What Should I E (E5200 to a i3 2100)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
B

burntpetals87

Distinguished
Jul 1, 2011
4
0
18,510
My current computer has an old E5200 processor and 4GB of DDR2. I am seriously considering upgrading to the i3 2100 SB processor with 4 GB of good DDR3. I am keeping the rest of my components (except obviously getting a new mobo) so I am curious as to how much of an improvement I will see, particularly in gaming.

My main games I play are Metro 2033, Crysis (Vanilla, Warhead, and 2), Dragon Age: Origins, Mafia 2, GTA IV, and The Witcher 2.

I am curious if anyone can give me an idea of how much better it will be before making the purchase. I've tried looking at benchmarks but it's really hard to gauge given that I haven't really seen anything comparing these two processors with the same graphics card. I have an HD 6850. I don't expect a buttload of information but just a general opinion would be nice! :) Thanks.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
wintermint

wintermint

Distinguished
Sep 30, 2009
1,150
0
19,460
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

Sandy Bridge surpassed the previous Intel CPUs by a good margin. It may not look a lot on paper but it's still a good deal. You can expect better performace with each generation of Intel CPUs. Some games are more CPU intensive and upgrading will help you out a bit. I also think the e5200 is a bottleneck for your HD 6850. You should make the upgrade. The best budget gaming upgrade to Sandy Bridge is indeed the i3 2100 along with a H61 or H67 motherboard. You can purchase all those for around $200 on newegg. A bit cheaper in Microcenter [like $100 for the CPU instead of $125 in newegg]
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

burntpetals87

Distinguished
Jul 1, 2011
4
0
18,510
Thank you. I found a good combination of an H61 board for 60$, 32$ for 4GB of G.Skill memory, and then the i3 2100. It seems like a solid buy and if you're right about the bottleneck it should help out even more than I originally thought. Not to change the question too much, but do you think it's worth waiting for the extra 60$ to get the i5 2300 or 2400? Would the upgrade to a quad really make that big a difference?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810

you can overclock your e5200 and save up for a i5 later on, the e5200 should overclock well and should relive some of the the bottleneck on the 6850
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

burntpetals87

Distinguished
Jul 1, 2011
4
0
18,510
@megadelayed

I do not overclock due to my motherboard and the fact I am using stock HSF. And since it'd cost me a solid 50$ to get a proper motherboard for OC'ing it, I'd rather just put that money towards the new build.

I am thinking I will postpone until I can afford the i5 2400 instead of the i3 2100. I checked out the benchmarks comparing the two and while it's not monumental differences, it will allow stuff optimized for four cores to run better and just seems the most cost efficient choice. And before people tell me to get the i5 2500k, I am interested in saving the money for a second 6850 soon rather than overclocking the CPU. I game more than anything and I'd have to spend an extra 40$ at least for a decent P67 or Z68 motherboard, plus the extra 30 toward the 2500k... I'd rather put it towards graphics. But seriously, thank you all for your input. You've given me good information on this.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810

true, and theres no point in getting the 2300 as its only a tiny price difference
@008Rohit
wouldn't a h61 do for a i5 2400, the op could save even more money as most people dont need the more advanced feature of h67
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810

i think quite a few h61 motherboards have usb3, usb 3 is not native for the 6 series chipset so its really up to the manufacturer to add the feature in
the h61 still supports quick sync as long as the igp supports it
but its the other 2 the op has to consider though
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810

i have a i3 2100 with a biostar h61 itx and i could use the quick sync feature, not sure if its just my model but there is one other thing it doesn't support though: AHCI , even though i have both AHCI/ide mode in my bios, it would not boot with AHCI mode, only with ide
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
striker410

striker410

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2011
3,292
0
21,160

Not to nitpick, but QuickSync is supported by H61. Also, GPU overclocking has nothing to do with the mobo, you're thinking of CPU OCing. But that doesn't matter, since neither the i3-2100 or the i5-2400 can be overclocked to anything worthwhile anyway :p

I do agree however that H61 is a tad barren. But if he doesn't need USB3 or Sata3 (really the only reason to get H67 over H61) then a simpler board would be fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

megadelayed

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2011
299
0
18,810

yeah but for the price of that motherboard you can get a h67 one for about the same price like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130598 only $75 so its not worth getting the h61 that you mentioned (no offence) but if the op wants to save money then a cheaper h61 with just the standard features would be great for the op
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom