Gaming/multitasking capability of the i3 2120?

[TheScarecrow97]

Looking to build a gaming pc on an 800 dollar budget. I was wondering how well the 2120 and a 7850 could handle stuff like Skyrim at very high/ultra settings with fraps. That is probably the most demanding thing I will be doing. What sort of fps can I expect with that? I'll probably be doing some mild video editing (for youtube and whatnot) as well. I might play Bf3 (multiplayer of course) while recording with fraps, but I realize that is expecting a lot and I can settle for medium settings on that.

Basically I just want to know how the 2120 will handle most games with fraps running, as well as the occasional browser tab and maybe skype. Is there any chance I'd be better off with a phenom ii x4 965 for this sort of multitasking?

 

[Guest]

Looking to build a gaming pc on an 800 dollar budget. I was wondering how well the 2120 and a 7850 could handle stuff like Skyrim at very high/ultra settings with fraps. That is probably the most demanding thing I will be doing. What sort of fps can I expect with that? I'll probably be doing some mild video editing (for youtube and whatnot) as well. I might play Bf3 (multiplayer of course) while recording with fraps, but I realize that is expecting a lot and I can settle for medium settings on that.

Basically I just want to know how the 2120 will handle most games with fraps running, as well as the occasional browser tab and maybe skype. Is there any chance I'd be better off with a phenom ii x4 965 for this sort of multitasking?

Take a look at this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136-7.html

It goes through the i3 2100 which is essentially the same chip you have. And it handles skyrim around 40 fps, your card is a little better than the ones listed so you should be alright.

Hope that helps.

 

[nsouter853]

The i3-2120 is a pretty fast chip - after all it is a Sandy Bridge with 4 threads. It will definitely perform faster than the Phenom II x4 965 in gaming (look up countless benchmarks), and while I don't have any benchmarks to prove this I am 99% sure it would be faster for multitasking as well.

As far as recording while playing BF3, I think you may want to get an i5 for that. An overclocked i5 (2500k or 3570k) would rip through BF3 while recording, and still have some juice left. While I don't have much experience with the Ivy i3's, I am confident they can record and game too, just not as flawlessly as an i5 would.

Don't settle for anything less on the graphics card side of things - that's a "sweet spot" card as far as price/performance (the Radeon 7850, I mean). Is there anywhere else that you can cut down on your budget to get an i5 over an i3?