At what point? A question on single and multi-threaded performance.

[DigitalHermit]

Hey there,

 

About time I asked another hardware related question...

 

I'm planning a G3258 build... But my gripe is that it's a dual core... And that's making me have some second thoughts since I do heavy multitasking...

 

Of course, I will be overclocking the G3258 to a target 4.2GHz on stock/auto voltages with air cooling...

 

But a question was raised in my mind...

 

Can the multi-threaded performance gap between a dual core and a quad core be closed by overclocking?

 

I'd like to hear the community's thoughts...

Thanks.

[brownninja97]

You can reduce the gap but the quads will be more powerful unless you went nuts with the pentium like crazy inhuman clocks then maybe. Alas my i3 isnt too bad at rendering, ive used better before and yes there is a massive improvement but honestly i dont mind leaving the i3 for an hour while it renders a 10minute video, actually forces me to do actual work.

[Lotus]

No, the gap cannot be closed. Not even close, especially if you're comparing an overclocked G3258 to an overclocked i5. Think of the i5 as two G3258s running side by side, which is almost true (so long as you're running similar clock speeds). The awesomesauce that is the G3258 is limited to its single threaded performance.

 

If you care about multi-threaded performance, which it sounds like you do, then I'd get either the x4 860k if you're on a really tight budget, or an i5 4460 + h97 chipset board if you can afford it. The 4460 + h97 chipset board is a really good deal right now, because you don't have to worry about an aftermarket CPU cooler, and you don't need an expensive z chipset board, and the i5 is only about $180 right now. This means the total cost of the platform is still relatively cheap, and almost all of that cost goes strait to the CPU rather than supporting components, which makes it very cost efficient. True you can't OC it, but you'd have to pay WAAAY more to get an OC'able i5. You'd need a Z chipset board, a K series CPU, and an aftermarket CPU cooler, which would drastically add to the price.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Can the multi-threaded performance gap between a dual core and a quad core be closed by overclocking?

no, absolutely not...i'd suggest saving a little more for a core i5-4440 instead, this is what i would recommend:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($41.34 @ Newegg)

Total: $221.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-04 09:57 EST-0500

 

The gains from overclocking and the G3258 itself as a fact are both VERY overrated. Haswell platform won't scale that well with overclocking and the actual gains in performance past the 4.2ghz mark are somewhat limited from my experience.

[DigitalHermit]

No, the gap cannot be closed. Not even close, especially if you're comparing an overclocked G3258 to an overclocked i5. Think of the i5 as two G3258s, which is almost true (so long as you're running similar clock speeds). The awesomesauce that is the G3258 is limited to its single threaded performance.

 

If you care about multi-threaded performance, which it sounds like you do, then I'd get either the x4 860k if you're on a really tight budget, or an i5 4460 + h97 chipset board if you can afford it. The 4460 + h97 chipset board is a really good deal right now, because you don't have to worry about an aftermarket CPU cooler, and you don't need an expensive z chipset board, and the i5 is only about $180 right now. This means the total cost of the platform is still relatively cheap, and almost all of that cost goes strait to the CPU rather than supporting components, which makes it very cost efficient. True you can't OC it, but you'd have to pay WAAAY more to get an OC'able i5. You'd need a Z chipset board, a K series CPU, and an aftermarket CPU cooler, which would drastically add to the price.

 

I'm comparing it to the A8 5600k and a C2Q (not sure which) for now... i5 is way out of budget at this point in time and an 860k is overpriced here... I can get an A88X board for cheap...

 

no, absolutely not...i'd suggest saving a little more for a core i5-4440 instead, this is what i would recommend:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($41.34 @ Newegg)

Total: $221.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-04 09:57 EST-0500

 

i5 is way out of budget and international prices are not reflected well where I am...

[harrynowl]

Well if the IPC gap is big (like AMD vs Intel), yes. Otherwise no not really. Not with mainstream Intel quad vs dual though (e.g. 4460 vs 3258). At least not on stable 24/7 cooling/OCs.

[Lotus]

I wouldn't touch an APU if budget is your concern because you're always better off going with a dedicated GPU. What model C2Q? As far as I remember, their age will prevent them from standing up to the G3258 even in multi-threaded performance. What is available in your region and at what prices? PC components always come down to what is available at what price at the time of purchase, and if you're working with strange availability, that ruins any kind of standard recommendation we could give. We need to know more about what's available to you.

[DigitalHermit]

Well if the IPC gap is big (like AMD vs Intel), yes. Otherwise no not really. Not with mainstream Intel quad vs dual though (e.g. 4460 vs 3258). At least not on stable 24/7 cooling/OCs.

 

This somehow gives me hope...

 

Do you think it's possible to OC the G3258 enough to get the multi-threaded performance around equal to my A8 at 4GHz?

[Midnight]

It is possible if the quad-core is stupidly slow and the dual-core is insanely fast. However in modern times, most programs most concurrent threads and overclocking is of little benefit, compared to that 10 to 20 years ago.

[Lotus]

This somehow gives me hope...

 

Do you think it's possible to OC the G3258 enough to get the multi-threaded performance around equal to my A8 at 4GHz?

Yes, fairly easily with an aftermarket CPU cooler. The A8-5600k has about half the single-threaded performance of the G3258, so multi-threaded performance actually works out to be very close.

[DigitalHermit]

I wouldn't touch an APU if budget is your concern because you're always better off going with a dedicated GPU. What model C2Q? As far as I remember, their age will prevent them from standing up to the G3258 even in multi-threaded performance. What is available in your region and at what prices? PC components always come down to what is available at what price at the time of purchase, and if you're working with strange availability, that ruins any kind of standard recommendation we could give. We need to know more about what's available to you.

 

I already have an APU right now (I got PC out of need (schoolwork) so I got an APU-based system for some out-of-the-box gaming without a dedicated graphics card)... I'll try to find out once I fix the rig with the C2Q...

 

pcx.com.ph should give you some idea, but they don't have a complete listing... For that, I need to go to the actual shops and prices can vary from cheaper than international price to more than double the international price (at launch)...

[harrynowl]

This somehow gives me hope...

 

Do you think it's possible to OC the G3258 enough to get the multi-threaded performance around equal to my A8 at 4GHz?

Yes. A8 at 4GHz is about 3.5 in Cinebench 11.5. At 5.1GHz it was 4.31 (about 1.35 single threaded).

 

My G3258 at 4.2 was about 3.55. Any higher wasn't possible as my chip was a crappy 1.35v/4.2ghz (about 1.75 single threaded).