cels.

My GPU is nVidia GeForce 560 Ti, it is not overclocked too. Temperatures are:
29 degrees cels idle, 55 under heavy load.

I have several questions:
1) when I play Bettlefield 3 sometimes the game lags and task manager shows 100% constant cpu load. After unloading programs from system tray the game is playable, but not perfect, CPU load is 95-100% at this time. Is it common for G840 CPUs, or something is wrong with my system?
2) Are the temperatures of my CPU in idle state and under heavy load correct for the stock cooler? (35-55 deg. cels.)

Thank you in advance.

BF3 is pretty demanding it requires at bare minimum a i3 class cpu to get anywhere like the i3 2100 i was using for example.

Load temps are fine as my 2500k on the stock cooler runs about the same for some reason.

Compliment the 560ti and grab at least a i3 2100 or else you mind as well have a 6770 in there with the bottleneck your cpu will present.

Cause of the occasionally lag 64 player maps presented to me i moved from a i3 2100 to a 2500k if you love this game i believe this is the smartest choice,all others are questionable at best.

 

[Hubb1e]

You guys need to turn on Vsync. There's no reason to run more than 60fps except for benches. It will keep your GPU cooler, it will last longer, it will run quieter, and your electricity bill will be lower. There's no reason to process frames that your monitor can't render.

The i3 will be fine in BF3. There might be a few slowdowns on 64 player servers but you'll still be way above 30fps. I don't think the tiny improvement will be worth the extra cash. Plus you've already said the i3 is your spending limit. The i3 is an awesome CPU. You'll be able to upgrade to Ivy next year when you have the funds. DON'T buy an AMD motherboard today. AMD only makes sense if you already have the hardware and need an upgrade.

 

[Termie]

BF3 is pretty demanding it requires at bare minimum a i3 class cpu to get anywhere like the i3 2100 i was using for example.

Load temps are fine as my 2500k on the stock cooler runs about the same for some reason.

Compliment the 560ti and grab at least a i3 2100 or else you mind as well have a 6770 in there with the bottleneck your cpu will present.

Cause of the occasionally lag 64 player maps presented to me i moved from a i3 2100 to a 2500k if you love this game i believe this is the smartest choice,all others are questionable at best.

Congrats on your new 2500k, Skip. You deserve it!

You guys need to turn on Vsync. There's no reason to run more than 60fps except for benches. It will keep your GPU cooler, it will last longer, it will run quieter, and your electricity bill will be lower. There's no reason to process frames that your monitor can't render.

The i3 will be fine in BF3. There might be a few slowdowns on 64 player servers but you'll still be way above 30fps. I don't think the tiny improvement will be worth the extra cash. Plus you've already said the i3 is your spending limit. The i3 is an awesome CPU. You'll be able to upgrade to Ivy next year when you have the funds. DON'T buy an AMD motherboard today. AMD only makes sense if you already have the hardware and need an upgrade.

Yes to vsync and yes to i3 being a great deal (especially versus AMD), but no to 30fps! Playing at 60fps is one thing, playing at under 40fps is an entirely different matter in BF3 multiplayer. I consider it unacceptable, and an i3-2100 will probably just be enough to get you above 40fps consitently. I can assure you it won't give you 60fps locked (assuming you have the GPU firepower for that). You're not even going to touch vsync limits at high settings until you have a GTX570 or higher, so it's a bit of a mute point for i3-2100 owners.

I'm locked at 60fps (1920x1200, Ultra except MSAA and textures, vsync), but I occasionally drop down to 50fps when my CPU tops out. And I have a quad.

The problem with BF3 is that while you can easily adjust graphical settings to lower the burden on the GPU, it's much harder to get around the burden on the CPU. Frankly, I wouldn't want to play this game on a dual-core CPU, even a 2100, which is quite impressive generally speaking. But if you're on a budget and shooting for 45fps at high settings (teamed up with a 6870-class GPU), you'll be in good shape on a 2100.

BF3 slams the CPU, period. Proof - here I dip from 60fps to 44, and yet my GPUs are loafing along at 75% usage:

Skip, wanna post some new graphs of your 2500k?

 

[skipsneeky2]

Graphs as in gpu or cpu usage Termie?

All i can really say is that basically all the stuttering is gone and when i load a map for me it used to bog down for a few seconds like the cpu was feeding the gpu the textures but now the bog down is little to nothing now .

BC2 was the same way but now when a map is done loading when i jump on its basically smooth right off the bat and that was the first evident thing i saw without even looking for it.

BC2 and BF3 both the gpu usage hardly dips under 97% and most times the only time it dips to even 98% is when the framerate is like over 98fps or something lol.

For anyone considering a i3 2100 i do recommend it as a perfect starting intel chip but keep in mind i am running all ultra settings on a 2gb gtx560 that was oced pass 560ti specs so perhaps those running like a 6850 or gtx460 would have better results with medium or high settings.

 

[sm625]

An i3-2100 is probably more powerful than what the majority of people on 64p servers are using. There's still an awful lot of conroes, penryns, nehalems, lynnfields, phenoms and athlons out there. An i3-2100 is faster than all of those if they are running at stock clocks.

 

[Arkaign]

An i3-2100 is probably more powerful than what the majority of people on 64p servers are using. There's still an awful lot of conroes, penryns, nehalems, lynnfields, phenoms and athlons out there. An i3-2100 is faster than all of those if they are running at stock clocks.

Hehe, I have a friend playing it on an Athlon II X3 3.1ghz, with 4GB of DDR2-800 and an Nvidia GTS450. It's surprisingly decent, though I think that's at the lower levels of acceptable (1440x900).

 

[skipsneeky2]

Funny i have revisited a thread i started nearly a year and half ago cause a situation has come up where some electrical issues took out a 7850, h61 mob,8gb of ram and even possibly a core i5 2500....

Situation has lead me to picking up a zotac gtx650 non ti 1gb,current card is slower then the gtx560 non ti i had at the time of when this thread ended prior to this post and i was having hell of a time wanting to find the perfect matched cpu then i recalled this thread and its useful information.

Core i3 2100 still is the cheapest i3 up on newegg by $10 and should be hell of a good match for that gtx 650.

 

[PPB]

Depends on the level of Mesh Quality you wanna play and what is your target FPS. But at a quick glance, you will have a hard time playing BF3 64 maps on a 2100, specially B2K, CQ and AF.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Depends on the level of Mesh Quality you wanna play and what is your target FPS. But at a quick glance, you will have a hard time playing BF3 64 maps on a 2100, specially B2K, CQ and AF.

I always run medium with no msaa or motion blur,hell if i had a 3960x and dual titans i would run medium 1200p just for the sake of high fps.

Just been looking up and down newegg all day wondering if core i3 2100 would be my choice,spend the extra and go i3 3240 then i recalled how well the i3 2100 did matched with a 6790,and how it took a overclocked gtx560 non ti to find the chip lacking.