i3-2120 3.3GHz

[The_new_guy]

I'm building a budget machine for my mom and dad. My mom will use it to watch Hulu on their big screen. My dad likes to play games. He has an old 2009 laptop (of some sort), and it does great for what it is. However, I'd like to give some with a little more umph.

Would the Sandy Bridge i3-2120 3.3GHz be a good candidate for playing games like Global Agenda, MW3, TF2, CSS, and I'm wanting him to be able to play Crysis 3.

Anyone know the typical sweet spot for overclocking this CPU?

Last question (cause I'm sure there will one) How much bottle neck am I looking at if I give him an old GTX 560-TI (448core version)?

Here is the Mobo if you are wondering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131724

[Xebec]

First things first, you can not overclock that cpu, it is not a "K" model. Also the H61 chipset does not support overclocking.

The 560Ti 448 will be able to run those games well, but you might encounter a bottleneck with that CPU.

[The_new_guy]

Originally Posted by Xebec

First things first, you can not overclock that cpu, it is not a "K" model. Also the H61 chipset does not support overclocking.

The 560Ti 448 will be able to run those games well, but you might encounter a bottleneck with that CPU.

I didn't know that about the overclocking. Thanks!

Also, as said in my OP I know there will be a bottleneck. However, I'm wondering how open or tight this bottleneck will be. If it would be like putting a XS on XL man I'll just buy a lesser GPU and save my TI for a backup.

[RodgerM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVKqInAKSD0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IYvxr8KMZc + http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/185?vs=289 (To see comparison of i3 that beats the AMD in gaming..).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSS2L...feature=relmfu

Looks like they aint having no trouble with the combo to me? (of an i3 with a 560ti)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq4JKJOYgKA

[Derp-Master]

You know there's something wrong here if a dual core beats a 6 core
(I know amount of cores don't matter but in CPU heavy tasks.....derp)

[venomblade89]

An i3-2120 will do fine with a 560 ti 448.

[masta121]

Originally Posted by Derp-Master

You know there's something wrong here if a dual core beats a 6 core
(I know amount of cores don't matter but in CPU heavy tasks.....derp)

It just has higher single core performance, it won't actually win in a situation where all 6 cores on a Thuban are being utilized. It also can't be overclocked.

But for what it is, it's a great CPU and can easily play any games out right now without bottlenecks.

[ericlee2k]

You won't have to overclock the i3 anyway; Sandy Bridge is a great processor on its own. The i3 can even match or beat the FX-8150 gaming shown here with a slightly slower i3-2100 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=434.

Here is also a great source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ck,3106-5.html.

If you jump around the pages in the article, you can see that the best gaming CPU for $110 is the FX-4100, while the best gaming CPU for $130 is the i3-2120.

[masta121]

Originally Posted by ericlee2k

You won't have to overclock the i3 anyway; Sandy Bridge is a great processor on its own. The i3 can even match or beat the FX-8150 gaming shown here with a slightly slower i3-2100 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=434.

Here is also a great source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ck,3106-5.html.

If you jump around the pages in the article, you can see that the best gaming CPU for $110 is the FX-4100, while the best gaming CPU for $130 is the i3-2120.

Beating the FX-8150 isn't impressive when you consider that Stars (Phenom 2 and Thuban) are actually faster.

[ericlee2k]

Originally Posted by masta121

Beating the FX-8150 isn't impressive when you consider that Stars (Phenom 2 and Thuban) are actually faster.

Well at least we know that it's not going to bottleneck a 560 ti core 448