Core i3-2100 vs Phenom II X4 955

[inferniac]

I'm putting together a new build (with a really tight budget ;) ), and these are my CPU options, after reading some articles, I'm leaning towards the i3, but I decided to ask for some opinions here too :) It's gonna be used mostly for gaming, other components are 4 GB RAM, Radeon 6850 1GB. I'm not planning on doing any OC.

[mr.r9]

Well it looks like the i3 is better for gaming, so you should go with that. But what about the motherboard?

Usually, but not always, AMD motherboards are cheaper.

So consider this, try to save as much as possible, & upgrade your GPU from a 6850 to a 6950. It's about 90-100$ more expensive, but If you're gaming, then that'll give you a huge boost

[muratoner]

i would get a AMD Athlon X4 for about 90$ and overclock it to ~3.8ghz without adding extra voltage.(for a tight budget).oops i just read you won't be overclocking..still try to get a quad if you can

[inferniac]

Well it looks like the i3 is better for gaming, so you should go with that. But what about the motherboard?

Usually, but not always, AMD motherboards are cheaper.

So consider this, try to save as much as possible, & upgrade your GPU from a 6850 to a 6950. It's about 90-100$ more expensive, but If you're gaming, then that'll give you a huge boost

I got motherboards for both picked and they are about the same price, 90-100$ more is way above my budget :D

[mr.r9]

I got motherboards for both picked and they are about the same price, 90-100$ more is way above my budget :D

Hahaha I know what you mean, I upgraded my 4850 to a 6950 & it's an unbelievable upgrade. I still have my Q6600 in, I'll upgrade both the CPU & motherboard in the summer. I've had the same setup running for 2 years & 9 months.

Really man try to save as much as possible, or upgrade in steps because the final result will be fantastic. I am telling you this because that's what I did & I veeeery am happy.

Look at this: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/291?vs=292 , the 6950 can be upgraded easily to a 6970.

Anyway, if you can do it, then do it. But if you can't, go with your current setup including the i3.

[chconline Veteran]

If you don't plan on overclocking, the i3 is probably a decent choice. I just got an i3-2120 (It's 200MHz faster :p ) last week and it's looking good. Obviously it's no 2500K like my main desktop but it's good performance for the money.

[draelas]

i think the i3's were the low end intel processors. i thought the i7's were for gaming, which would be more equivilant to the phenom's?

[Andre S. Veteran]

They're all fine processors for gaming. Obviously the i5 and i7 offer some performance improvements (the extra 2 cores sorta help :p), but the whole Sandy Bridge line is way ahead of the Phenom II in terms of single-threaded performance, which is the most important for gaming.

[Seizure1990]

i think the i3's were the low end intel processors. i thought the i7's were for gaming, which would be more equivilant to the phenom's?

When I read the topic, I was also thinking that this seemed like an odd comparison. I Know the i3 series is the low-end, and I thought Phenom was AMD's high end, but I'm not as knowledgeable with AMD, so I dunno.

[still1]

i3 is dual core i believe and Phenom II X4 955 is 4 core which is good for gaming.

i7 is what you should go for gaming in intel but i3 is not bad. I would go with Phenom II X4 955 since it has 2 extra core and more computing power.

[Andre S. Veteran]

i7 is what you should go for gaming in intel but i3 is not bad. I would go with Phenom II X4 955 since it has 2 extra core and more computing power.

i3 beats the x4 in gaming benchmarks: anandtech review

[CronicHazel]

i3 is dual core i believe and Phenom II X4 955 is 4 core which is good for gaming.

i7 is what you should go for gaming in intel but i3 is not bad. I would go with Phenom II X4 955 since it has 2 extra core and more computing power.

Games don't need more cores, just more computing power.

[Seizure1990]

Games don't need more cores, just more computing power.

having more cores means background processes take less of a tole on your game.

[CronicHazel]

having more cores means background processes take less of a tole on your game.

Haha yeah, but that's only if the CPU can handle it in the first place XD (atleast games in somewhat high settings)

[inferniac]

When I read the topic, I was also thinking that this seemed like an odd comparison.

When my friend told me I'd be better off with the i3 I thought so too, but the benchmarks speak for themselves:

(upper ones are OC'ed to 3,8 GHz which I wasn't planning to do anyways)

Black Ops:

Far Cry 2:

NFS Shift:

Starcraft II:

[ApuBo]

....

What gpu they using, mine is 480GTX with 2600k on black ops i get 120-125fps (think thats the limit since it wont go further)

[inferniac]

What gpu they using, mine is 480GTX with 2600k on black ops i get 120-125fps (think thats the limit since it wont go further)

That's the platform:

Source is here, but it's in polish :p

[CentralDogma]

When my friend told me I'd be better off with the i3 I thought so too, but the benchmarks speak for themselves:

(upper ones are OC'ed to 3,8 GHz which I wasn't planning to do anyways)

Black Ops:

Far Cry 2:

NFS Shift:

Starcraft II:

You might want to check some other benchmarks, but I think you?ve supplied the answer to your own question here. Go with the i3.

It?s kind of sad to see AMD?s processor, with twice as many cores and a higher clock, measure at the same level as Intel?s low end options. It just goes to show the importance of good architecture.

[Andre S. Veteran]

It?s kind of sad to see AMD?s processor, with twice as many cores and a higher clock, measure at the same level as Intel?s low end options.

The Phenom II architecture is now 3 and a half years old, and it wasn't that fast to being with. AMD really needs to step up their game NOW.

[CronicHazel]

The Phenom II's were mainly designed to compete with the later Core 2's... so Sandy at this point is way outta their league, in terms of raw processing power. :x

[RATiO]

I have a Phenom II and I can't complain about my game performance.

[chconline Veteran]

I have a Phenom II and I can't complain about my game performance.

Neither would you with a Core 2.

Sandy Bridge will blow your processor out of the water, plain and simple :p

[RATiO]

Neither would you with a Core 2.

Sandy Bridge will blow your processor out of the water, plain and simple :p

So he can extract a rar quicker, big wow

[Seizure1990]

The Phenom II architecture is now 3 and a half years old, and it wasn't that fast to being with. AMD really needs to step up their game NOW.

Wasn't everybody going on about how AMD was finally making a comeback, not too long ago? What happened?

So he can extract a rar quicker, big wow

Geez man, just because your computer doesn't have the best/latest hardware, doesn't mean you need to get bitter and defensive. No one was trying to insult you. I still run a Core 2 Duo in my own machine.

[RATiO]

Wasn't everybody going on about how AMD was finally making a comeback, not too long ago? What happened?

Geez man, just because your computer doesn't have the best/latest hardware, doesn't mean you need to get bitter and defensive. No one was trying to insult you. I still run a Core 2 Duo in my own machine.

I didn't mean to come across like that. I was just making the point that the average gamer doesn't need a massively powerful number crunching processor.