These are the core specs, this is the inside of my shitty HP computer (trust me, I know ALOT much more than when I bought it).
So for christmas I was thinking about buying a new PSU and a new GPU. (hd 7870 or gtx 660, however I don't play BF3 so I think I'm going to go after the 7870)
So, to the qeustion, with my i3 2120 (3,3ghz). How many fps will I lose compared to a 2500k and a 3570k? How much big of a difference is it? 20-30 fps? Just overall in games, not really in a specific game.
Is it worth getting an cheap i5 and a much cheaper PSU and GPU? Or should I go all in on the GPU (and a little on the PSU, ofc)
Sorry for my post being so weird and hard to read, english is not my native langauge.
Well I have the very same cpu, and with a semi decent GPU (gtx560 oc), and I am able to play all latest games without problems. If you buy one of the above gpu's you mentioned you would see pretty good performance in all new games with mostly high settings (maybe not so much AA etc) and at hd resolution. The only set back of the lil i3 is that when you run into games which utilises 4 cores or more, then the i3's performance can take a hit in comparison to the i5, i7 (But even then will run just fine).
To sum it up you will see better performance in all with a more powerful GPU than CPU at this point as the i3 is plenty processor enough to manage most if not all of the latest games
That processor is dual core correct? I'm not sure what you could do with it but i figure dual core is good enough for most games out there today, and at 3.3ghz you should be okay, not great but okay. I'm not sure if you can push that processor any further, but if you bought a really good high end card like a 660ti+ i could forsee a bottleneck, at least at that frequency; that's not to mean that you couldn't run current gen games, you just wouldn't be able to maximize your gains. Like lifting then eating 15 loaves of bread instead of a steak (not really).
Theres not really significant differences, however you will see better fps if you use a 3570k over the i3-2120 with the same GPU. The second thing to look at is cores. Like the two before have said dual core is good enough for most games today. This might help you out in understanding. Benchmarks between dual core quad core and 6 core cpus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4PDoy-mi0A&feature=youtu.be&t=4m50s
So I've looked on some benchmarks including the i3 2120 and the 3570k but with an 7970. I'm looking at BF3 and it only around 7-10 fps, not that whole 20-30 fps I was thinking about. I can live with that.
Now, instead of making a new thread I'll just post it here instead, which one is the best, 7870 or 660 (non ti) ?
I'm going to play the following games:
TF2
L4D2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R games
Counter strike: global offensive
Call of duty black ops 2
So I don't play BF3 which is all nvidia optimized, will the 7870 be a better choice? Also, is it better to wait after christmas and buy one MUCH cheaper or should I wait 'til the freaking summer and get the 7870/660 then mad cheap or a new 8850/760? I myself was thinking about getting One of those now instead.
BTW, thank you to everybody for being so helpful :)
A 7870 is currently more bang for buck right now. If you're willing to wait, see what the future gives. If the future is good, get the future. If not, well, the past will be cheap by then, so you know what to do.
Also, a difference between an i3-i5-i7 in game FPS will be anywhere from 0-10. Games like Skyrim and Diablo III will be the ones more on the 10 side.
Yeah I'm not that sure of waiting, since I got a gt 520 right now, and it's just so shit it get's me depressed, 15 fps in black ops 2 in the lowest settings (800x600 all on low only gives me 35 fps :( )
That "okay" i3 is better than most AMDs. You don't even need that much power for what you play, but if you're willing to spend, get the HIS ICEq 7870, you can overclock that later in it's life.