What kind of FPS boost am I looking at with this setup?

[Maverick2002]

At some point in the near future I'll be upgrading my graphics card. I already have other components.

I'm going from:

C2D E4300 @ 1.8
4GB DDR2 800
GeForce 7900GS (stock)

To:

i3 530 @ 2.93 (will probably OC moderately with stock cooler, 3.2ish maybe?)
4GB DDR3
GeForce GTX260 216 (stock)

What kind of FPS boost can I expect with this? 2x? 3x?

I want to be able to max out WoW and eventually SC2 and D3 on the highest quality settings/AA on my 24" @ 1920x1200 with at least 60fps at all times. Does this sound about right?

For reference, I'm currently playing WoW at medium-ish settings, 1280x800, no AA, and I can stay around 60fps when alone in an area, but it drops down to sub-20 when in a major city.

 

[Ares202]

it should be around 3x as fast

So say you got 20 fps before you should now get 50-60

 

[happy medium]

it should be around 3x as fast

So say you got 20 fps before you should now get 50-60

+1

 

[AzN]

Yeah definitely 3x or more faster on newer games.

I went from a E5200 @ 4ghz to a i3 530 @ 4.2ghz. Not much difference. Perhaps 30% faster. I was thinking getting a i860 down the road anyway.

Now the GPU is another story. Going from 7900gs to GTX 260 is leaps and bounds faster. 3x faster is given.

 

[Maverick2002]

Do you think this setup will be enough to max out those games at 1920x1200 at 60+ fps?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Do you think this setup will be enough to max out those games at 1920x1200 at 60+ fps?

Yes those games are relatively weak compared to pretty much everything coming out these days.

 

[Chiropteran]

Yes those games are relatively weak compared to pretty much everything coming out these days.

WoW, I wouldn't say so. Maybe, if you never raid. But even the relatively primitive graphics of WoW can seriously stress a computer or video card in a raid, with 25+ players running around, spell effects everywhere, multiple mobs running around, etc.

Outside of raids, if you crank up the visibility distance to the max and max out all settings, I think even your new card will have some issues... but it'll be a huge improvement all the same.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Wow is CPU bound in those situations. I was raiding on a 8500GT when my 9800GT failed you can't say that that game compares in any way to anything recent.

 

[RussianSensation]

SC2 Should be sufficient with a GTX260 without AA: http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/starcraft_ii_wings_of_liberty_beta_performance,4.html

But they used a quad core processor though. I would try to pick up Phenom II X4 965 or a Core i5 750 if I was in your shoes.

Core i3 530 is $120 while Core i5 750 is $199. For just $80, you get 2 more cores and Turbo mode up to 3.2ghz, while Core i3 530 has no Turbo mode. Since you don't really plan to overclock, the Core i5 750 with Turbo Mode will be faster in every single situation. Makes no sense not to go with the Core i5 750 imo. Save some $$ on a motherboard if you have to. Gigabyte P55-UD2 is just ~$100.

 

[Maverick2002]

I already have the CPU/mobo/RAM, so I can't switch those. I do plan on overclocking the i3, just not sure how high I can go with stock cooling without it running hot/loud. 3.2-3.6 range I'd be happy with.

Thanks for that SC2 link. IIRC all 3 of those games are based on various modified versions of the WC3 engine, so performance between all 3 (WoW CPU pegging notwithstanding) should be similar.

84fps average @ 1920x1200 ultra settings. What would that translate into with AF and decent (high?) AA? 75% FPS? 50% FPS?

 

[modestninja]

I already have the CPU/mobo/RAM, so I can't switch those. I do plan on overclocking the i3, just not sure how high I can go with stock cooling without it running hot/loud. 3.2-3.6 range I'd be happy with.

Thanks for that SC2 link. IIRC all 3 of those games are based on various modified versions of the WC3 engine, so performance between all 3 (WoW CPU pegging notwithstanding) should be similar.

84fps average @ 1920x1200 ultra settings. What would that translate into with AF and decent (high?) AA? 75% FPS? 50% FPS?

If I were you I'd ditch the stock HSF and get in on this deal. For ~$25 you'll get much better CPU cooling performance:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2063230

 

[AzN]

I already have the CPU/mobo/RAM, so I can't switch those. I do plan on overclocking the i3, just not sure how high I can go with stock cooling without it running hot/loud. 3.2-3.6 range I'd be happy with.

Thanks for that SC2 link. IIRC all 3 of those games are based on various modified versions of the WC3 engine, so performance between all 3 (WoW CPU pegging notwithstanding) should be similar.

84fps average @ 1920x1200 ultra settings. What would that translate into with AF and decent (high?) AA? 75% FPS? 50% FPS?

Don't mind Russian. Your i3 is plenty fast for any games out there in the market today. It also has 4 threads like i5 750 just not physical cores. It goes toe to toe with x4 and lower end phenom2 x4.

Overclock it. You can easily get I7 870 performance out of the i3 in quad optimized app.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Unless you're getting that 260 used you're probably going to get rapped on the price. I would humbly suggest the 5770.

 

[RussianSensation]

Don't mind Russian.

Ya the i3 overclocked will be fast, but I wasn't sure it would give him 60 fps constant as a minimum. CPU scaling in the article I linked showed benefits to multiple cores. Since he already bought the cpu, it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[wlee15]

You certainly see a massive improvement in frame-rates those old nVidia cards don't hold up very well.

techreport actually had a 7900 GS included in their HD 5830 review, they're not the games you play but beggars can't be choosers.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18521/6

 

[Maverick2002]

I'll have to consider that 5770 you linked. When it gets closer to buying time I'll check the prices again, though right now it looks like 5770 is ~$50 less than 260-216 for the same performance.

I prefer NVIDIA (had some bad experiences with ATI in the past, but that was a long time ago), but am not totally opposed to ATI.

 

[Ben90]

You certainly see a massive improvement in frame-rates those old nVidia cards don't hold up very well.

techreport actually had a 7900 GS included in their HD 5830 review, they're not the games you play but beggars can't be choosers.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18521/6

Yea right, minimum FPS from 2560x1600 is the same as the average FPS for 1650x1050 on the 7900gtx. CPU BOUND!!!!

But seriously that is kinda weird.

 

[Insomniator]

I cannot run the SC2 Beta on Max settings @ 1900x1200 smoothly.

Q9550 @ 3.4
4GB
9600 GSO 768 SLI

SLI shows blue flashing all over the screen with the beta, so I have to turn it off before I play. 1900x1200 @ High is fine... and I'd imagine with SLI on it would be fine maxed.