Have i3's become irrelevant?

[PlayStation 2]

I've been preaching this on this forum since the G3258 became popular. Pretty sure i repeated myself on this subject not too long ago, when this exact same thread was brought up about the i5. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/475092-i5-4690k-showing-its-age/?p=6367165

 

 

 

My point is very simple. Dual cores are not irrelevant yet. I know people want them to be, and i personally wouldn't mind seeing it happen either, but you have to think of the larger picture. AAA gaming is NOT the only PC gaming segment. So many MMO's and MOBA's make up a large potion of PC gaming. You see these large tournaments and even hardware sponsors for these games all the time too. They are designed to be playable on absolutely terrible hardware. I play Elder Scrolls Online and Skyforge on a 4.0ghz G3258. I decided to test ESO on a mobile Celeron (2.8ghz) with intel HD graphics, and managed to get the game to run at 30fps on absolute lowest settings (outside of town, in town, it averaged 17fps). 

 

Until the majority of these players upgrade their hardware and leave their dual cores behind, then these gaming segments will continue to design games to run on this low end hardware. They have to. Otherwise, they run the risk of customers quitting their games due to the fact that their PC can no longer handle them. If you think i am lying, i can direct you to a few friends of mine that i game with, that own computer cafe's in the Philippines. They've stated on multiple occasions that if Perfect World updated their engine, and required more demanding hardware, that they would simply cease to exist.

 

I still don't recommend the G3258 over the 860k (unless people meet one of those three requirements i my previous quote) simply because of the reasons you have stated. Dual cores are not enough to do everything. However, if people are aware of that, and are comfortable with that knowledge, then the choice is theirs. As far as budget gaming goes, the G3258 and 860k perform pretty much the same in most games, so either choice is great. The G3258 offers the stronger, more expensive upgrade path, while the 860k offers native support for pretty much all AAA games with no additional effort required. It's upgrade path is weak though. 

 

Sorry for the long wall of text, i tend to get carried away with my posts, so i'll end it here by repeating what i've been saying on this forum from my first day. Use the right tool for the job.

I agree with you that it has some good use cases, but in games that work on dual cores that can use 4+ cores, the 860k might edge the G3258 out.

Wanna know how? Personal testing on GRID 2, which is optimized for dual+ core CPUs. Ran better on my laptop than a non-hyperthreaded i5 (granted this was Sandy Bridge but eh)

[MageTank]

I agree with you that it has some good use cases, but in games that work on dual cores that can use 4+ cores, the 860k might edge the G3258 out.

Wanna know how? Personal testing on GRID 2, which is optimized for dual+ core CPUs. Ran better on my laptop than a non-hyperthreaded i5 (granted this was Sandy Bridge but eh)

Yeah, another example would be Ryse. However, recent studies have shown that memory speed has a drastic impact on minimum FPS in situations with high CPU overhead. So, in games that tend to suck on dual cores, pair them with faster memory, and give them a shot. Look at the video @BigDay posted earlier:

 

 

 

Faster memory more than doubled the frame rate of Ryse. Some games, it won't help, but for some, it makes the difference between playable and unplayable.

[Nena Trinity]

Faster memory more than doubled the frame rate of Ryse. Some games, it won't help, but for some, it makes the difference between playable and unplayable.

Yeah I am voting for just buying highest MHz your board can take! (I did so I got 2133MHz on both machines!)

[MageTank]

Yeah I am voting for just buying highest MHz your board can take! (I did so I got 2133MHz on both machines!)

I will be ordering the Asrock Z170 Fata1ity ITX board on Friday, along with the new skylake Pentium G4400, and i will be trying to overclock some DDR4 memory to 3000mhz. I will do some tests on memory speed and their impact in high CPU overhead scenarios myself. With DDR4 having support for up to 4266mhz, it will be interesting to see how helpful memory can be to these lower end processors.

[Nena Trinity]

I will be ordering the Asrock Z170 Fata1ity ITX board on Friday, along with the new skylake Pentium G4400, and i will be trying to overclock some DDR4 memory to 3000mhz. I will do some tests on memory speed and their impact in high CPU overhead scenarios myself. With DDR4 having support for up to 4266mhz, it will be interesting to see how helpful memory can be to these lower end processors.

My advice is you need 4 CPU treads minimum these days! :3

[MageTank]

My advice is you need 4 CPU treads minimum these days! :3

I only use pentiums for stop-gaps or for tests. Skylake PCB is thin, and when delidding, it is very easy to warp the PCB, so i am going to practice on a $65 CPU, instead of trying immediately on a $350 CPU. Once i feel comfortable delidding these cheap Pentiums, i will move on to an i7.

[Biggerboot]

I only use pentiums for stop-gaps or for tests. Skylake PCB is thin, and when delidding, it is very easy to warp the PCB, so i am going to practice on a $65 CPU, instead of trying immediately on a $350 CPU. Once i feel comfortable delidding these cheap Pentiums, i will move on to an i7.

 

That's a really neat idea/experiment.  I'm interested to hear how that goes.

[Nena Trinity]

I only use pentiums for stop-gaps or for tests. Skylake PCB is thin, and when delidding, it is very easy to warp the PCB, so i am going to practice on a $65 CPU, instead of trying immediately on a $350 CPU. Once i feel comfortable delidding these cheap Pentiums, i will move on to an i7.

That sounds like fun! But I heard its hard...