Gamers: Do You Need More Than An Athlon II X3?

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Game Performance Targets

Knowing all of this, we will conclude that a PC user with a 60 Hz monitor can certainly perceive up to 60 FPS. This is a widely accepted performance target for PC games, and now it's a little clearer why.

Finally, we need to consider how we measure game performance. Often, for a quick indicator, we record the average FPS. The problem is that average FPS is an aggregate number that doesn't tell us how low the frame rate can go. You can experience an average of 60 FPS that dips down to 10 FPS during demanding parts of the game, and 10 FPS is choppy by everyone's standards.

Because of this, you should pay attention to minimum FPS. Ideally, the minimum FPS value is 60, but a minimum FPS of 30 or even 20 can be acceptable if it happens for very short stints in demanding parts of a game.

Even the type of game you're playing can determine whether a certain minimum FPS is acceptable. In a first-person shooter, that lag might be enough to mess with your aim during a heated battle. But in a top-view, real-time strategy game, the drop in frame rate probably won't have much of an effect on your view or your click-and-drag inputs.

This is a lot of information to assimilate, but it is critical for the purposes of our review. Remember, we're trying to find out whether or not there is a point in purchasing a CPU that is more expensive than an Athlon II X3 440 for gaming purposes. Now, we know any frame rate advantage over 60 FPS is somewhat useless, but that any minimum frame rate advantage up to 60 FPS can be critical.

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Summary
  1. Why Pay More?
  2. How Much Game Performance Can We Perceive?
  3. Game Performance Targets
  4. Test Systems And Benchmarks
  5. Average FPS Benchmarks: Single Radeon HD 5850
  6. Minimum FPS Benchmarks: Single Radeon HD 5850
  7. Average FPS Benchmarks: Radeon HD 5870 In CrossFire
  8. Minimum FPS Benchmarks: Radeon HD 5870 In CrossFire
  9. Average FPS Benchmarks: Athlon II X3 440 In CrossFire Vs. Core i7-920 With A Single Card
  10. Minimum FPS Benchmarks: Athlon II X3 440 In CrossFire Vs. Core i7-920 With A Single Card
  11. Conclusion
About the author
Don Woligroski
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  • welshmousepk
    good read, though unsurprising. certainly justifies these lower end processors in gaming rigs.

    the whole thing seems to slightly contradict the 'balanced PC' articles though. why put such a cheap CPU in a system with such a powerful GPU? is the budget really going to be THAT tight?
  • sohei
    good point in this article....if you have money ....you have 1 solution for every application you run on your pc....(high end cpu) folks with money dont have to think...is simple ...but if you have less money to spend ...an AMD cpu is your (my) choice
  • Verkil
    Still no GTA4? I'm still having thoughts getting an Athlon II X3 because I'll be playing GTA4 and all your Athlon II X3 gaming benchmark does not include GTA4.
  • slinkoguy
    Looks like you guys got a Deneb core. Unlock that thing and let us see those results! :D
  • haplo602
    hmm ... I see an interesting pattern here. the latest Intel architecture is 3x as expensive yet an AMD cpu on a generation older architecture can still keep up reasonable.

    except very high end gaming, I realy do not see a reason to go after the i7.

    what I am missing from the article is the X3 vs Intel cpus in the same price range. maybe a followup would do some good :-)
  • tacoslave
    should have overclocked the 440 because thats what most will be doing when they use this processor for gaming
  • Jarmo
    tacoslaveshould have overclocked the 440 because thats what most will be doing when they use this processor for gaming


    I'd guess at least 90% of users never overclock anything.
    To be fair though, probably 90% of Tom's readers do.
  • Stardude82
    Do it again with a 5750 or a GTS 250..or lower with a 5650 and a GT 240. You know something modern, but not in excess of the cost of the motherboard and CPU. This is my same problem with the G6950/720 article.. I don't think I've ever seen a good article showing differences with difference CPU's in the middle end. With more of a GPU is bottle neck, the CPU should matter even less.
  • retrac1324
    I like how Opera web browser was mistyped: Oprah
  • HalfHuman
    nice comparison. seems that the triple core is quite strong enough for gaming. i believe that xfire is crazy technology though and only an almost negligible number of gamers use it. i also do not see the point of using such a strong(expensive) video card with a budget cpu. a money conscious gamer would get a 57xx or something in that zone.

    my thought is that for single card users (not necessarily 58xx type not because it's not good but is for sure not budget friendly) and normal monitors (1680x1050) a triple or even dual core amd is enough.
  • gti88
    Is there many people still playing WiC?
    I tried to play online, and it's pretty boring and repetitive. Uninstalled.
  • arkadi
    This is a good article.
    When i build gaming rigs for a kids, i don't want to get the HI end system with somewhat hi price tag for a kids computer. The AMD CPU is a solid choice, with cheaper GPU like the 5770 it will be a good and cheap gaming machine. And if FPS will get bit low, I can lower the game effects to a reasonable point and still have grate experience from a game.
  • opmopadop
    A request Tom, can you start using 1920 x 1080 as the main resolution for your benchmarks, and only going higher / lower when the article requires it. Multiple resolutions have always added complexity to the graphs / reviews and I think its time to change.
  • apache_lives
    are we forgetting future proofing? i will never buy a system to run things "sufficiently"
  • cashews
    It would be great to see Battlefield Bad Company 2 tested in these reviews as well.
  • dco
    why not pair the x3 athlon with a x4 phenom II, surely would have had the same effect.
  • Simple11
    Yeah I thought people get the triple core to unlock the fourth core. Or is that is some models?
  • sonofliberty08
    if u need powerful cpu more than the Athlon II X3 , go for Phenom II X4 then , still save u alot of good money in the pocket than go for an i7 .
  • wasbeer_13
    Well, I've got the Athlon iix3 in my 'gaming' rig at home and it is paired with a Nvidia 260GTX.

    All I can say that it was a good investment as I can max out everything I play, considering I only have a 19" screen that supports upto 1280*1024.

    It's what I call balance. Not everyone can afford an i7 with SLI or Xfire and 30" screens.
  • killerclick
    I'm sick of these hardware articles for poor people. I want to see more benchmarks for triple SLI, CrossFireX and i7 980x. There's no reason to review a piece of hardware that costs less than $500, there's Newegg reviews for that cheap junk.
  • kartu
    So, one needs dual 5870 card to really benefit from i7-920 over Athlon X3. Surprise surprise...
  • Netherwind
    So would a i7-920+5870 be neck and neck with xfired 5870's on the athlon? the 5850 kept up pretty well on it's own...
  • Netherwind
    tacoslaveshould have overclocked the 440 because thats what most will be doing when they use this processor for gaming


    by that logic they should have overclocked the 920 because that's what most will be doing when they use that processor for gaming..
  • cobot
    Good idea for an article, but I'm missing for example a comparison between an i5 750 with a 5770 and an phenom x3 with a 5850.

    Those two would more eflect the choices a gamer on a budget would have to make.
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