So is there anything out there that competes with the i3 530/540 for udner the £100 mark? Only problem is the price of the 1156 Mobos. Wolfdales are still quite pricey and can't really find anythng that compares for the price!
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Best CPU under £100
- Thread starter Straz
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The H55M UD2H is a fantastic board that has proven to clock the 530 up to 6ghz + on the hwbot. And at around £70 the board is a bargain! Chips that compare to an i3 530 would be the q6600.. Q6700 as a rough way to go. Issue is 775 is done and dusted now in terms of buying new.
Andy
Andy
Dual Core with HT, overclocks to 4.2GHz with this RAM:
Dual Core with possible unlock to Triple/Quad, Black Edition (unlocked multi), overclocks to 3.8GHz:
Quad Core with an unlocked multiplier, overclocks to 3.8-4GHz depending on your luck:
There's also dozens of possible combination builds here at OcUK.
Have a look at Anandtech Bench page (bear in mind some of the results are 'Lower is better').
Dual Core with possible unlock to Triple/Quad, Black Edition (unlocked multi), overclocks to 3.8GHz:
Quad Core with an unlocked multiplier, overclocks to 3.8-4GHz depending on your luck:
There's also dozens of possible combination builds here at OcUK.
Have a look at Anandtech Bench page (bear in mind some of the results are 'Lower is better').
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-263-AM
In a lot of multi-threaded applications that'll do better than the i3 at stock speeds, Phenom 720 was a good alternative around that price until they pulled it.
In a lot of multi-threaded applications that'll do better than the i3 at stock speeds, Phenom 720 was a good alternative around that price until they pulled it.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-263-AM
In a lot of multi-threaded applications that'll do better than the i3 at stock speeds, Phenom 720 was a good alternative around that price until they pulled it.
Agreed on Athlon II X4 being better at encoding/rendering, most results seem to prove this point.
Some money can be saved too, get an AM2+ board and run it coupled with your current memory sticks.
For Crossfire setup:
For single GPU:
The Pentium G6950 is an interesting option. Unfortunately overclockers don't have it but it can be found for £75 elsewhere. Basically a dual core with 3MB cache but it is based on a 32nm manufacturing process so it has proven to be massively overclockable. Bit Tech did a feature and took one to 4.6ghz on air, a massive improvement over the 2.8ghz at stock.
As mentioned in a previous post, the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2 is definitely the way to go for a dual core 1156 processor.
75 for cpu + 70 for motherboard = 145
As mentioned in a previous post, the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2 is definitely the way to go for a dual core 1156 processor.
75 for cpu + 70 for motherboard = 145
£7 more for Core i3 that does 4.2-4.4GHz, has HT and 4MB cache?
Didn't realise the pricing difference to the i3 was so little. In that case then, definitely i3
I can't find a link but is it complete bull that some people are claiming that the reviews of the I3 530 are not real life results and are from synthetic benchmark applications such as Sisoft Sandra that falsely over inflate the figures due to the Hyper-Threading and real life HT latency is not taken in to account or correctly shown. ?
I've seen a few Americans post that they are selling their I3 530 and going back to a E8xxx that is abit of a concern unless they are just overreacting.
I've seen a few Americans post that they are selling their I3 530 and going back to a E8xxx that is abit of a concern unless they are just overreacting.
Thanks Hex i had hoped that would be the case
In your opinion would a i3 530 at stock settings be better than a E8200 at stock settings for a quiet setup. ?
Yeah i'd take an i3 over any E8XXX.
TBH though even for a quiet setup you can run the i3 @ 4GHz.
I ran mine at that on the H50, with one 120mm fan 5V'd, couldn't even hear it, and temps will still stupidly good even under heavy load.
I'd imagine you could do the same with a good air cooler just as easily.
I read the same too that the Hyper Threading is giving unrealistic benchmark results that has no bearing on real life usage. ?
So i don't know what to think too , So this needs people like HEX who own the CPUs to do real life testing instead of Benchmarking Software.
So i don't know what to think too , So this needs people like HEX who own the CPUs to do real life testing instead of Benchmarking Software.
In good multi threaded games and apps the HT really does help.
For example look at BFBC2, a game that is well optimised on quads.
The i3 530 @ 4GHz vs an E8500 @ 4GHz, the 530 gives much more consistent fps (no big min fps dips), and sits nicely between a similarly clocked quad and an dual.
