Diablo III rig - Should I wait or buy now?

[mchn]

Hello,

I'm considering buying a new rig for Diablo 3, but I'm not sure whether to upgrade now (and be ready) or wait until after launch (for testing, benchmarking, Ivy bridge, etc.).
The rig I aim for should be able to give me solid 60+ frame rates at 1920x1080 with maxed details.
After reading the Tom's Hardware article on Diablo 3 I've chosen these components:

MB: AsRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3
CPU: i3-2120
VGA: Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB
RAM: DDR3 1600 2x4GB Kingston kit

I'll be using my old HDD and PSU (Corsair VX450). My current set:

MB: Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe WiFi
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
VGA: Palit GeForce 9600 GT 512MB
RAM: DDR2 800 4 GB

It ran the open beta OK at 1920x1080 and low details, tho it struggled a bit in graphic/CPU intense moments.

What do you think? Should I wait or buy now?

 

[slomo4sho]

Wait.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/diablo-iii-performance-benchmark,3195.html

You shouldn't have any issues on low settings without AA.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I said buy now since the benchmarks are already in.

 

[mchn]

I said buy now since the benchmarks are already in.

Are those benchmarks of the actual game or just the beta?
And it seems the tests weren't that CPU/VGA intense (running around town?).

 

[FinneousPJ]

Check the post above mine. It doesn't mention beta so it's reasonable to think it's the actual game ("pre-release", it might still be a version or two behind the release version). It seems to me the game isn't very CPU/GPU intensive.

 

[mchn]

Yeah, I've already read the article before posting the topic, but:

With no in-game benchmark tool available, we had to devise one of our own. The best way to get reliable and repeatable performance was to run around the edge of Old Tristram, from the portal and back again, and record the frame rate with Fraps.

If I get it right, the test wasn't very stressing (like a large battle with many foes, physics going around, four players co-op and spell effects).

 

[obsama1]

The OFFICIAL requirements are on the Diablo website, and the requirements are very low. You'll only need a 6790 to max it out. But hey, could be the nextt Metro 2033 and be terribly coded and the requirements are a lie. I would wait a bit though, since more benchmarks will pop up

 

[nbelote]

D3 seems much more GPU intensive than CPU intensive. I'd drop the money on the new video card and see how that does. It's a good jumping-off point with the engine the way it is now. If you bump it up to max settings and it still feels sluggish then I would tackle the other components.

Minimize your cost. Just because your CPU seems old doesn't mean it can't handle Diablo 3 just fine. D3 was designed with systems like yours in mind, just uh...not with that video card.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Yeah, I've already read the article before posting the topic, but:

With no in-game benchmark tool available, we had to devise one of our own. The best way to get reliable and repeatable performance was to run around the edge of Old Tristram, from the portal and back again, and record the frame rate with Fraps.

If I get it right, the test wasn't very stressing (like a large battle with many foes, physics going around, four players co-op and spell effects).

Ah, sorry. Yeah, you're right. I still think, based on that article, a HD6850 is going to offer playable (30+ FPS) performance at 1080p max settings in any situation. If you need it to be 60+ FPS minimum at all times, consider a 7850.

 

[hellfire24]

670 is a really great performer for it's price.i would suggest waiting.

 

[FinneousPJ]

How would you know when there's no card yet, i.e. no performance and certainly no price?

 

[mourice12]

Lol yea no 670. Its like this fellors benchmarks cant get everything that a game has to offer, look at BF3 crossfire 6950's are suppose to run on ultra at 1080p according to benchmarks in B2K your not. So they cant really account for everything in a game.So by a rule of thumb IMO, its better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

So i suggest getting the i3 and stuff but get a 6870 instead of the 6850 or get a 7850 and what

 

[AdrianPerry]

Components look great, nice balanced build. Go ahead and buy when your ready

Benchmarks show you should be EASILY able to max out the graphics of Diablo 3 with at minimum 50FPS (which is really high).

 

[hellfire24]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/352724-33-tomshardware

 

[mchn]

I'm starting to lean towards the "Wait" option... If I played the open beta alright with my current rig and the official release will be optimized, I should be good for a while (going through trivial normal and nightmare difficulties).
In a while there will be more accurate benchmarks, new VGAs will be out and the prices will drop... Also Ivy bridge is just around the corner... even if not better than SB, it will bring it's price down.

 

[mchn]

Any other opinions?

 

[AdrianPerry]

I'm starting to lean towards the "Wait" option... If I played the open beta alright with my current rig and the official release will be optimized, I should be good for a while (going through trivial normal and nightmare difficulties).
In a while there will be more accurate benchmarks, new VGAs will be out and the prices will drop... Also Ivy bridge is just around the corner... even if not better than SB, it will bring it's price down.

IvyBridge is already released, as are the new motherboard form factors, as are the the new AMD 7xxx series GPU's and the Nvidia 6xx series GPU's - admittedly not the whole range, but if you keep waiting for new tech to be released you'll never stop waiting.

Set a budget, evaluate your needs, and buy whatever fits best

 

[mchn]

Set a budget, evaluate your needs, and buy whatever fits best

My first priority is the game experience with playing Diablo III with FullHD resolution and maxed details... Budget is secondary, but it's still important.
So I think I'll just wait until after launch to see benchmarks, then decide what to buy exactly.
Thanks!

 

[noob2222]

Are those benchmarks of the actual game or just the beta?
And it seems the tests weren't that CPU/VGA intense (running around town?).

I did the open beta weekend. running around for ~2 + hrs while running fraps and some other monitoring software, I never had 1 core running over 60% and really only used 2 cores. The game is very well coded to be cpu friendly, provided they don't add a bunch of crap to slow things down.

GPU wise maintaining 60 fps is easy. At 1080P, a gtx 460 was almost able to keep from dropping, 55 min fps on max settings.

 

[mchn]

That's good to hear Seems like I'd be able to get good Diablo 3 experience for a decent price.

 

[mchn]

If you need it to be 60+ FPS minimum at all times, consider a 7850.

I'm considering that VGA, but I'm concerned about bottlenecking issues with the i3-2120. Should I expect any at 1920x1080?

 

[FinneousPJ]

No, I don't think so, at least not for this game if indeed at all.

 

[ASow123]

Thanks! All of these have helped me with my build a bit too.

 

[mchn]

Indeed! The feedback has been great If anyone else would like to share his opinion - (s)he's welcome