i5 3350p or G3258?

[DaltonM]

So I made a topic all about the G3258 and how I wanted to get it, and right before I placed the order, I check craigslist. Low and behold, this guy wants to sell me a Z75 motherboard, and a i5 3350p for $160. 

 

I check websites like cpuboss and they all said to go with the i5. I feel that these were tested at stock clock speeds. 

 

If I got the G3258, I would over clock it, but the 3350 I wouldn't. 

 

I would get the 3350p with this motherboard: LINK (it's long) Seems serviceable for not over clocking. All this for 160, with a cooler of course.

 

Or 

 

I can get the G3258 with a Z97M, and 212 evo cooler  all new parts for $160.

 

I really need your guy's help to decide on either set up.

 

Either way it costs the same, but it's hard to choose

 

Thanks

[arvark]

i5.

[Interfectorem]

I would go with the G3258 and the new parts. You'll be able to overclock the CPU a fair bit and plus you get brand new parts. The motherboard you linked is probably far inferior to the Z97M. You also get an upgrade path if you go with the G3258.

[shypin]

i5 gives better performance in multitasking (two extra cores)

g3258 is more fun to play with because its unlocked

[DaltonM]

Yeah, I really want to get away from the 1155 socket, but I don't know, I wish i could see overclocked performance of G3258 compared to the i5

[ShadowCaptain]

Yeah, I really want to get away from the 1155 socket, but I don't know, I wish i could see overclocked performance of G3258 compared to the i5

 

an OCd 3258 is nowhere near an i5 in games since most games you need an i5 for will utilize the extra 2 cores which makes more difference than just clock speed

 

except for super budget rigs its hard to recommend the g3258

[DaltonM]

Yeah, I think going with more cores is better for gaming, with all the news a while back with Farcry not starting on a dual core system.

[Nena Trinity]

No to Pentium!!!

Pentium < Athlon X4

Pentium < i3

Pentium < FX

Pentium < i5

[SteveGrabowski0]

Yeah, I really want to get away from the 1155 socket, but I don't know, I wish i could see overclocked performance of G3258 compared to the i5

 

The overclocked performance of a G3258 sucks with a capital S when it comes to gaming. Even CPU light games like Tomb Raider ran horribly on my 4.4 GHz G3258. I have no idea if that board you're looking at with the i5-3350p is any good though, you should do lots of homework on it.

[ThomasD]

an OCd 3258 is nowhere near an i5 in games since most games you need an i5 for will utilize the extra 2 cores which makes more difference than just clock speed

 

except for super budget rigs its hard to recommend the g3258

It really depends on the specific application.  My G3258 (Oc'd to 4.4 GHz) beats my stock i7 860 in many Aida64 benchmarks, it is only the heavily multiple core/hyperthreaded stuff  where the i7 takes over (SinJulia being the biggest difference.) 

 

Given that the prices are so close it is a tough call - mainly because you don't know how hard the used gear has been flogged.

[tomas710]

So I made a topic all about the G3258 and how I wanted to get it, and right before I placed the order, I check craigslist. Low and behold, this guy wants to sell me a Z75 motherboard, and a i5 3350p for $160. 

 

I check websites like cpuboss and they all said to go with the i5. I feel that these were tested at stock clock speeds. 

 

If I got the G3258, I would over clock it, but the 3350 I wouldn't. 

 

I would get the 3350p with this motherboard: LINK (it's long) Seems serviceable for not over clocking. All this for 160, with a cooler of course.

 

Or 

 

I can get the G3258 with a Z97M, and 212 evo cooler  all new parts for $160.

 

I really need your guy's help to decide on either set up.

 

Either way it costs the same, but it's hard to choose

 

Thanks

Well, between a pentium and an i5 you are jumping 2 tiers so the i5 will rape the pentium, even if the pentium overclocks to 4.8 GHz, however, how reliable is this guy? i mean, it's craiglist, i would have him show me the i5 during a stress test, just to make sure before you buy.

[ShadowCaptain]

It really depends on the specific application.  My G3258 (Oc'd to 4.4 GHz) beats my stock i7 860 in many Aida64 benchmarks, it is only the heavily multiple core/hyperthreaded stuff  where the i7 takes over (SinJulia being the biggest difference.) 

 

Given that the prices are so close it is a tough call - mainly because you don't know how hard the used gear has been flogged.

 

I dont really see synthetic benchmarks as anything more more than number generators, fact is the g3258 is pretty pants these days especially as more and more games are requiring quad cores

[ThomasD]

I dont really see synthetic benchmarks as anything more more than number generators, fact is the g3258 is pretty pants these days especially as more and more games are requiring quad cores

Well, if you don't bother to understand what sorts of operations the benchmarks are performing I could see how you might think that way.

 

https://www.aida64.co.uk/products/features/benchmarks

 

They are hardly perfect, but they do allow apples to apples comparisons of specific sorts of processing demands.  And it does show that in non-heavily cored/HT applications the G3258 can perform quite well.

 

Yes, more and more games are running, if not outright demanding quad cores (e.g. GTA V), but if you are not going to run those games then that is effectively a non-issue.

 

Beyond that you also get into the question of whether a three year old i5 will run such games well either.  And short of trying the game on both systems you will still be left with comparing synthetics for both systems.

 

Realistically neither chip will be performing well with any new releases two years from now.

 

Which is why I prefaced the very start of my comment with "It really depends on the specific application." 

[Tim Drake]

The ONLY situation where buying a Pentium and overclocking it is useful is when you can't afford anything better but want an i5 or i7 further down the line so only use it as a stepping stone!

[Fattedd]

Go for the i5. The G3258 is a budget choice and if you're able to get something better for the same price then do it!

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

its easy enough to find real world gaming benchmarks without having to look at synthetics

[experiencednoob]

i5 is better 

[ThomasD]

its easy enough to find real world gaming benchmarks without having to look at synthetics

Very true, assuming those benchmarks also use the appropriate video card relevant to the setup.

 

When they don't use your same video card I tend to think the only useful stat (for comparing different CPUs) is the minimum FPS rating; average and max FPS less so.

 

Real world always trumps synthetic, again which brings us back to the "specific application" question.

 

It is so much more helpful when people say "I'm building a system to run/play "X, Y, and Z."   When they don't tell you what they actually intend to do that is when you are stuck looking at synthetics.  

[DaltonM]

What kind of tests should I run on this new PC before buying it?

 

What we're going to do is stick his Mobo/cpu in my pc, with my ram and all other components to see if it works.

 

1. What tests should I run,

2. Can I just swap the mobo and cpu, install drivers and run my pc like that? I'm running Windows 10