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Gaming CPU - i3 540 @ 4GHz OR i3 2120 @ stock?

jmp_78

jmp_78

jmp_78

Associate
Joined
2 Mar 2009
Posts
612
Location
Nottingham
Simple question really - which would be better for gaming?

Forget upgrading, costs, and alternatives - for budget reasons, these are my main 2 considerations.

Core i3 540 @ 4.0 GHz (overclocked)
OR
Core i3 2120 @ 3.3 GHz (locked at stock)

Rest of system is:
Silverstone SG07 + 600W PSU
4GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz
Gigabyte H55N-USB3 OR H67 ITX board

Let me know your thoughts please :)
 
Last edited:
jmp_78 said:
Simple question really - which would be better for gaming?

Forget upgrading, costs, and alternatives - for budget reasons, these are my main 2 considerations.

Core i3 540 @ 4.0 GHz (overclocked)
OR
Core i3 2120 @ 3.3 GHz (locked at stock)

Rest of system is:
Silverstone SG07 + 600W PSU
Gigabyte H55N-USB3 M-ITX
4GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz

Let me know your thoughts please :)
Click to expand...


Only the I3 540 will work on that board. if you are looking to replace the board too then the 2120 would be an option. The issue is that sandybridge has about a 10-15% clock for clock advantage. With this in mind the i3 540 at 4ghz should be quicker :)
 
Andrew Moore said:
The issue is that sandybridge has about a 10-15% clock for clock advantage. With this in mind the i3 540 at 4ghz should be quicker :)
Click to expand...

This is what I was after - good man. Would I be worth getting am i3 550 or 560 instead, or is a 540 just as good at getting to 4GHz?

PS, please note my motherboard amendment/faux pas above!
 
I'd get whichever is cheapest TBH (530/540/550 etc) as they are likely to clock to around the same speed anyway.
 
Since you are going for a mini-ITX based build I would go for the Core i3-2120. If you were going for a mATX or ATX based build I would go for the Core i3 540. This is because the Core i3-2120 will be easier to cool and will consume less power.
 
CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Since you are going for a mini-ITX based build I would go for the Core i3-2120. If you were going for a mATX or ATX based build I would go for the Core i3 540. This is because the Core i3-2120 will be easier to cool and will consume less power.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the post. Power is not an issue as the SG07 comes with a 600W PSU supplied... however, I'd not thought about temps.

Am under the impression that with stock volts, the original i3's are fairly cool though?
 
jmp_78 said:
Hey, thanks for the post. Power is not an issue as the SG07 comes with a 600W PSU supplied... however, I'd not thought about temps.

Am under the impression that with stock volts, the original i3's are fairly cool though?
Click to expand...

Yes they run really cool at stock volts. I am also able to get to at least 3.5Ghz at stock volts with mine.
 
Not sure about power usage but ix-2 is ~15% faster than ix so the i3-2120 @ 3.3 GHz would be equivalent to an i3-540 @ 3.8 GHz.

Thus, the i3-540 @ 4 GHz should be ~5% faster. However, with Sandy Bridge you get the new AVX instruction set and the possibility of using Quick Sync in the future, so it'd be better for certain things.
 
I was in the same situation not long ago when putting a HTPC build together for someone. But the problem with the P67/H67 chipset for the SATA put the final nail in the coffin, and I went for the i3 540 instead.

I used a Arctic Cooling 7 Pro Rev2 and a a Xclio A380 256 Colour case, overclocked the i3 540 to 4.0GHz with minimal effort, and the idle temp was like 25~28C, and max temp in prime was like just 56~58C.
 
I was umming and ahhing over just this decision myself. In the end I opted for the i3 2120 in a Gigabyte GA-H67M-UD2H with Kingston KVR1333D3N9K2/4G memory (the fastest the mobo will support with the onchip graphics).

Having built the machine I ran Cinebench 11.5 and got a score of 2.99. I found a review of the i3 540 that shows a score of 2.59 for the unclocked chip, and clocked at 4.59GHz a score of 3.84.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...540-clarkdale-lga1156-processor-review-9.html

So maybe that will help anyone make up their mind, at stock speeds the 2120 is way faster than the 540, but you can overclock the 540 to be faster - but taking into account the price of the Arctic Cooling Freezer at say £15, the price will be likely almost the same for the two systems.
 
LEUVEN said:
Would be interesting to see what you can get out of it whilst being prime + IBT stable to see if it's worth the extra £20-£25 over the 530. :)
Click to expand...

Will let you know. £20 more than 540 at OcUK so thought I'd give it a whirl. Main hope is that I can keep volts and temps down. In the end I couldn't wait for M-ITX H67 boards, and then know that I wouldn't be able to play about overclocking with a (locked) i3 2xxx. So, roll on Wednesday :D
 
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