Thinking about upgrading my processor to Intel i5 2500k and have a question

[Kroze]

What's the performance difference between an overclocked 2500k @ 4.5ghz compared to a stock 2600k & 2700k processor?

Is it worth the money? to get the 2500k or just get the regular (multiplier locked) version and save some money?

I'm upgrading because i'm looking to play BF3 in the near future and my system as of right now sucks. I tried playing it at 800x600 resolution with everything on low and the frame rates still dip between 35-60fps. WTF. Yes I have the latest driver (10/31/2011) on AMD website.

Intel Core i3 2100
8gb DDR3
Radeon 5870
7200rpm Hard Drive

 

[boxleitnerb]

BF3 is heavily GPU bound. Take a look here:
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/spiele/2011/test-battlefield-3/9/#abschnitt_gpubenchmarks
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/spiele/2011/test-battlefield-3/9/#abschnitt_cpubenchmarks

Try disabling MSAA - the Radeons are not doing well there in BF3.

 

[richierich1212]

Try disabling some graphics options, like HBAO. Your components should be fine to play at higher resolutions.

 

[TheUnk]

Oh look more single player benchmarks showing it's GPU bound. 64 Player Multiplayer is a different story.

 

[T101]

2500K on any clockspeed compared to the same clockspeed of 2600k/2700k is going to be the same unless the software can benefit from hyper threading. And some games do, and some games dont. That is all I can say. I am running my 2600K @ 4.5 1.32V.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Oh look more single player benchmarks showing it's GPU bound. 64 Player Multiplayer is a different story.

Well, then show some benchmarks please. You cannot bench multiplayer reliably because a scene will always be different - I have not found any benchmarks there.

 

[TheUnk]

Well, then show some benchmarks please. You cannot bench multiplayer reliably because a scene will always be different - I have not found any benchmarks there.

The only benchmark I need is seeing as high as 90% CPU usage on an i7-930 @ 4.3GHz.

 

[Crap Daddy]

Why do you play at 800x600 with your setup?

 

[Kroze]

BF3 is heavily GPU bound. Take a look here:
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/spiele/2011/test-battlefield-3/9/#abschnitt_gpubenchmarks
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/spiele/2011/test-battlefield-3/9/#abschnitt_cpubenchmarks

Try disabling MSAA - the Radeons are not doing well there in BF3.

Try disabling some graphics options, like HBAO. Your components should be fine to play at higher resolutions.

Everything is OFF when you set the graphic settings to LOW.

 

[Kroze]

Why do you play at 800x600 with your setup?

Because the frame rate dip wildly. One minute it's 100fps+ and the next it's 35fps.

It makes it unplayable. I don't even dare play it at 1440x900 on Medium because it'll dip to 20fps

 

[richierich1212]

I'll do an experiment with my i3-2100 and 6850

 

[edplayer]

Something doesn't sound right. I would have thought that an i3 2100 and a 5870 should play well with the default medium and even slightly higher settings.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Yah, that should be enough. Maybe the Catalyst drivers need to be upgraded. Upgrading the CPU could never hurt, but your system is not doing that because of the i3 2100.

 

[richierich1212]

Well I didn't have enough space on my file server's SSD to install Origin + BF3, so instead I tested it on my other computer with A6-3650 2.8GHz + ASUS 6850 1GB. It can get 50+ FPS 1920x1080p all details on high, HBAO disabled, motion blur disabled 8X AA. I would think your computer would be able to do the same, especially with the better GPU.

Sounds like a major driver issue.

 

[Crap Daddy]

Something is wrong and it's not the hardware. In BF3 i3-2100 will perform the same as a quad core sandy with one GPU setup. Your 5870 is good enough for 1080p to play it on high at roughly constant 60FPS.

 

[tweakboy]

I don't get your resolution situation. You should be able to play 1080p

Is that CPU the dual core Sandy. If your going to play @ 1024res then that video card 5870 is pointless, might as well gotten a 5770. These cards are made for high res gaming, and something is wrong with your gear if its unplayable with your setup.

At the end of the day its still the GPU that is doing the processing, your CPU is adequate unless its the dual core sany, then yes you need to go to 4 core 8 core HT threaded. Your video card is fine for 1080p , even 8xAA and 16xAF ......

The first mistake was a very bad choice in CPU,,, you should have gotten at least a 2500k in the first place. i3 is budget.. anyhow.. gl