i3-2100 - good enough for 25man?

[anb]

Plan to build a ultra-budget rig for my gf with a i3-2100 and something like GTX550Ti purely for 25man raiding on high to ultra (excluding ultra shadows ofc). I'm pretty sure the gpu will be ok, but have some doubts about 2100. So i was hoping to hear some feedback from real users of this CPU about FPS they get in 25man raids. (not interested in pure-theorycrafted "wow is a cpu hog blah-blah go for i2500k" responses)

[ulv]

While an i5-2500k is a beast of a CPU.
An i3 will suffice.

[Deleted]

The i3 2100 will be just fine for 25-mans, just don't expect to play on full ultra (shadows). I'd advise to go with a GTX460 1Gb over the 550ti as they are usually sold for around the same price with the 460 having (overall) better performance.

[bluesphere]

$90 more buys you beasts more of performance with the i5-2500... get an ATI card and call it even imo.

[vesseblah]

It will be playable on quite high settings, but don't expect to push things to ultra on a budget setup. You'll only be disappointed that way and there is a reason why i5-2500K is better than i3-2100 for gaming and WoW in particular.

Also as mentioned above, 550ti is misleadingly named and quite weak card.

[BicycleMafioso]

The GTX 550Ti seems out of place. I'd rather you go GTX460 1GiB, HD6850 or HD6770 instead. I'm not at all a fan of that GPU.
What resolution does your girlfriend play in?

[anb]

460 is not that much better than 550ti for sure, and it's relative price\performance are similar (in my contry that is)


resolution is 1280x1024 and so far there are no plans to go for 1080p in near future

[vesseblah]

or HD6770

6770 is just renamed 5770, and weaker than 1GB model of GTX460. Sure it will be enough for WoW and fairly comparable to GTX550ti, but not an upgrade of any kind.

[Chronnos]

The i3 2100 will be just fine for 25-mans, just don't expect to play on full ultra (shadows). I'd advise to go with a GTX460 1Gb

I use the exact setup you've mentioned, i3 plus GTX460 and i can do 25 man just fine on Ultra settings, my fps usually fluctuates between 25 and 30.

[Toatx]

A 2100 should do fine on Ultra as long as you turn Shadows down. I did a budget build for a friend recently with a 2100 and a HD5770 and it runs WoW at Ultra. With Shadows set to low and Multisampling set to 2x.

[BicycleMafioso]

460 is not that much better than 550ti for sure, and it's relative price\performance are similar (in my contry that is)
<snip>

resolution is 1280x1024 and so far there are no plans to go for 1080p in near future

I see. In Sweden, the 460 1GiB is less expensive as well. By like USD0.40, but it counts!

If the resolution is 1280x1024, i3-2100/550Ti should work fine. Really.

6770 is just renamed 5770, and weaker than 1GB model of GTX460. Sure it will be enough for WoW and fairly comparable to GTX550ti, but not an upgrade of any kind.

Yea, I know, but the 5770 is now out-of-stock here, but the 6770 carries a smaller pricetag by about 300SEK (last I checked). And I'm aware of their relative performance, but the 6770/5770 is good-enough for wow. While reducing the pricetag.

[vesseblah]

If the resolution is 1280x1024, i3-2100/550Ti should work fine. Really.

OP never mentioned resolution, and 1280x1024 is museum quality already. Shouldn't count on that being the only monitor used in next 2-3 years.

[Royaltru]

Why is there so much hate on the 550? It's not that bad and it's decent for the price.

[anb]

I did a budget build for a friend recently with a 2100 and a HD5770 and it runs WoW at Ultra.

please be more specific. There is a very big difference between "running wow on ultra" and "pulling heroic Rhyolith on ultra"

[Wries]

460 is not that much better than 550ti for sure, and it's relative price\performance are similar (in my contry that is)
http://www.geforce.com/Active/en_US/...red/lineup.png

resolution is 1280x1024 and so far there are no plans to go for 1080p in near future

550Ti: most overclocking headroom used already as it's an overclocked 450.
460: overclocking headroom deluxe.

that is, if you're willing to overclock. Otherwise the 460 is just "a little" bit better.

[BicycleMafioso]

OP never mentioned resolution, and 1280x1024 is museum quality already. Shouldn't count on that being the only monitor used in next 2-3 years.

Look under the benchmark-image.

[vesseblah]

Look under the benchmark-image.

"for my gf"

[Toatx]

please be more specific. There is a very big difference between "running wow on ultra" and "pulling heroic Rhyolith on ultra"

At the time I built it I raided a week on it just to make sure it was stable and everything was working right. At the time i was on a 1600x900 monitor and had the setting like i said above and had no issues with anything. During Maloriak Phase3 it dropped to about 40fps iirc and that was the low point.

edit, It was a 25man raid. So hopefully that gives you a good idea of what it would be able to handle.

[BicycleMafioso]

"for my gf"

Now, I'm not sure what you're arguing.

Plan to build a ultra-budget rig for my gf with a i3-2100 and something like GTX550Ti

What resolution does your girlfriend play in?

resolution is 1280x1024 and so far there are no plans to go for 1080p in near future

I do count that as that's his gf's resolution, yes?

But yea, I'm not seeing any troubles with the build. It's a budget build and he knows it. You get quite decent performance out of it, but I'd personally go with the GTX460.

[anb]

So hopefully that gives you a good idea of what it would be able to handle.

thanks, yes it was helpfull

550Ti: most overclocking headroom used already as it's an overclocked 450.
460: overclocking headroom deluxe.

But yea, I'm not seeing any troubles with the build. It's a budget build and he knows it. You get quite decent performance out of it, but I'd personally go with the GTX460.

i see the point, might consider 460 1gb after all.