Overclock.net › Forums › Intel › Intel CPUs › Is a I3 good enough for gaming?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Is a I3 good enough for gaming?

post #1 of 24
1/16/11 at 4:27am
Thread Starter 
I am planning to 'Download' my sig rig, I just never use the i7 to its full capacity and i am a bit short of money (Student!!)

So Will an I3 bee good enough for another year? (September 2011 will be next UPgrade - probably IVY)

Will it bottleneck a GTX570?
Main
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500K Rampage Gene-Z EVGA GTX570 DS G-Skill sniper 8GB 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
120Gb SSD + 1tbf3 H70 + typhoon Windows 7 24" Samsung P2450 
PowerCase
600w Modxstream Silverstone Ps07 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Main
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500K Rampage Gene-Z EVGA GTX570 DS G-Skill sniper 8GB 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
120Gb SSD + 1tbf3 H70 + typhoon Windows 7 24" Samsung P2450 
PowerCase
600w Modxstream Silverstone Ps07 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #2 of 24
1/16/11 at 4:32am
An i3 overclocked to 4.0-4.2GHz will serve you well for a couple more years I'd say. It shouldn't bottleneck a GTX570 if you play at high resolutions with all the eye candy turned up.

However, seeing as you have an X58 board, you can't downgrade to an i3 without getting a new 1156 motherboard.
LianLith
(20 items)
 
Microstone
(15 items)
 
Red Box
(15 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i7 970 @ 4.225GHz w/ 1.344v, HT On Gigabyte X58A-OC 2 x HD 6950 2GB CrossfireX (Unlocked Shaders) 3 x 4GB Samsung MV-3V4G3/US @ 2028 9-10-10-25 1.6v 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Intel 520 Series Cherryville 180GB 2 x WD6400AAKS in RAID 0 WD300GLSA16100 short-stroked to 48.8GB Prolimatech Megahalems 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 HP ZR30w ABS M1 Seasonic X-650 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Lian Li V2120X Razer Diamondback 3G Steelseries 4D M-Audio BX5a Deluxe 
AudioAudioAudioOther
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Samson SR850 VSonic GR07 MDPC-X sleeving 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5 2550K @ 4.2GHz w/ 1.256v Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 Visiontek Radeon HD4870 512MB 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Samsung 830 128GB WD5000BEKT Lite-On DC-8A4SH Slot-loading DVD Burner Corsair H60 
OSKeyboardPowerCase
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 OEM HP keyboard Seasonic X-750 Silverstone TJ08-E 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Logitech LX3 Ratpadz GS Audioengine 5 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i3 530 @ 3.813GHz w/ 1.176v Asus P7H55D-M EVO Sapphire HD 5670 512MB @ 815/1025 2 x 2GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600 9-9-9-24 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB Sony Optiarc 24x DVD Burner Cooler Master GeminII S Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Dell S2009W Saitek Eclipse OCZ ModXStream 500W Lian Li V351R 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Razer Diamondback Ratpadz GS Dell AY410 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
LianLith
(20 items)
 
Microstone
(15 items)
 
Red Box
(15 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i7 970 @ 4.225GHz w/ 1.344v, HT On Gigabyte X58A-OC 2 x HD 6950 2GB CrossfireX (Unlocked Shaders) 3 x 4GB Samsung MV-3V4G3/US @ 2028 9-10-10-25 1.6v 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Intel 520 Series Cherryville 180GB 2 x WD6400AAKS in RAID 0 WD300GLSA16100 short-stroked to 48.8GB Prolimatech Megahalems 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 HP ZR30w ABS M1 Seasonic X-650 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Lian Li V2120X Razer Diamondback 3G Steelseries 4D M-Audio BX5a Deluxe 
AudioAudioAudioOther
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Samson SR850 VSonic GR07 MDPC-X sleeving 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5 2550K @ 4.2GHz w/ 1.256v Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 Visiontek Radeon HD4870 512MB 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Samsung 830 128GB WD5000BEKT Lite-On DC-8A4SH Slot-loading DVD Burner Corsair H60 
OSKeyboardPowerCase
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 OEM HP keyboard Seasonic X-750 Silverstone TJ08-E 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Logitech LX3 Ratpadz GS Audioengine 5 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i3 530 @ 3.813GHz w/ 1.176v Asus P7H55D-M EVO Sapphire HD 5670 512MB @ 815/1025 2 x 2GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600 9-9-9-24 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB Sony Optiarc 24x DVD Burner Cooler Master GeminII S Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Dell S2009W Saitek Eclipse OCZ ModXStream 500W Lian Li V351R 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Razer Diamondback Ratpadz GS Dell AY410 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 24
1/16/11 at 4:37am
It'll be just fine. Here are my scores with SLI'd 470's and the i3 at 4.3ghz...



Core2 Killer: Budget Edition
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500k (4.5ghz@1.336v) ASRock P67 Extreme4 SLI Gigabyte GTX470 (800c/1740m) G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600 (@1866) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb + WD Caviar Blue 320gb ASUS DVD-RW Windows 7 64bit 22" Acer x223w 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Blackwidow Ultimate Seasonic X650 CM Storm Scout Logitech G400 
Mouse Pad
are you kidding? 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Core2 Killer: Budget Edition
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500k (4.5ghz@1.336v) ASRock P67 Extreme4 SLI Gigabyte GTX470 (800c/1740m) G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600 (@1866) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb + WD Caviar Blue 320gb ASUS DVD-RW Windows 7 64bit 22" Acer x223w 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Blackwidow Ultimate Seasonic X650 CM Storm Scout Logitech G400 
Mouse Pad
are you kidding? 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 24
1/16/11 at 4:49am
It'll be just like using a normal Dual Core, meaning loss of performance in the frequent console-ports these days.

I would not buy a dual core for gaming, even if it has hyperthreading because games generally don't like to use HTs.
Current i5 Rig
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5-760 (4.0ghz @ 1.28v) GIGABYTE P55-USB3 XFX Radeon HD 5850 XXX 4GB DDR3 (XMS3 1600) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Corsair Force 3 120gb + 2.5TB HDDs LG Windows 7 Home Premium x64 23" Acer X233H + 19" GNR 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G110 OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Coolermaster 690 Logitech G500 
Mouse Pad
Razer Sphex 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Current i5 Rig
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5-760 (4.0ghz @ 1.28v) GIGABYTE P55-USB3 XFX Radeon HD 5850 XXX 4GB DDR3 (XMS3 1600) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Corsair Force 3 120gb + 2.5TB HDDs LG Windows 7 Home Premium x64 23" Acer X233H + 19" GNR 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G110 OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Coolermaster 690 Logitech G500 
Mouse Pad
Razer Sphex 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #5 of 24
1/16/11 at 4:58am
Your current i7 will suit you just fine. It's got years still left in it.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 24
1/16/11 at 5:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OverTheBelow View Post
It'll be just like using a normal Dual Core, meaning loss of performance in the frequent console-ports these days.

I would not buy a dual core for gaming, even if it has hyperthreading because games generally don't like to use HTs.
That's actually not at all true...

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...ght-would.html
Core2 Killer: Budget Edition
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500k (4.5ghz@1.336v) ASRock P67 Extreme4 SLI Gigabyte GTX470 (800c/1740m) G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600 (@1866) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb + WD Caviar Blue 320gb ASUS DVD-RW Windows 7 64bit 22" Acer x223w 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Blackwidow Ultimate Seasonic X650 CM Storm Scout Logitech G400 
Mouse Pad
are you kidding? 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Core2 Killer: Budget Edition
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500k (4.5ghz@1.336v) ASRock P67 Extreme4 SLI Gigabyte GTX470 (800c/1740m) G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600 (@1866) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60gb + WD Caviar Blue 320gb ASUS DVD-RW Windows 7 64bit 22" Acer x223w 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Blackwidow Ultimate Seasonic X650 CM Storm Scout Logitech G400 
Mouse Pad
are you kidding? 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 24
1/16/11 at 5:20am
I run my i3 @ 4.6Ghz and it games like a beast. Only dropped about 20-25fps going from my i5 750 @ 4.5Ghz in BFBC2 which is very CPU dependant. The game runs smooooth as a babys bum.
MUCH, MUCH... Smaller than YOUR PC.
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i5 2500k | 4.5Ghz @ uknownV Gigabyte GA-Z68-D3 ASUS EAH6970 | 1000/1300 1.3v 2x2GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz 8-8-8 
Hard DriveOSMonitorPower
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit BenQ G2222HDL + Hanns-G HQ191D Sapphire FirePSU 625w 
Case
GlobalWin YCC-61F1B (Modding planned) 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
MUCH, MUCH... Smaller than YOUR PC.
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i5 2500k | 4.5Ghz @ uknownV Gigabyte GA-Z68-D3 ASUS EAH6970 | 1000/1300 1.3v 2x2GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz 8-8-8 
Hard DriveOSMonitorPower
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit BenQ G2222HDL + Hanns-G HQ191D Sapphire FirePSU 625w 
Case
GlobalWin YCC-61F1B (Modding planned) 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 24
1/16/11 at 5:48am
An i3 overclocked to 4+ Ghz will play just about all modern games at smooth (40+) FPS. It might bottleneck your 570 in some few games (depending on how CPU-dependant they are) but not most.
Little Messy
(16 items)
 
The 1720 (Laptop)
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II x4 955 (@ 3.8) MSI 890GXM-G65 ASUS HD 6850 (@ 975/1125) G.Skill RipjawX 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Samsung Eco Green Samsung F3 Sony DVD+-RW Writer CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ 
OSOSMonitorKeyboard
Windows 7 Home Premium Arch Linux Dell ST2420 Microsoft Reclusa 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ StealthXStream II 600W NZXT Vulcan Logitech MX518 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core 2 Duo T8300 Dell's own 8600M 4.0GB Hyundai Electronics DDR2 
Hard DriveOS
250GB Hitachi / 250GB Samsung Windows Vista 32 bit 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Little Messy
(16 items)
 
The 1720 (Laptop)
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II x4 955 (@ 3.8) MSI 890GXM-G65 ASUS HD 6850 (@ 975/1125) G.Skill RipjawX 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Samsung Eco Green Samsung F3 Sony DVD+-RW Writer CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ 
OSOSMonitorKeyboard
Windows 7 Home Premium Arch Linux Dell ST2420 Microsoft Reclusa 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ StealthXStream II 600W NZXT Vulcan Logitech MX518 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core 2 Duo T8300 Dell's own 8600M 4.0GB Hyundai Electronics DDR2 
Hard DriveOS
250GB Hitachi / 250GB Samsung Windows Vista 32 bit 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #9 of 24
1/16/11 at 5:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AyeYo View Post
The GTA4 benchmark tool is broken and inconsistent.
Current i5 Rig
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5-760 (4.0ghz @ 1.28v) GIGABYTE P55-USB3 XFX Radeon HD 5850 XXX 4GB DDR3 (XMS3 1600) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Corsair Force 3 120gb + 2.5TB HDDs LG Windows 7 Home Premium x64 23" Acer X233H + 19" GNR 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G110 OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Coolermaster 690 Logitech G500 
Mouse Pad
Razer Sphex 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Current i5 Rig
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core i5-760 (4.0ghz @ 1.28v) GIGABYTE P55-USB3 XFX Radeon HD 5850 XXX 4GB DDR3 (XMS3 1600) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Corsair Force 3 120gb + 2.5TB HDDs LG Windows 7 Home Premium x64 23" Acer X233H + 19" GNR 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G110 OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Coolermaster 690 Logitech G500 
Mouse Pad
Razer Sphex 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #10 of 24
1/16/11 at 6:06am
Yeah, an i3 is good enough for gaming but you will have to buy a new motherboard.

I guess the its all down to power consumption, so why not put your i7 back at stock (or put it at say, 2GHz)- that will help with your power bill. Be sure to keep the voltages as low as possible.

But the main culprit is that graphics card. Why not sell your 470 and get a 460.Failing that, you could always under clock it.

Hope this helps.
Finally joined the Dual Core Revolution
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Windsor Asrock N68C-S UCC XFX 8500GT Passive Cooled 2x Hynix 512MB DDR2 533MHz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Seagate 500GB SATA LG Supermulti SATA Lightscribe Debian Sid AMD64/Windows XP x86 Dell 17" TFT 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
CTC Keyboard PS2 Antec Basiq 350W Casecom KB-7760 Cheesegrater Logitech Mouse PS2 
Mouse Pad
F1 Magazine 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Finally joined the Dual Core Revolution
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Windsor Asrock N68C-S UCC XFX 8500GT Passive Cooled 2x Hynix 512MB DDR2 533MHz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Seagate 500GB SATA LG Supermulti SATA Lightscribe Debian Sid AMD64/Windows XP x86 Dell 17" TFT 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
CTC Keyboard PS2 Antec Basiq 350W Casecom KB-7760 Cheesegrater Logitech Mouse PS2 
Mouse Pad
F1 Magazine 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Intel CPUs
Overclock.net › Forums › Intel › Intel CPUs › Is a I3 good enough for gaming?