Processor Question

[spidzcats]

Which processor will provide better FPS in games like SC2 and Rift. An 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M or AMD Quad-Core A6-3430MX Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.7GHz, 4MB L2 Cache) and will an I5 or the A8 make a huge difference if I upgrade.

 

[smorizio]

Which processor will provide better FPS in games like SC2 and Rift. An 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M or AMD Quad-Core A6-3430MX Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.7GHz, 4MB L2 Cache) and will an I5 or the A8 make a huge difference if I upgrade.

the intel cpu from many of tom hardware articals is the better gaming cpu for the money. just take a look at there budget build for this money. with newer games out there there is a point when not having a better cpu impacts the gpu cards or bottle necks it. you see it on a lot of the video charts when they show the fps or speed in a diag program. any of the i-5 line is going to be able to be match to any of the newer gpu and not bottle neck it unless you turn on all the bells and whistles of these new games. on video card side the 560ti or the 6870 or any card in the 150.00 price rang now should be able to play those games fine.

 

[Rockdpm]

I5, if you can get it. the I5 is the best option for gamers.

Which I5 were you looking at?

 

[willard]

AMD's APUs (the processor that start with the letter A) are not good for gaming, unless you want low settings in a low power environment, like on a laptop. It seems that you are looking at laptops, so you'll need to look at some of the other information to decide.

If the laptop has a discrete video card (one that's not part of the processor), then the i3 is going to be much better than the A6. However, if it doesn't have a discrete card, then the A6 wins because the GPU it has built into it is much, much better than the one in the i3.

That said, I doubt either one of those CPUs will be able to have decent performance at or near max settings in those games, unless paired with a discrete card.

 

[spidzcats]

Yes it is in a laptop. The GPU is 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]. Will the A6 be a bottleneck for the GPU and what about the i3

 

[lupinesithlord]

I noticed that we are talking mobile processors here (and therefore i take the logical step of thinking laptops) if you want to play games you want the intel chips, with dedicated graphics (ie 520m or up (or whatever the ati equivalent is))
I also noticed that your thinking of getting a laptop with a lower processor and then upgrading it...if you can dont do this. most laptops are set with certain specs, upgrading ram or hard drive is no big deal. The manufacturer can limit what processors will work with the motherboard and heatsink that comes with your laptop. I'm not saying that its impossible to do so, just very difficult to improbable.
If we are talking desktops then thats a different story and we need to talk desktop level hardware not mobile (assuming non all in one machines.)

 

[spidzcats]

The upgrade would be through the manufacturer. I am just trying to pair up a processor with the GPU listed that won't bottleneck the GPU and let me play SC2 and Rift at med/high settings comfortably. I just need it when traveling, my Desktop is my main gaming rig.

 

[willard]

The i3 should be fine with that GPU for medium/high settings in those games. The A6 will give you problems in Starcraft (strategy games hit the CPU hard), not sure about Rift.

The i5 will make SC2 run better, but I'm not sure the difference will be very great. If it's a cheap upgrade (<$50?) I'd go for it to err on the side of caution, provided your budget isn't super strict.

 

[spidzcats]

Will an A8 give a noticible bump over the A6. The upgrade from A6 to A8 is 70 dollars. The i3 is rougly 75 dollars over the A6 and the I5 is 125 dollars over the A6. Thankls

 

[willard]

If the money isn't an issue and you're just looking for the best bang for your buck, I'd say the i5 is the way to go. It's a pretty nice step up from the i3, which is also a fine choice if you really don't think you'll need the extra horsepower and want to save a bit of cash.