At its default clock frequency of 3.50GHz, the Core i7-3770K drove the GTX 680 to a silky smooth 64fps, but if you wanted to overclock, 4.0GHz yields 8% more frames and 4.50GHz nets a 17% increase for a total of 75fps.
We saw similar trends with the FX-8350, but since the chip already comes clocked at 4.0GHz, it doesn’t leave as much headroom. Still, we managed to increase the average frame rate by 10% from 61fps to 67fps.
Looking at the performance of various processors and platforms, it’s safe to say you’ll want to play Crysis 3 with a quad-core processor – and not just any old quad-core like the Athlon II X4. It’ll need some muscle. The FX-8350 surprised us with 61fps, just a few frames slower than the Core i7-3770K. As we have seen repeatedly, aging workhorses such as the Core i7-920 and Phenom II X4 980 still hold their own with both averaging 54fps, and although they were almost 20% slower than the Core i7 powerhouses, they still provide plenty of value.
