1680x1050 - Gaming Performance

Despite its impressive graphics, we found Dirt 3 to be very hardware friendly at 1680x1050. Ideally, we aim for 60fps, but Dirt 3 plays well around 40fps. Therefore, many of the mid-range graphics cards from the previous generation will do the job nicely at 1680x1050.

For example, even the year-old GTX 460 (1GB) averaged 46fps while the HD 5830 was slightly slower with 43fps. Even current generation low-end parts such as the HD 6790 and GTX 550 Ti hovered around 40fps, which again, was sufficient for smooth gameplay.

Gamers stuck with the GTS 450 or HD 6750 will have to play with less demanding settings.