Why does the i3 exist?

[CharminUltraStrong]

Does anyone actually use i3's anymore? I imagine their market share is incredibly low with the advent of Ryzen but, from the stats I've read, they hardly compete. Yes, the Intel chips will always have faster single core performance and benchmarks that pit the 8100, 8350k, 2200g and 2600 against each other yield similar results across the board. My issue with the i3 is how little it offers in terms of features. The Ryzen 3 2200g is cheaper, with the same number of cores and threads (4c, 4t) but it's unlocked with a far superior iGPU. The i3 8350k is unlocked with 4c and 4t but the Ryzen 5 2600 (with similar perf numbers) has 6 cores and 12 threads with higher muti core speeds under sustained loads. In my mind i3's can't even compete with Ryzen and the only people that would buy an i3 would be those looking to upgrade to an i5 or i7. Ryzen 3 2200g~$94 USD, Ryzen 5 2600~$160, Ryzen 5 2600x~$200 USD. i3 8100~$120 USD, i3 8350k~$200. I get that intel has to compete in every bracket but there's not even competition, why don't they just ditch i3's and make pentiums more competitive again? i3's are about as pointless as Kabylake X (shudder) and with intel shifting its high end users/prosumers from the i7 to the i9, with the omission of HT in the 9700k, why does the i3 still exist?

[Guest]

Yes. Many people do. 

 

If i needed a PC and only used it for web, banking & word, I’d likely get and i3. 

Many low end gaming systems have i3 in them from before ryzen. 

[Howley]

6 minutes ago, fpo said:

Yes. Many people do. 

 

If i needed a PC and only used it for web, banking & word, I’d likely get and i3. 

Many low end gaming systems have i3 in them from before ryzen. 

Wouldn't a Pentium do that just fine?

[CharminUltraStrong]

8 minutes ago, fpo said:

Yes. Many people do. 

 

If i needed a PC and only used it for web, banking & word, I’d likely get and i3. 

Many low end gaming systems have i3 in them from before ryzen. 

But a Ryzen 2200g is cheaper with a better iGPU and faster Multi core performance. If you're building a basic web browsing PC why would you spend more on an i3 when you can get the 2200g for cheaper in the first place?

[Sir Asvald]

On 1/28/2019 at 12:37 PM, Howley said:

Wouldn't a Pentium do that just fine?

Personally, I'd avoid Pentiums. They are not the best. i3s have hyperthreading which can help many cases. I have a Pentium on my server and it's starting to slow down. 

 

On 1/28/2019 at 12:39 PM, CharminUltraStrong said:

But a Ryzen 2200g is cheaper with a better iGPU and faster Multi core performance. If you're building a basic web browsing PC why would you spend more on an i3 when you can get the 2200g for cheaper in the first place?

Well everyone was using an i3 before the new APUs were coming out, majority of business have been using Intel CPUs for the last 10 years because AMD couldn't compete with their Bulldozer (FX Series) Now that they have gained some attention from their Ryzen CPUs, you can find laptops and desktops full of AMD CPUs and APUs.

[CharminUltraStrong]

Just now, Abdul201588 said:

Well everyone was using an i3 before the new APUs were coming out, majority of business have been using Intel CPUs for the last 10 years because AMD couldn't compete with their Bulldozer (FX Series) Now that they have gained some attention from their Ryzen CPUs, you can find laptops and desktops full of AMD CPUs and APUs.

I wasn't denying the value proposition of i3's in the past, I'm referring to current gen i3's. You'd be hard pressed to find an i3 in any office environment, all of the offices I've worked in and all of the update cycles I've seen of hardware always included an i5.

[Sakkura]

6 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

Personally, I'd avoid Pentiums. They are not the best. i3s have hyperthreading which can help many cases. I have a Pentium on my server and it's starting to slow down. 

It's the other way around. Desktop Pentiums have hyperthreading, i3s do not.

[Sir Asvald]

On 1/28/2019 at 12:50 PM, CharminUltraStrong said:

I wasn't denying the value proposition of i3's in the past, I'm referring to current gen i3's. You'd be hard pressed to find an i3 in any office environment, all of the offices I've worked in and all of the update cycles I've seen of hardware always included an i5.

I understand. Again, because Intel has the biggest market share in the CPU market, which is a shame..they are the dominate ones. I'd say within a year or two you'll start to see AMD CPUs in computers. 

 

On 1/28/2019 at 12:53 PM, Sakkura said:

It's the other way around. Desktop Pentiums have hyperthreading, i3s do not.

Those are the newer models which have hyperthreading. I'm talking about the older gens such as Gen 3rd,4th and even some of the 6th and 7th.

[CharminUltraStrong]

1 minute ago, Abdul201588 said:

Those are the newer models which have hyperthreading. I'm talking about the older gens such as Gen 3rd,4th and even some of the 6th and 7th.

 

 

Pentiums had hyper threading in the past back when pentiums were intels upper tier. Cough cough pentium 4 extreme w/HT. i3's were fine back in the day but no one really bought them then either since you could buy a loaded Pentium and over clock it. A long time ago LTT used to preach about how fantastic pentiums were and how you'd be better off with a pentium build over an i3 build.

[Sir Asvald]

2 minutes ago, CharminUltraStrong said:

Pentiums had hyper threading in the past back when pentiums were intels upper tier. Cough cough pentium 4 extreme w/HT. i3's were fine back in the day but no one really bought them then either since you could buy a loaded Pentium and over clock it. A long time ago LTT used to preach about how fantastic pentiums were and how you'd be better off with a pentium build over an i3 build.

You're talking about CPUs from 15 years ago.  Time has changed.

[CharminUltraStrong]

1 minute ago, Abdul201588 said:

You're talking about CPUs from 15 years ago.  Time has changed.

You're talking about old CPU's as well...i3's have been a decent value but the Pentium always gave you more so I don't understand how an i3 is at all a viable option. Also, you could buy loaded pentiums since forever ago that could hold their own against an i3 in stand alone synthetic benchmarks. Once OC'd and while playing an actual game they could compete with an i5. Pentiums were the poster child of budget builds while the i3 has almost always been the neglected child. The more I think about it, the worse it seems.

[Sir Asvald]

17 minutes ago, CharminUltraStrong said:

You're talking about old CPU's as well...i3's have been a decent value but the Pentium always gave you more so I don't understand how an i3 is at all a viable option. Also, you could buy loaded pentiums since forever ago that could hold their own against an i3 in stand alone synthetic benchmarks. Once OC'd and while playing an actual game they could compete with an i5. Pentiums were the poster child of budget builds while the i3 has almost always been the neglected child. The more I think about it, the worse it seems.

I don't what to say. It's that's intel for this you. 

[Sakkura]

55 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

Those are the newer models which have hyperthreading. I'm talking about the older gens such as Gen 3rd,4th and even some of the 6th and 7th.

 

 

But we're talking about current-gen chips. Core i3-8100, Ryzen 3 2200G...

[THraShArD]

I'm guessing i3 are the modern Celerons.  You don't really see Celeron anymore

[Mick Naughty]

Prolly the same reason stuff like the 2060 exiest when there are 2080’s. 

 

Not everyone wants a 1030, but they are all still being made. Also amd is a poor choice in a lot of people’s minds. Given the past and advertising since forever. 

[X_X]

The majority of people don't know the difference between CPU A and CPU B, "64-bit, what's that mean?" i3's are still going to sell.

[CharminUltraStrong]

4 minutes ago, X_X said:

The majority of people don't know the difference between CPU A and CPU B, "64-bit, what's that mean?" i3's are still going to sell.

They don't, Ryzen has MASSIVELY higher market share.

[X_X]

Then you might as well ask why Via exists or a couple of years ago why AMD exists in the CPU market.

[CharminUltraStrong]

11 hours ago, X_X said:

Then you might as well ask why Via exists or a couple of years ago why AMD exists in the CPU market.

No, that's completely different. AMD is an entire company, not a singular product.