Would an i3 be a Bottleneck for Gaming?

[Bennie-Mac]

Hey guys,

I just upgraded my old workhorse HP desktop from an old E6300 C2D to an i3 550 Clarkdale complete with DDR3 mobo and 4 gigs of RAM. I really only used it for 3D building modelling for work, so it has been a very worthwhile upgrade as it now performs brilliantly.

However, ive decided i might as well upgrade it a bit further with a new PSU and GFX card (possibly 6870) so that I can get back into the glorious world of PC Gaming. My question for you is would my i3 now be considered a bottleneck compared to say an i5 since its only dual core? Or would the difference not be hugely noticeable?

Thanks

 

[Bennie-Mac]

Depends on the game - as more and more games are starting to be produced that will utlise 4 cores.

However, there are far more games (for now) which run on 2 cores and an i3 coupled with a 6870 should munch its way through most of them with ease (depending on screen res and settings etc.) Even the games that use all 4 cores will be playable but you may need to make a few comromises in settings with new releases.

Thanks Plec, i kinda figured it would be ok for now but not great for future games. For all the difference in price i think i might as well just upgrade then, got a few old bits to sell as well which should help make up the difference

 

[Bennie-Mac]

I have a Core i3 2100 and a HD5850 1GB which runs games fine at 1680X1050. Have you tried overclocking the Core i3 550??

I have it running at 3.9GHz at the minute, though I still havent bought my gfx card yet so i dont know if its much of an improvement over stock speeds as i havent tried any games yet. Ill be playing at 1900x1080 though...

 

[Bennie-Mac]

Double post...