Currently working on a "budget" gaming rig. Kinda at a stand still as to what CPU I'm getting but considering my funds it's either one of the i3 version or bump it up to an i5 maybe. For those that have either of these or that have used both, is there a noticable difference in performance between these? I know obviously one techincally works harder than the other but is it worth the extra money for an i5 or would an i3 be sufficient?
Depending about what you gonne use youre pc for? :)
for gaming go i5.
for just normal windows tasks internet email facebook, and that kind of stuff an i3 will do fine..
you have to see itthis way, an i3 has 2 cores with HT i5 has 4 cores, with or without HT..
normal windows tasks will basicly not runn more then 2 cores, so for that kind of things its great.
for gaming, since games bekome more cpu heavier, and using multiple cores, lite bF3 uses 4 cores, then you realy need a 4 core.. then you realy need a i5 K series. or an amd FX6300/8350 would als be a good alternative
normal windows tasks and sofrware are not optimized for 4 cores, but it in the future it will be.
That's what I thought as well. But then I went to a friends house and he's using an i3 and he was running Far cry 3 and BF3 on High and it never dropped below 40fps Except once or twice in BF3 multiplayer. Which made me think if I really needed the i5 or not.
Dual Core CPU's are going to be "left in the dust", i3 will be barely be usable in triple AAA games by end of 2013 or beggining of 2014. If you want intel i5 is the way to go, but keep in mind that when you want to get a better CPU from newer generation you will need to buy a new motherboard because Intel for each new generation has a new socket...
If you want somewhat of a future proof I would reccomend AMD's processors, since AMD life cycle of their sockets is far longer than Intels. AMD is great value for money, FX 6300 will be just fine for next three years since its a 6core and costs about 140$ while for 40$ more you can get an FX 8320 that is an 8 core so it costs only 180$
If you know about Bulldozer flop/debacle from AMD, that was all fixed in Piledriver that is the current generation of AMD's CPU's: FX 4300, FX 6300, FX 8320/8350
Bulldozer/Piledriver have a bit 1/4 weaker single-threaded performance while multi-threaded performance is better than Intels and since more and more programs are multi-threaded and less single-threaded it is a safe bet to get a FX 6300 or FX 8320/8350 since they are future proof and cheaper.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=701
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/698?vs=701
I don't really trust anantech benches since he/they are intel fanboys and lack of detail...