Pentium G3220 vs i3 4130. Gaming.

PrimevalGenesis · 15 Jul 2014 at 21:25

Looking to build a cheapish Gaming rig for a family member.

These 2 CPU's caught my eye, I've seen a few articles showing in a lot of games the i3 can hold it's own very well compared to an i5. Here in the UK the prices go roughly:

G3220 = £40
i3 4130 = £80
i5 4440 = £120

However I cannot find much on the Pentium G3220.

A few questions:

1. What would be the Difference in performance between these 2 CPU's with the same GPU(say a R7 250X for example) for Gaming.

2. What's the best GPU you can run on these CPU's before Bottlenecking? I've heard many things. I've heard from a lot that the R9 280X is the limit for the i3 41309, some say it's the R9 270X.

3. I've heard that HT on the i3 CAN be used in games however not on the i7. Is this true? If so what sorta difference does it make to the G3220?

Tohrazer · 15 Jul 2014 at 21:58

the i3 hyperthreading definitely helps in some games, id say you could run a 280x fine with most games on an i3

PrimevalGenesis · 15 Jul 2014 at 22:14

Tohrazer said:
the i3 hyperthreading definitely helps in some games, id say you could run a 280x fine with most games on an i3

What sorta increase we talking from the HT? Also would many games utilize it?

what's the best GPU the G3220 could handle then?

PrimevalGenesis · 15 Jul 2014 at 22:36

Also you got any article comparisons?

mightymouse · 15 Jul 2014 at 22:53

I think it depends largely on the game itself? What games?

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 00:44

mightymouse said:
I think it depends largely on the game itself? What games?

Lol After I say this I have a vague idea what answer I will get,
but I' looking at next gen games, however right now I mostly play, SKyrim, Fallout 3&NV, Far Cry 3, BF3&4, CoD, Titanfall.

I know everyone will say the i3 is the way to go, but I want to know the difference and see if it's worth the £40, I know in the grand scheme £40 isn't...a deal breaker but if you're building a budget system...£40 is everything.

wazza300 · 16 Jul 2014 at 00:53

the g3220 also has hyperthreading

out of all those the true quadcore i5 is the best performing

hyperthreading does help a lot in multithreaded games but true quadcore is a step further

have a g3220 paired with a 7850,plays most games fine at 1080/1920

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 00:56

wazza300 said:
the g3220 also has hyperthreading

out of all those the true quadcore i5 is the best performing

hyperthreading does help a lot in multithreaded games but true quadcore is a step further

have a g3220 paired with a 7850,plays most games fine at 1080/1920

Errrr.....No I think you're mistaken the G3220 does not have HT.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-G3220-vs-Intel-Core-i3-4130

wazza300 · 16 Jul 2014 at 00:59

ivy or haswell? ivy g3220 has hyperthreading

EDIT: sorry mines the i3 3220

you want the i3 4130 chip,it will be poor without hyperthreading imo

nails666 · 16 Jul 2014 at 09:19

Another chip to consider is the Pentium G3258, the unlocked 20th Anniversary Edition. It costs £44 here at the moment but has an unlocked multiplier and can be overclocked quite easily. Asus motherboards support overclocking this even on the cheaper H81 boards and you can get quite good increases (4.2Ghz+) even with the stock cooler so you don't have to spend extra.
For older, poorly threaded games (Skyrim, Fallout definitely in this category) the greater clock speed will help more than the HT but for more modern, well threaded games (BF4) the i3 will probably be the better option.

It depends really on how happy you are overclocking and how long you want the system to last before needing upgrades. If you just want to build it now, get good out of the box performance that will last a couple of years then the i3 is probably the safer bet. If you fancy trying some overclocking now and are happy to upgrade to a higher end cpu in a years time (stick a nice second hand i5 in then) then go for the Pentium K.

Personally I've done both, got an i3 4330 in my wifes machine as she just wants it to work without me fiddling with it and the Pentium K in mine for playing around with

Graphics wise I've put a 270X in my wifes machine and although I've not tested it extensively yet performance so far seems pretty decent at 1080p.

cheesyboy · 16 Jul 2014 at 09:30

The i3 destroys the pentium in gaming.

Even the G3258 "k" pentium is beaten in most cases when overclocked.

See here;
http://home.anandtech.com/show/8232...y-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae/4
(the G3258 at stock is 0.2 Ghz faster than the G3220, the i3 4330 is 0.1 Ghz faster than the i3 4130)

Or here;
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/70977-intel-pentium-anniversary-edition-g3258/?page=7

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:54

nails666 said:
Another chip to consider is the Pentium G3258, the unlocked 20th Anniversary Edition. It costs £44 here at the moment but has an unlocked multiplier and can be overclocked quite easily. Asus motherboards support overclocking this even on the cheaper H81 boards and you can get quite good increases (4.2Ghz+) even with the stock cooler so you don't have to spend extra.
For older, poorly threaded games (Skyrim, Fallout definitely in this category) the greater clock speed will help more than the HT but for more modern, well threaded games (BF4) the i3 will probably be the better option.

It depends really on how happy you are overclocking and how long you want the system to last before needing upgrades. If you just want to build it now, get good out of the box performance that will last a couple of years then the i3 is probably the safer bet. If you fancy trying some overclocking now and are happy to upgrade to a higher end cpu in a years time (stick a nice second hand i5 in then) then go for the Pentium K.

Personally I've done both, got an i3 4330 in my wifes machine as she just wants it to work without me fiddling with it and the Pentium K in mine for playing around with

Graphics wise I've put a 270X in my wifes machine and although I've not tested it extensively yet performance so far seems pretty decent at 1080p.

See if it was me I was consider it, but the system is for a family member, it needs to be out of the box performance, not a case of I fiddle with it, it works then a few months down the line it needs retuning because the overclock crashes the PC.

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:54

cheesyboy said:
The i3 destroys the pentium in gaming.

Even the G3258 "k" pentium is beaten in most cases when overclocked.

See here;
http://home.anandtech.com/show/8232...y-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae/4
(the G3258 at stock is 0.2 Ghz faster than the G3220, the i3 4330 is 0.1 Ghz faster than the i3 4130)

Or here;
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/70977-intel-pentium-anniversary-edition-g3258/?page=7

Yeah I also read Toms HArdware's article on it:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overclocking-performance,3849.html

I appreciate the links thought because it's reinforced my point about the i3 holding it's own against the i5

Pretty good considering the price difference.

nails666 · 16 Jul 2014 at 16:01

PrimevalGenesis said:
See if it was me I was consider it, but the system is for a family member, it needs to be out of the box performance, not a case of I fiddle with it, it works then a few months down the line it needs retuning because the overclock crashes the PC.

Yeah same for me with my wife's PC, I'd definitely recommend the i3 then.

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 17:12

i3 for performance per £ looks best here between the pentium, i3 and i5.

However what's the best GPU the G3220 will run without bottlenecks?

Combat squirrel · 16 Jul 2014 at 17:18

PrimevalGenesis said:
See if it was me I was consider it, but the system is for a family member, it needs to be out of the box performance, not a case of I fiddle with it, it works then a few months down the line it needs retuning because the overclock crashes the PC.

What an absurd comment, iv used overclocked systems for years on end without having to 'retune' it, find the max stable overclock, reduce it 5-10% enjoy?!? If u find ur system needs constant attention then u overclocked it to high

PrimevalGenesis · 16 Jul 2014 at 17:45

Combat squirrel said:
What an absurd comment, iv used overclocked systems for years on end without having to 'retune' it, find the max stable overclock, reduce it 5-10% enjoy?!? If u find ur system needs constant attention then u overclocked it to high

I've personally never overclocked, however I've read (on this forum actually) people having issues after a few months, and needing to retune it.....Something to do with CPU Degrading?

Combat squirrel · 17 Jul 2014 at 00:39

PrimevalGenesis said:
I've personally never overclocked, however I've read (on this forum actually) people having issues after a few months, and needing to retune it.....Something to do with CPU Degrading?

Utter rubbish, hogwash.

NO idea what they are on about, iv been overclocking ~25 years (since I was 6-7). Iv overclocked hundreds of PC's.

Iv ran most for at least 3 years of my own with ZERO issues, sold hardware on, never had an issue.

So, keep things sensible and not ridiculous volts and it will last a good 10 years easy.

For example I am currently running a 3770k at 4.5ghz (cant remember volts, 1.3 i think) h100i cooler, max load ~ 60/65c roughly. 32gb ram on that as well, so its maxing the memory controller yet remains stable forever.

Previously ran a AMD x6 core thuban at 4.2/4.3 ghz, which was previously owned and overclocked for years on end, no worries.

So what hardware are you trying to overclock with? Will give you a rough idea of settings to use.

Dont listen to anyone talking the drivel you have read, they are either mental trying to shove 3 volts through a 22nm cpu or are simply lying.

JonSmith · 17 Jul 2014 at 09:34

You only get degradation if you go for a silly volts suicide run.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 17 Jul 2014 at 09:49

Sometimes there can be issues if people are not sure of a new process node and how much leeway they can have,ie,the E8400 CPUs for example.

If you are conservative on the voltage and keep temperatures sane,overclocking is usually fine(also as long as your motherboard and PSU are good enough too). Always make sure you do some decent stability tests too. Sometimes the instability is due to people not testing overclocks properly,and when they start using something more CPU heavy,it can show up as instability.