I3 2100 vs x3 455(gaming)

Nihilanth

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Jun 13, 2011
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Hi folks,
i had my eye on an i3 2100 + MSI Cyclone 6850 pairing but i would like to know if its a smarter choice than say the Athlon ii x3 455 + 6950/6870. An Athlon x4 is not really an option since its not that much cheaper compared to the i3 out here and going with it would also mean that i cannot afford the 6870/6950.

The better card should theoretically provide better fps but does the x3 significantly bottleneck those two cards? To what level does the x3 have to be oc'ed to eliminate any bottleneck?

My monitor is a 22'' BENQ G2200HD with a native resolution of 1920x1080. I am going to be playing games like Crysis(all of them), Metro 2033, Dead Space 2, Portal 2, BFBC2, Stalker series, Lost Planet 2, etc. I have looked at quite a few benchmarks and obviously the i3 is faster than the x3 but those benchmarks are derived by using the same GPU.

What i would like to know is whether the i3 + 6850 is greater than or lesser than the x3 + 6870/6950 when it comes to pure gaming? Which combination would provide better performance at 1600x900 or 1080p?

So what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
It depends on the game, Starcraft 2 and WOW will run much better on the i3 as they are fairly CPU limited (and just prefer intel) while Metro is much more GPU intensive and will therefore make better use of the 6870/6950. The problem is an Athlon x3 with a 5770-6850 is well balanced and an i3 2100 with a 6870-6950 is well balanced. If you went with the Athlon then your best upgrade path is to later buy a Phenom 955BE and overclock it so there will be no bottleneck. While if you get the i3 system the upgrade path would be to a better graphics card and you would most likely wait until the next generation come out and go down in price.
My final recommendation is if you may upgrade within a year get the Athlon and upgrade to a phenom x4...
At 1600x900 I think the I3 + 6850 would be better at 1080 it would be a bit up and down with CPU hungry games preferring the i3 and GPU hungry ones preferring the Athlon + 6870/6950. Where I am (UK) there is not much price difference between the 6850 and 6870, so I would get the 6870 + the best CPU I can afford.
 

Nihilanth

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Jun 13, 2011
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hi,
over here the difference between the two cards equates to about 30-35 pounds and its a bit too much for me to come up with if i go the i3 route.

So what your saying is the x3 won't hold back the 6870/6950 too much at 1080? And if it does how far do you think i have to crank up the x3 to eliminate/minimize potential bottlenecks?
 
It depends on the game, Starcraft 2 and WOW will run much better on the i3 as they are fairly CPU limited (and just prefer intel) while Metro is much more GPU intensive and will therefore make better use of the 6870/6950. The problem is an Athlon x3 with a 5770-6850 is well balanced and an i3 2100 with a 6870-6950 is well balanced. If you went with the Athlon then your best upgrade path is to later buy a Phenom 955BE and overclock it so there will be no bottleneck. While if you get the i3 system the upgrade path would be to a better graphics card and you would most likely wait until the next generation come out and go down in price.
My final recommendation is if you may upgrade within a year get the Athlon and upgrade to a phenom x4 in 6 months to a year. If you don't want to upgrade it for 1-3 years get the i3 so when you do upgrade your CPU is still good for the better graphics card. If you don't plan to upgrade until its worth doing a total new build then its 50/50 but I would most likely choose the i3.
Good luck let me know what you decide
 
Solution

Nihilanth

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Hey man, thanks for the detailed reply...i will let you know how it goes as it should be done by the end of this week hopefully.


 

Nihilanth

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Got the i3 and i am glad i did...previously with my E7200 when i tried playing Lost Planet with everything set to minimum i was getting abt 2 fps :lol: Now i can actually play the game at around 25-30 fps. I just need to sort out the GPU and i am good.

Thanks for the advice Simon 12.