i3 vs i5 is there really a big difference?

[olivergoldvalente]

So I'm planning an ITX build where I'll be using a gtx 760 and 8gbs or ram. I also have no plans to overclock!

My question is should I go cheap with a core i3 or spend a bit more on the i5

 

Core i3:

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-4130-FCLGA-Processor-BX80646I34130/dp/B00EUUKVXM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1398563734&sr=1-1&keywords=core+i3

 

Core i5: 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO8TA4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

I mainly game, I'm not looking towards productivity. But will the extra processing power really help much? Thanks for any advice.

[WoodenMarker]

Depends on what games your playing. There are many instances where the 4 cores from the i5 would easily outperform the 2 cores with hyperthreading on the i3. 

[Excon]

Well theres 2x the cores, so yes there is a difference

[DrFeel]

Yea, the price.

 

Honestly, in my opinion it is not that much of a difference, i5 is just $100 more expensive. Must most games uses more GPU power anyways, so if you want to save $100 then get the i3, I would get the i3. Games like Battlefield 3 with that GPU you'll probably get 60+ FPS Average. If you want an extra 10 FPS for no reason then sure, go for the i5.

[Guest Kloaked]

What games do you play, or plan on playing, OP?

[DoubleY]

The i3 will PROBABLY be fine for any game that a 760 can run. 

[x Relentless Xx]

i3 is a dual core. The i5 is a quad core. More cores are used to spread the load on the processor out. Therefore if you have more cores, you can put more load on the processor. Thats why the AMD 8 cores handle multitasking so well.

[jezza39]

Some more CPU heavy games like Battlefield and Metro, plus any 'simulation' games (Simcity, train sim etc) will see a real difference. Games like the source engine ones (CS, portal etc) probably less so

[LmeAde2]

WoodenMarker hit the nail on the head. You need to give more information on the types of games you will be playing. Obviously higher end or more CPU intensive games would be bottlenecked by only two cores from an i3.

 

Personally, I wouldn't recommend anything below an i5-4570 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO8TA4I for gaming. I'd hate to decide to play a new game and not be able to play it as well because of skimping out on the CPU

[olivergoldvalente]

What games do you play, or plan on playing, OP?

Battlefield, borderlands, modded skyrim/fallouts, titanfall, game emulators, different fps' mainly.

[Guest Kloaked]

Battlefield, borderlands, modded skyrim/fallouts, titanfall, game emulators, different fps' mainly.

 

Get an i5 if you can. 

[Glenwing]

It depends on the game.  An i3 will handle most just fine, but some games that are more CPU heavy like Planetside 2 will benefit a lot from the 2 extra cores on an i5.

[deathjester]

Battlefield, borderlands, modded skyrim/fallouts, titanfall, game emulators, different fps' mainly.

 

Emulators = I5 K or go home for Dolphin (wii). Emulators are very cpu bound, so normal rules of bottlenecking don't apply and add to that Dolphin uses 3 cores max.

 

See if you got one of these in your state (Microcenter). Bottom left combo. 235 for motherboard and I5 k. MB overclocks just fine, I have one with my I7. Get a evo 212 cooler for 30 bucks for the overclock. You can get a more expensive board if you are doing SLI later. That board will do cross fire and run a single Nvidia card just fine though. 

 

http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

 

I5 will also be faster in large MMO's/multiplayer shooters. I3 isn't exactly horrible in them though.

[olivergoldvalente]

Emulators = I5 K or go home for Dolphin (wii). Emulators are very cpu bound, so normal rules of bottlenecking don't apply and add to that Dolphin uses 3 cores max.

 

See if you got one of these in your state (Microcenter). Bottom left combo. 235 for motherboard and I5 k. MB overclocks just fine, I have one with my I7. Get a evo 212 cooler for 30 bucks for the overclock. You can get a more expensive board if you are doing SLI later. That board will do cross fire and run a single Nvidia card just fine though. 

 

http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

 

I5 will also be faster in large MMO's/multiplayer shooters. I3 isn't exactly horrible in them though.

I'm not horribly invested in emulators, just casual. Pretty if gamecube games look nice on my cheap AMD, an i5 will be ok. And those aren't available in my state   SLI is no concern for ITX. Should I get an i3, and a nicer board? This will leave room for easier upgrades and overclocking later right?

[deathjester]

I'm not horribly invested in emulators, just casual. Pretty if gamecube games look nice on my cheap AMD, an i5 will be ok. And those aren't available in my state   SLI is no concern for ITX. Should I get an i3, and a nicer board? This will leave room for easier upgrades and overclocking later right?

 

I5 K can emulate Wii, not just game cube. Can use your controller as well.

 

https://dolphin-emu.org/

 

ITX is fine. You don't have to go SLI and I wouldn't bother SLI'ing a GTX 760 anyways. It will be good at 1080p for quite some time. Any z87 mini itx will clock as good as a bigger board. MB doesn't matter besides how many graphics lanes it has. 

 

I3 over I5? Pc Part picker will find the lowest price for ya. Compare the price and see if it is worth it to you.

 

I5 gives you better emulation, fps in multiplayer games, streaming, multitasking those games pretty well. 

 

I3 saves you some money initially on two things. Motherboard (doesn't need to be z87) and price of the chip. It will play all PC games pretty darn well though.  If your budget required you get an I3 over an I5 to go from a 750ti to a GTX 760? Yeah that is a no brainer. Take the GTX 760.

 

All depends on your budget. You can always add a I5/I7 later on a non z87 board but you can't OC them if it isn't a Z. You don't have to OC though, that is all up to you. Overclocking helps more in emulation then it does real games to be honest.

 

I5 is far and away the better overall chip, but budgets exist and we all have budgets. I would have liked the 2011 hexa core but I can't afford it lol . Pretty much anything under a I5 K for gaming you have to sacrifice emulation, MMO/multiplayerFPS/streaming to a degree, whether it is AMD or I3.

 

You just have to pick your poison and stick to that choice, and possible upgrades later factor in as well. If you get a really cheap MB with a 6300fx? That won't take a 8350 later. Non Z intel board? No K overclock later. You will figure it out and when ya do? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise because you made the best choice for you .

[Faa]

i3's are in general not a bottleneck for a 760 they can pretty much max them out in Battlefield 4/Titanfall which would mean you'd be mainly gpu bound and that's when a better cpu can't make a difference. i3's are enough for budget gamers imo, most people just buy a i5/i7 thats not ever going to be overclocked and a stupid gtx 660 and barely realize i3's can max them out so they havent made a smartbuy either.

Not saying the i3 is just as good as i5's but most of the time you're only benefiting from its overclocking options.
 

 

I'm not horribly invested in emulators, just casual. Pretty if gamecube games look nice on my cheap AMD, an i5 will be ok. And those aren't available in my state     SLI is no concern for ITX. Should I get an i3, and a nicer board? This will leave room for easier upgrades and overclocking later right?

You won't really have more upgradability between the cheapest & a z87 mini itx board.

A mini itx z87 board is probably atleast 100$ and you should pair this with a 4670k or else it wouldn't really make sense that you paid twice as much for basically aesthetics. 

[olivergoldvalente]

I5 K can emulate Wii, not just game cube. Can use your controller as well.

 

https://dolphin-emu.org/

 

ITX is fine. You don't have to go SLI and I wouldn't bother SLI'ing a GTX 760 anyways. It will be good at 1080p for quite some time. Any z87 mini itx will clock as good as a bigger board. MB doesn't matter besides how many graphics lanes it has. 

 

I3 over I5? Pc Part picker will find the lowest price for ya. Compare the price and see if it is worth it to you.

 

I5 gives you better emulation, fps in multiplayer games, streaming, multitasking those games pretty well. 

 

I3 saves you some money initially on two things. Motherboard (doesn't need to be z87) and price of the chip. It will play all PC games pretty darn well though.  If your budget required you get an I3 over an I5 to go from a 750ti to a GTX 760? Yeah that is a no brainer. Take the GTX 760.

 

All depends on your budget. You can always add a I5/I7 later on a non z87 board but you can't OC them if it isn't a Z. You don't have to OC though, that is all up to you. Overclocking helps more in emulation then it does real games to be honest.

 

I5 is far and away the better overall chip, but budgets exist and we all have budgets. I would have liked the 2011 hexa core but I can't afford it lol . Pretty much anything under a I5 K for gaming you have to sacrifice emulation, MMO/multiplayerFPS/streaming to a degree, whether it is AMD or I3.

 

You just have to pick your poison and stick to that choice, and possible upgrades later factor in as well. If you get a really cheap MB with a 6300fx? That won't take a 8350 later. Non Z intel board? No K overclock later. You will figure it out and when ya do? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise because you made the best choice for you .

 

 

 

i3's are in general not a bottleneck for a 760 they can pretty much max them out in Battlefield 4/Titanfall which would mean you'd be mainly gpu bound and that's when a better cpu can't make a difference. i3's are enough for budget gamers imo, most people just buy a i5/i7 thats not ever going to be overclocked and a stupid gtx 660 and barely realize i3's can max them out so they havent made a smartbuy either.

Not saying the i3 is just as good as i5's but most of the time you're only benefiting from its overclocking options.

 

 

You won't really have more upgradability between the cheapest & a z87 mini itx board.

A mini itx z87 board is probably atleast 100$ and you should pair this with a 4670k or else it wouldn't really make sense that you paid twice as much for basically aesthetics. 

 

I think I'm going i5. I'm tight on money and I'm not huge in Emulators but bf4 does like extra cores. And it would annoy the hell outta me knowing I could have bought something better.

[deathjester]

I think I'm going i5. I'm tight on money and I'm not huge in Emulators but bf4 does like extra cores. And it would annoy the hell outta me knowing I could have bought something better.

 

Have fun with the build and have a blast on the new system