Why is the i3 8100 considered 'low end'?

[Vossy96]

Seems a weird one to me - Constantly read about how the i3 is a low end CPU, yet less than a year ago, the likes of the i5 7500/7600 were considered to be "high end" and the go to bang for your buck CPUs to pair with a high end graphics card, only bettered by the i7s of that generation, and even then the difference was negligible.

I know generally speaking the main reasoning behind this is just due to the fact you can get a 6 core CPU for the same price as what a quad core cost last year, but price aside, how can a CPU that competes, and often beats the best choice high end CPUs of last year, all of a sudden be considered 'low end'?

Feel like the name, "i3" just gives it that, not necessarily bad reputation, but at least something that sounds lower end, when in reality I don't really think it is

 

[humbug]

4 core CPU's have not really been high end CPU's for a while, years, just through lack of competition Intel priced them like high end CPU's.
Now there is competition, real competition.

Watch here how the 7600K performance absolutely tanks when the scene gets complex, while the 6 core Ryzen keeps its high performance.

https://youtu.be/4RMbYe4X2LI?t=5m3s

 

[koooowweeee]

Lol there would have to be a Ryzen YouTube video thrown in at the end

 

[gavinh87]

Lol there would have to be a Ryzen YouTube video thrown in at the end

Ryzen is the second coming of christ in these forums.
Not a single thread can go without someone mentioning it.

 

[humbug]

Lol there would have to be a Ryzen YouTube video thrown in at the end

Too many letters in your name

 

[koooowweeee]

Too many letters in your name

Name change thread ?

 

[4K8KW10]

Seems a weird one to me - Constantly read about how the i3 is a low end CPU, yet less than a year ago, the likes of the i5 7500/7600 were considered to be "high end" and the go to bang for your buck CPUs to pair with a high end graphics card, only bettered by the i7s of that generation, and even then the difference was negligible.

I know generally speaking the main reasoning behind this is just due to the fact you can get a 6 core CPU for the same price as what a quad core cost last year, but price aside, how can a CPU that competes, and often beats the best choice high end CPUs of last year, all of a sudden be considered 'low end'?

Because if you try to do some real things with it, you won't get the necessary performance for smooth experience.
Because it is low-end with its limited "power" and potential.

 

[Jumper118]

All desktop cpus are low end. Even the 8700k. The xeon platinums are high end and a 7920x-7980xe is mid range.

 

[D3K]

It's got i3 in the name. How much lower can you go...?

 

[4K8KW10]

All desktop cpus are low end. Even the 8700k. The xeon platinums are high end and a 7920x-7980xe is mid range.

HEDT (high-end desktop) is Threadripper, some i7s and i9.

It's got i3 in the name. How much lower can you go...?

Not much. Athlon maybe, and Celeron and Pentium.

 

[shamus21]

Low end yes but it still will do the job for general use and gaming at 1080p.

 

[David Bisset]

Because if we don't call it low-end then we might realise we are spending way more than we need on CPUs

 

[Jumper118]

HEDT (high-end desktop) is Threadripper, some i7s and i9.



Not much. Athlon maybe, and Celeron and Pentium.

but "high end desktop" is a made up term, its like saying high end ford focus.

 

[StarShock]

I've recently used an 8100 in a cheap gaming machine, and its a pretty great chip for the money, but I think "low end" is all relative, its certainly lower than the rest of the core iX chips in the line up. Though I guess if I were to call it I would say the Celerons and Pentiums are the low end, and the i3s and i5s are mid range, with the the i7s and upcoming i9 being high end... Sooo Lower Mid range?

 

[4K8KW10]

but "high end desktop" is a made up term, its like saying high end ford focus.

But Threadripper isn't a ford focus. It is more like Mercedes S-class AMG or something similar.
Ford focus is entry, just like those celerons and pentiums are.
i3 is low-end..

I've recently used an 8100 in a cheap gaming machine, and its a pretty great chip for the money, but I think "low end" is all relative, its certainly lower than the rest of the core iX chips in the line up. Though I guess if I were to call it I would say the Celerons and Pentiums are the low end, and the i3s and i5s are mid range, with the the i7s and upcoming i9 being high end... Sooo Lower Mid range?

 

[Jumper118]

But Threadripper isn't a ford focus. It is more like Mercedes S-class AMG or something similar.
Ford focus is entry, just like those celerons and pentiums are.
i3 is low-end..

not really. an epyc is high end.

 

[LePhuronn]

not really. an epyc is high end.

Not if it's the 7401P, that's the low-end EPYC. The 7601 Dual Socket is the high end

Product tiers and market segments exist for a reason. Server is different from consumer, and consumer has both mainstream and high-end. You can't compare an i5 to a Threadripper to gauge "low" or "high" end because they are different classes of CPU. But there is potentially so much granularity and segmentation it can almost put individual CPUs into their own bracket.

For my own spin on the OP's question though, I'd say the i3 is considered "low end" because it has always been the i series CPU with the lowest core count, with HT thrown in to differentiate it from "entry level". Traditionally...

Entry level: Pentium (2c/2t)
Low end: i3 (2c/4t)
Mid-range: i5 (4c/4t)
High-end: i7 (4c/8t)

8000 series added 2 cores to those numbers of course, but the pattern still held. Now, the 9000 series screws that up because Intel gotta fleece it's customers; mid-range is now mid-tier core count with no HT, high end is top-tier core count with no HT, and a new premium tier is top-tier core count WITH HT.

 

[HeX]

not really. an epyc is high end.

I wouldn't count EPYC/Xeon as 'high-end', server class stuff is it's own category. They're built for maximum stability rather than all out performance.

 

[4K8KW10]

I wouldn't count EPYC/Xeon as 'high-end', server class stuff is it's own category. They're built for maximum stability rather than all out performance.

Servers are like trucks (which on its own have low, medium and high-end), while consumer are like cars.

 

[Terrorfirmer]

It is low end in the current line up. IPC is good but something like the Ryzen 1400 is better in (general) as it's 4c/8t for not much more.

Doesn't really mean anything, it just is what it is. i3-8100/Ryzen 1200 class = low end, 8400/2600 class = mid range, 2700x/8700k class = high end in the consumer arena really.