I3 vs i5

[kirilenko]

Is i3 much worse vs i5 for gaming+multitasking programs in the background like torrents, music, browsers etc?

Can someone explain how quad core differs in terms of productivity and performance vs 2 cores with HT?

 

Asking this cause I need to decide between i5-4440 and sticking with old 1280x1024 LCD monitor for now(no idea when I could buy a new monitor) with R9 270 between i3-4150 and new 1080p monitor with same GPU(or perhaps better GPU and using old monitor).I want this PC to stay relevant as long as possible without any CPU upgrades and a lot of people claim that i3 will become obsolete soon due to games utilzing more cores and that you can only do gaming with i3 without any basic programs in the background or you start losing performance and that it starts lagging on big multiplayer games etc.Is this both true?

 

Sorry if I am not clear English not my first language and I'm kinda confused as this is my first build want to make best decision

[ADZ_123_!"£]

The I5 is the best option to get for gaming and if you where gaming on an I3 you would really not want to have anything open really other than the game.

[Aniallation]

That's pretty much all there is. i3 is fine for just the game, but once you start doing things in the background as well, you'll want (at least) an i5 for a good experience. 

[Arwanell]

i have i3 4160, and I'm playing all new games on ultra

i usually run uTorrent in the background, and some music also

 

Example, what i did:

I was playing Watch Dogs on ultra, and extracting big file with winrar in background, no difference

[Bogica]

i3 is fine for gaming, but you might want to get an i5. However, if I had to choose, I'd get an i3 and a higher end GPU rather than an i5 and slightly lower GPU.

[Sauron]

HT is an efficiency measure, not comparable to an actual core. You gain 20-30% performance from ht, whereas with twice the amount of cores you get almost 200% the performance.

[s3ns3]

browser ,torrent ,music in backround while gaming has to do more with ram capacity than cpu. i3 is a very strong cpu especially at that price so get i3+1080p monitor .also i3 4160 is out

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

C'mon folks! This is a LTT forum!

Of course the i3 will be slower than the i5... but it's not as insane as some people would say. GPU is more important than CPU... right now? Quad Core processors are definitely the sweetest-spot to be. Desktop i3 are fine for gaming with a decent single GPU, but if you have the extra spending money? A proper i5 CPU will get you better overall performance.

Once DirectX 12 and Vulkan come out though? CPUs might be even less important as more info can be offloaded directly onto the GPU which will eliminate some CPU bottlenecks... well, as long as the games are developed properly that is...

[s3ns3]

HT is an efficiency measure, not comparable to an actual core. You gain 20-30% performance from ht, whereas with twice the amount of cores you get almost 200% the performance.

he won`t notice no difference between an i3 and an i5 while gaming.maybe some frames with a high end card but not with the r9 270. also while you listen to music,browse the web and have torrent in backround the cpu is idling.ram counts more there 

[Sauron]

 

 

he won`t notice no difference between an i3 and an i5 while gaming.maybe some frames with a high end card but not with the r9 270. also while you listen to music,browse the web and have torrent in backround the cpu is idling.ram counts more there 

 

 

I told him the difference between the two, he did also ask what the consequences would be on multitasking etc.

[techguru]

get the i3 and the monitor now..in 2 years or so you can get a i5

[StainlessSR]

If you did not want to watch the vid

Game                      2/4    4/4(core/thread)
cities skyline            34    40
dying light                54    58    
total war atilla          33    34
Far cry 4                   0    62

 

One thing of note is that this was a simulated I3/I5 as there are differences in the cache that matter as well. I3 has 3 mb cache while the I5 has 6 mb which matter as well.

 

Also of note is that Far Cry 4 would not run on anything but a true 4(or more) core as the developer made it that way (I am not saying that an I3 couldn't play it, they did before it was patched out). This may be a trend in new games.

 

Personally, as the "state of the art" in GPU is advancing far faster than CPU, I would get a better CPU now where I can just upgrade the GPU later. (from a lower level gpu to start with)

Most builds with a strong CPU start just go through 2-3 GPU upgrades before getting a new CPU.

[techguru]

If you did not want to watch the vid

Game                      2/4    4/4(core/thread)

cities skyline            34    40

dying light                54    58    

total war atilla          33    34

Far cry 4                   0    62

 

One thing of note is that this was a simulated I3/I5 as there are differences in the cache that matter as well. I3 has 3 mb cache while the I5 has 6 mb which matter as well.

 

Also of note is that Far Cry 4 would not run on anything but a true 4(or more) core as the developer made it that way (I am not saying that an I3 couldn't play it, they did before it was patched out). This may be a trend in new games.

 

Personally, as the "state of the art" in GPU is advancing far faster than CPU, I would get a better CPU now where I can just upgrade the GPU later. (from a lower level gpu to start with)

Most builds with a strong CPU start just go through 2-3 GPU upgrades before getting a new CPU.

actually farcry 4 runs fine on a modern i3

[StainlessSR]

actually farcry 4 runs fine on a modern i3

I could have sworn they patched it so you couldn't. (or mabey I read to much and I am confusing when they patched the "good graphics mod" out of watchdogs. IDK wet memory is an iffy thing.

 

Still, I would rather have a better cpu now and need to upgrade the gpu later.

[Arwanell]

I could have sworn they patched it so you couldn't. (or mabey I read to much and I am confusing when they patched the "good graphics mod" out of watchdogs. IDK wet memory is an iffy thing.

 

Still, I would rather have a better cpu now and need to upgrade the gpu later.

Playing Far Cry 4 maxed out on i3 4160 and GTX 970

[Guest Strangerbob]

gta5 will stutter heavily (while showing high fps) on a dual core... no matter what it is

 

if you are not getting the cheapest 4core i5 you can find, then you have to get 6core fx6300, or 4core athlon 860k

[Arwanell]

gta5 will stutter heavily (while showing high fps) on a dual core... no matter what it is

 

if you are not getting the cheapest 4core i5 you can find, then you have to get 6core fx6300, or 4core athlon 860k

 

sorry mate, NO

my i3 runs GTA 5 maxed out on 1080p  jumping from 50 to 58 FPS.

turn down a few settings, 60 FPS no problemo...

 

athlon for games, are you kidding me? i3 beats the shit out of both the CPU's you mentioned

[tyrz_939]

sorry mate, NO

my i3 runs GTA 5 maxed out on 1080p  jumping from 50 to 58 FPS.

turn down a few settings, 60 FPS no problemo...

 

athlon for games, are you kidding me? i3 beats the shit out of both the CPU's you mentioned

 

i3 has it's spot but and i5 would stomp it pretty quick when you put it under real load (rendering etc) or a well multithreaded game.

[Clear17Mud]

3:4 aspect ratio and i5 or 1080p and i3....

defiantly i3

[tyrz_939]

3:4 aspect ratio and i5 or 1080p and i3....

defiantly i3

 

5:4, not 4:3.

[Arwanell]

i3 has it's spot but and i5 would stomp it pretty quick when you put it under real load (rendering etc) or a well multithreaded game.

 

you're right, I can't argue with that.

i5 is really an upgrade, but i3 is currently doing well with all new games on my setup.

I would have i5, but my budget didn't allow me. I'll get it in a year or a bit later

[kirilenko]

What about stock FX6300?

[tyrz_939]

What about stock FX6300?

 

Great value chip but sadly if your gaming, especially with stock clocks, stay Intel. IPC performance is so important and the upgrade path is much better on Intel. I am a KSP addict so I may have a bias.

[kirilenko]

so hard to decide.If I go i5, is it fine to go with 81M?I have no idea what they differ from B85 besides extra features that I have no use for.