2500K Performance

[SavageCupcake]

hi guys

ive got an i3 2100 at the moment with 4gb ram and a 6850 overclocked. im pretty close to getting the dosh for a 2500k. what kind of fps increase am i going to see in games? i know its mostly gpu but im just wondering

im also going to be overclocking it a fair bit ( got a d-14 at the moment.... overkill i know

) also if i was to get another 8gb of ram,would that help my fps aswell?

 

[Master&Puppet]

It's hard to say what fps increase as such. But what you will get is the full power of the gpu in situations where your current cpu is holding back the gpu.

Check out reviews of the 6850, you should expect those fps results. If you are already getting those results then it would still be a sensible idea to upgrade to a 2500k.

A total of 8gb of ram would be a good investment too, you don't need more than 8gb. This would help your fps too.

 

[Kyze]

Neither ram nor cpu would get you more than like 5fps (absolute max).

Getting a faste GPU would be more noticeable fps wise.

 

[SavageCupcake]

ah ok

thanks guys. if i can find a 6850 cheap would you reccomend xfire or just buy a new 600 series or 7000 series card?

 

[Kyze]

Id always recommend getting one powerful card instead of two weaker ones.

New game releases sometimes dont have crossfire-profiles ready on their launch and that will drop you to

the performance of a single card at best.

-> Get a single fast one, if you have the money!

 

[seumasbeathan]

Neither ram nor cpu would get you more than like 5fps (absolute max).

Getting a faste GPU would be more noticeable fps wise.

Not true at all, i3 2100 vs i5 2500k, as you can see, the fps increase is rather good - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=288

 

[Master&Puppet]

Firstly we need to know what kind of budget we are working with. If you have £140 to work with then we can still do quite a lot to help you.

Could you also tell us what motherboard you are using?

If I were in your situation I would want to upgrade the cpu and double the ram to 8gb as a first move. This would give you a very solid platform to build on.

You could sell your i3 2100 for ~£40 on Ebay (or anywhere else) if you are that way inclined to help with the costs and another 4 gb of ram is not expensive at all.

After that I would save up for a new gpu. You would be better off getting a single, better card. Your 6850 has probably got a useful re sale value on somewhere like ebay, you could see £50-100 depending on it's condition and whether you still have the box etc so that can be added to the pile too.

 

[SavageCupcake]

well ive got 100 quid atm but i get paid for doing the housework so a couple of weeks and ill have my 150 quid. ive got a z68a gd55-g3 supports sli and xfire. was thinking of keeping the i3 for a htpc or a new pc for my little brother. would that be worth it or just sell it?

 

[Master&Puppet]

It might help you to have a look through this post I wrote recently:

http://forum.overclo...532#entry512532

I've just had a think about this in terms of your situation and have compared the data attached to that post and against the performance of your graphics card based on reviews like this one.

I'm now inclined to agree with Kyze. Assuming that you play at 1680x1050 or higher your fps is going to be more limited by the graphics card than the cpu. I think your cpu is capable of achieving minimum frames above 30 fps in modern games (that includes bf3/shogun 2) but your graphics card is not.

If I were you I would keep your cpu but upgrade your gpu. If you sold your 6850 you could get over £50 for it which would give you over £200 when you get that other £50 in a couple of weeks.

The £200 gpu market is really competitive and there are many options out there. I'm thinking of a GTX 480, GTX 570 or HD 7850.

Of the three the 480 will be a close first performance wise, beating the 7850 into second but it will be hotter (and therefore louder) and much less energy efficient.

If you are pushing for performance only then I would go for a 480.

As an all round great card I would go for the 7850 (and it will only a little slower)

I would consider the 570 as an alternative if you found a great deal where you could get it for ~£175.

To put things in perspective take a look at this review which has both the 6850 and 480 amongst the results.

The 480 is 35-40% faster than the 6850. The 7850 will probably be 25-35% faster.

Once you've done that it's time to get some RAM!

 

[SavageCupcake]

thanks mate

im goner see how money is and i might end up getting a new cpu and gpu. the gpu idea seems good to me but i wanna try overclocking to

i know sandy bridge overclocking is easy compared to 1366 and that but still seems like fun. looking for a job now so that should help

probably get the 2500k for this pc then give it to my little brother when i get about 700 quid for a new one

ill think about selling the 6850 though. its an msi cyclone oc edition card so i might get a fair bit more than a normal 6850

 

[Master&Puppet]

Sounds good to me, you know where you come if you want advice on the overclocking

 

[marsey99]

dude i cant see any mention of res and tbh this comes down to that more than anything imo.

if you are at a lower res you will be more cpu bound and upgrading to a 25k might yield massive gains at 1200/1000 but even with a nice oc it would only be single figures if its around 1080.

 

[SavageCupcake]

playing at 1080p but this aoc monitor is horrific

image quality on my iiyama prolite upstairs is so much better. another slight question, will the 2500k improve boot times as it seems to be getting slower ( yes ive de fragged and everything) im just wondering

 

[Master&Puppet]

dude i cant see any mention of res and tbh this comes down to that more than anything imo.

if you are at a lower res you will be more cpu bound and upgrading to a 25k might yield massive gains at 1200/1000 but even with a nice oc it would only be single figures if its around 1080.

Yea I thought about that, but even at 1024/768 the 480 performs 30% better than a ref 6850. This steadily increases to 37% at 2560/1600.

I'm pretty sure his cpu is going to manage 30+ minimum fps on virtually any game - the tests I did on a Phemon II x4 had it even running Shogun 2 above 30 min fps and BF3 at 45 min fps.