I3 vs i5 does clock speed make a difference?

[EDC KnIVES]

This is my first PC build and I was wondering if the extra 55$ for the i5 6400 over the i3 6100 is worth it?

The i5 6500 could be an option if necessary, bet it's a little high for my budget. I appreciate any advice! Thx.

 

[DarkBlade2117]

What is your budget? Generally it is worth it in games like GTA V and other CPU intensive tasks it'll make quite the difference but if you're just doing light gaming like CS:GO, Rocket League ect the i3 is perfectly fine if you are looking to keep some costs down.

[Matias_Chambers]

The i5 is definitely worth it over the i3 unless you aren't gaming. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

The i5 also has two extra cores, rather than the i3's HyperThreading which only gets you ~20% in the best circumstances. Depending on how much is a "little high", I would recommend saving for the i5 rather than going with the i3.

[EDC KnIVES]

OK I am going to be gaming mainly. Nothing to heavy but I would still like the option to play whatever( at medium-high settings if possible). The main thing is that the 6400 is clocked at 2.7 while the 6100 is at 3.7

 

[EDC KnIVES]

Hi

6 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

What is your budget? Generally it is worth it in games like GTA V and other CPU intensive tasks it'll make quite the difference but if you're just doing light gaming like CS:GO, Rocket League ect the i3 is perfectly fine if you are looking to keep some costs down.

 

6 minutes ago, Matias_Chambers said:

The i5 is definitely worth it over the i3 unless you aren't gaming. 

 

5 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The i5 also has two extra cores, rather than the i3's HyperThreading which only gets you ~20% in the best circumstances. Depending on how much is a "little high", I would recommend saving for the i5 rather than going with the i3.

OK I am going to be gaming mainly. Nothing to heavy but I would still like the option to play whatever( at medium-high settings if possible). The main thing is that the 6400 is clocked at 2.7 while the 6100 is at 3.7

 

[DarkBlade2117]

1 minute ago, EDC KnIVES said:

Hi

 

 

OK I am going to be gaming mainly. Nothing to heavy but I would still like the option to play whatever( at medium-high settings if possible). The main thing is that the 6400 is clocked at 2.7 while the 6100 is at 3.7

 

i5 will outperform the i3. The i3 only catches up when you do a BCLK on it to like 4.6Ghz and at that point you need a $35 cooler and $100 motherboard to go with it but even then in some games the i5-6400 still pulls ahead. It would be worth it to just get the 6400

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 minutes ago, EDC KnIVES said:

Hi

OK I am going to be gaming mainly. Nothing to heavy but I would still like the option to play whatever( at medium-high settings if possible). The main thing is that the 6400 is clocked at 2.7 while the 6100 is at 3.7

 

If I were to do the dumb math, you're looking at a "total performance" of "10.8 GHz" vs "7.4 GHz.".

 

So without HyperThreading, the i5 has more performance out the door. Even if you add the supposed 20% Hyperthreading gets you, you're looking at "8.8GHz"

 

Single threaded performance might suffer, but not to a point where you'll probably care.

[EPPHO]

What GPU are you going to buy?

[EDC KnIVES]

1 minute ago, frozeNNN said:

What GPU are you going to buy?

A gtx 1050ti oc

[TAHIRMIA]

You should just spend the little extra for a lot better performance.

[EDC KnIVES]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

If I were to do the dumb math, you're looking at a "total performance" of "10.8 GHz" vs "7.4 GHz.".

 

So without HyperThreading, the i5 has more performance out the door. Even if you add the supposed 20% Hyperthreading gets you, you're looking at "8.8GHz"

 

Single threaded performance might suffer, but not to a point where you'll probably care.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[EPPHO]

4 minutes ago, EDC KnIVES said:

A gtx 1050ti oc

You will be fine with i3 6100 and that gpu

[EDC KnIVES]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

The i5 has two more real cores, which definitely makes it perform better, but which GPU are you getting?

A gtx 1050ti oc

 

[typographie]

11 minutes ago, EDC KnIVES said:

The main thing is that the 6400 is clocked at 2.7 while the 6100 is at 3.7

2.7 GHz is the 6400's base clock. It should boost up to 3.3 GHz most of the time when gaming. I would recommend going with the i5 unless doing so will negatively change your choice of video card.

[TAHIRMIA]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Yeah, then go for the i3, you won't really miss out on anything.

Wouldn't it be better to go with the I5?Because of the price to performance. He's getting an i5 for $55 more

[EDC KnIVES]

4 minutes ago, typographie said:

2.7 GHz is the 6400's base clock. It should boost up to 3.3 GHz most of the time when gaming. I would recommend going with the i5 unless doing so will negatively change your choice of video car

5 minutes ago, typographie said:

2.7 GHz is the 6400's base clock. It should boost up to 3.3 GHz most of the time when gaming. I would recommend going with the i5 unless doing so will negatively change your choice of video card.

I guess what I am asking is ho

w many games really play better with four cores?

[TAHIRMIA]

2 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

For 50 more he could get a 470 or  a 1060 3GB, so no, not really. 

And the performance difference with that GPU is minimal @TAHIRMIA

But wouldn't it be better in the long run? With games requiring more power

[ARikozuM]

I would suggest the i5-6500. 3.2GHz quad-core will be worth the money and I believe the 470 performs better than the 1050 TI, though someone will have to confirm that.

[TAHIRMIA]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

In the long run it would be better to get a GTX 1080 and a 6700k. The i3 is fine, and if OP can spare the budget anyways a better GPU is definitely going to impact performance more.

Okay.

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

It does, although it also costs more. Which is my point -- if you have the budget, an i3 still performs well enough to make an i3/better GPU pairing better than an i5/1050 ti

It shouldn't matter too much then. I would recommend a Pentium though if OP would like to upgrade later.

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Not sure if sarcastic?

There are games that won't even run with less than 4 threads, so not sure that's the best move 

Not sarcastic. Pentiums can sell faster on Ebay or Craigslist due to popularity as network chips. It's OP's call.