Which is better for gaming, i3 2100/gtx 560 ti 448 or i5 2500k/HD6870?

[hasnol]

i'm confuse to choose either i3 2100 together with gtx 560 ti 448 cores or i5 2500k together with radeon HD 6870 for best performance in gaming ( ultra setting ).. both have almost the same budget.. so, i need to choose which one.. please help me!

 

[WR2]

What games are you interested in?
What is your monitor resolution?

 

[rolli59]

The only time that the I5 will win with the lesser card is when it utilizes more than the 2 cores in the I3. The I5 is though a better CPU and HD6870 is a very capable card for single monitor gaming so I personally would go that way bearing in mind that I upgrade GPU's at least ones on my CPU/mobo in between upgrading those.

 

[hasnol]

battlefield 3, crysis 2, fifa 12, left for dead 2, GTA 4 and other highest games..

my monitor is 23' inch.. maybe 1920 x 1200 or 1920 x 1080.. i'm not sure too..

 

[amuffin]

i5.

 

[viktorbkk]

The i3 system might win now with the better card. But eventually, you will upgrade your GPU, and then you 'll wish you had that i5.

 

[aqe040466]

i'm confuse to choose either i3 2100 together with gtx 560 ti 448 cores or i5 2500k together with radeon HD 6870 for best performance in gaming ( ultra setting ).. both have almost the same budget.. so, i need to choose which one.. please help me!

It's clear that almost all the reviews and benchmarks results that I've read, It's the i5 2500K is the winner. You can pair it 6870 or the latest HD 7770 1GHZ core clock.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I am going to have to say in most higher end games that the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K would win. While the video card makes up about 80% of your gaming performance I don't think the differences between these cards can make up value and performance that the Intel Core i5-2500K brings to the table over the Intel i3-2100.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[WR2]

Core i5 2500K with HD 6870 has the best potential for BF3 and future games, -> especially if you have a Crossfire capable motherboard included

 

[newt183]

Viktorbbk is right, therefore I would go with I5 2500k

 

[ismaeljrp]

The Former is better...

i3 2100/560ti is better performer than a i5 2500/6870.

unless you are gaming above 1080p, nothing will offer anymore than the i3 already does.

 

[ismaeljrp]

I don't understand why some ppl here don't answer the quesion for what it is. It was a quite simple one really. Although your personal opinions are welcome, sometimes this confuses people , because they are just that...opinions...everyone is diferent...

Simple Straight Foward...

The Answer to the question is as I stated above.

Plain and simple, side by side, i3 2100/560ti will bring higher game performance than the i5/6870. That's a fact.

 

[ismaeljrp]

but everyone else does have a point...
I wouldn't get the i3 because, it's good currently, but it has no potential.
i5 has a lot of potential and much more posibility, for variables.

I say. If you are gaming at 1680 x 1050 or lower, and you absolutely don't care much about future proofing. Go with the i3 combo.

If you want to future proof, want more flexibility, and/or game at or above 1080p. Go with the i5 combo.

 

[jessterman21]

If you are gaming at 1680 x 1050 or lower, and you absolutely don't care much about future proofing. Go with the i3 combo.

If you want to future proof, want more flexibility, and/or game at or above 1080p. Go with the i5 combo.

+1

hasnol - if you decide on the i3 (more than enough for the games you listed) let us (read: me) know how it plays Crysis 2 with the HD 6870. My CPU chokes hard trying to play it on DX11, so I'm looking at a platform update too.

 

[jaguarskx]

#1. The i3-2100/560Ti combo will give you better performance now.

#2. The i5-2500k/HD 6870 can potentially give you better performance in the future since the 2500k is a quad core CPU and overclockable.

If you want instant gratification then go with #1. If you want PC that can last you longer especially after upgrading the HD 6870 then choose #2. It's that simple.

 

[Guest]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_448_Cores/7.html

depending on the game it looks like at lower resolutions the 550ti has a significant performance advantage. but at higher resolutions things seem to be not so significant.

so with that in mind: i5 & HD6870 FTW!

btw, i personally would never spend more that $250 for a card unless it cooks dinner and does the dishes!

 

[rolli59]

i am going to go against the grain here (at least "most" of the grain)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_448_Cores/7.html

depending on the game it looks like at lower resolutions the 550ti has a significant performance advantage. but at higher resolutions things seem to be not so significant.

so with that in mind: i5 & HD6870 FTW!

This gives a better picture http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_448_Cores/27.html

 

[esrever]

i5 2400 + 560 ti would be the best.

 

[Guest]

This gives a better picture http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_448_Cores/27.html

yeah so a card costing 60% gives 85% to 91% performance.

and i do love Nvidia but facts are facts.

 

[rolli59]

yeah so a card costing 60% gives 85% to 91% performance.

and i do love Nvidia but facts are facts.

The GTX560Ti core 448 is on average 25% faster and to some it is worth it but like I said in my original reply the HD6870 is a very capable card therefore I would recommend the I5 2500K with the HD6870!

 

[Guest]

The GTX560Ti core 448 is on average 25% faster and to some it is worth it but like I said in my original reply the HD6870 is a very capable card therefore I would recommend the I5 2500K with the HD6870!

i am misunderstanding that you misunderstood me?

maybe i should have said, "for the HD 6870 to cost 60% of the 560ti 448 but give 85% to 91% of the performance, it looks like a much better buy."

or does it really matter if anyone misunderstood?

 

[esrever]

the i5 at 4ghz offers very little gain from the 3.1ghz i5 2400, the 560 ti is more powerful than the 6870.

this is a best case scenario where the gpu is not the bottleneck, only a 3% increase in performance between the 2400 and 2500k OC. Pretty much would be non existent with a lower powered gpu.

now the 560 ti is 10% faster than the 6870 and will definitely give better performance.