Budget gaming CPU - 'i3 540' or 'X3 450'?

[Dark_Angel]

rant

No, in your previous post (with the graphs) with I5's, I'm stating that you had them with cores disabled. What I simply meant was, you can't really use that as an answer to the OP's I3 question.

I think you're making too much out of my comment...

Nevermind, I think it's just a case of us getting wires crossed.

 

[franco_22]

So apart from Dragon Age and GTA there's virtually no point to a quad core yet.


Then again, people were having this debate like 2 or 3 years ago with the E8400 vs Q6600, it will never end.

 

[Dark_Angel]

So apart from Dragon Age and GTA there's virtually no point to a quad core yet.


Then again, people were having this debate like 2 or 3 years ago with the E8400 vs Q6600, it will never end.

I'd actually not agree...

With the I3, you *do* get HT... I'd say that's the bare min I'd recommend at this point.

Having said that, there's 2 courses of action:

1. Build a system now the best you can.

2. Buy a cheap system now, and wait for AMD's offerings / Intel's new chips (maybe even Ivy Bridge) and upgrade then.

The problem with 2, is you could wait forever... but I think I'm going to wait for Sandy in Jan... obviously not an answer to I3 or X3/X4.

I'd say if I were going AMD, I'd go with the X4 though. (for budget gaming)

 

[blackninja]

Of course, if Toms had used 2x6970 for their tests then I daresay the high clocked quads would convincingly win the day here - which is why I have one


There is little in the price of the 'budget' i3 540 & X3 450 platform at the end of the day - slap in a GTX 460 and game on 1920x1080 and they will most likely be very similar. The comment re the 6 core option has some relevance I think but my budget decisions are usually on best bang for buck at the time and I tend to live with that kit for a while ... have recently upgraded the Kids PCs to GTX 460 (from ATI 4650s) and 1920x1080 screens (2 PCs have E5200 @ 3.4 and one has E6320 @ 3.0) so I know what the performance is like and it is generally fine ... either of those suggested by the OP would do in all honesty! Having said that - I have an i3 540 and This and This in my basket right now ... I fancy shooting for 4.5Ghz+ and seeing how it gets on ... the HT will make mor eeffective use of those 2 cores as well!


Anyone care to send me the X3 450 & mobo to do a comparative test ???

 

[Big.Wayne]

There is little in the price of the 'budget' i3 540 & X3 450 platform at the end of the day

The Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2 along with an Intel® Core™ i3 540 comes in at an extra £30 sterling vs a 8800G and AMD® Athlon™ II X3 445 . . . Its nice to see the Intel® pricing getting dragged down to more realistic levels . . . wasn't long ago people were paying £99 notes for the i3 530 . . .

Still £30 is £30 . . . one has to ask if this premium is worth paying *or* if it would be better spent elsewhere in an affordable gaming system!

Athlon™ II X3 425 (stock 2.7GHz)


Click for stability . . . 18 hour "Blend"

Budget is key for this build

 

[blackninja]

Where did you get the £30 difference from Big Wayne?

Using cheapest boards -->


Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £78.71
(£66.99) £78.71
(£66.99)
MSI H55M-E23 Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £52.99
(£45.10) £52.99
(£45.10)
Sub Total : £112.09
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.00
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £21.19
Total : £142.28


AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £64.61
(£54.99) £64.61
(£54.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £58.74
(£49.99) £58.74
(£49.99)
Sub Total : £104.98
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £19.82
Total : £133.05

 

[stulid]

Where did you get the £30 difference from Big Wayne?

Using cheapest boards -->


AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £64.61
(£54.99) £64.61
(£54.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £58.74
(£49.99) £58.74
(£49.99)
Sub Total : £104.98
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £19.82
Total : £133.05

Anything wrong with this motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-424-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=1481 ?

Or £10 cheaper again - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-300-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=1481

 

[blackninja]

Anything wrong with this motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-424-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=1481 ?

You quoted a 760G mobo, BW quoted a 800 series mobo ... if budget is the key I'd simply get the cheapest (This) and stick with the stock cooler unless it was a crap clocker - and wait till it was in stock


Couple This with an i3 to save a few bob (My £20 Gigabyte G31 & and 780G AM2+ board were B grade). Since there are a few of those I'd bet they have all the bits ...

 

[Big.Wayne]

Where did you get the £30 difference from Big Wayne?

You quoted a 760G mobo, BW quoted a 800 series mobo ...

I did quote an 8xxx series board and the price is from a U.K stockist inc . . . the 760G works fine also and shaves even more from the budget . . . both boards use the SB710 southbridge so really not a lot in it . . . no matter how you slice it or dice it its very hard to beat an AMD® system when it comes to bang-for-buck pocket rockets!

• 880GM-E41
• ADX445WFGMBOX

 

[Big.Wayne]

MSI H55M-E23 Intel H55

£52.99 inc

Two dimm slots huh? . . . see even below this price point AMD® give you four slots to help with the longevity of the system . . . not a dealbreaker to have just two dimm slots but having four for less money is a nice touch and value added! . . . budget doesn't have to be "budget" if you know what I mean!

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The MSI 770-C45 and 870-C45 and the Asrock M3A770DE are full ATX motherboards with 4 RAM slots and decent overclocking options and cost between £45 to £55. The equivalent P55 motherboards are around £70 to £80 AFAIK.

Looking at the OcUK prices the Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 and X3 450 come to around £105. A Core i3 540 and an MSI H55M-E23 comes to around £231. However,an X3 445 or X3 450 is under £60 at many other places.

This is the price difference between a GTX460 768MB and 1GB or an HD5770 1GB or most of the price difference between an HD5770 1GB and a HD6850 1GB.

However, OcUK has the Asus P7P55-M in its clearance section for around £35 and the Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H for £40. This would make the Core i3 540 based system much closer in price to the Athlon II X3 system.

 

[Dark_Angel]

Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £78.71
(£66.99) £78.71
(£66.99)
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £69.13
(£58.83) £69.13
(£58.83)
Sub Total : £125.82
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.00
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £23.59
Total : £158.41

 

[Pendu]

I'd actually not agree...

With the I3, you *do* get HT... I'd say that's the bare min I'd recommend at this point.

Having said that, there's 2 courses of action:

1. Build a system now the best you can.

2. Buy a cheap system now, and wait for AMD's offerings / Intel's new chips (maybe even Ivy Bridge) and upgrade then.

The problem with 2, is you could wait forever... but I think I'm going to wait for Sandy in Jan... obviously not an answer to I3 or X3/X4.

I'd say if I were going AMD, I'd go with the X4 though. (for budget gaming)

Just being pedantic for pedantic's sake, he was referring to the statement that past 2 cores, gaming doesn't benefit much.

The graphs were there to show that it's very a much a "depends" kind of answer. Blackninja i believe used an inductive argument to prove his conclusion, making his conclusion weak in the face of a more thoroughly collated data set.

 

[easyrider]

i3 said ages ago !

 

[blackninja]

Just being pedantic for pedantic's sake, he was referring to the statement that past 2 cores, gaming doesn't benefit much.

The graphs were there to show that it's very a much a "depends" kind of answer. Blackninja i believe used an inductive argument to prove his conclusion, making his conclusion weak in the face of a more thoroughly collated data set.

You got me And seeing as I don't like 'depends' too much I have done the following:

Bought an X6 1055T 95w (to see what the fuss is about!) and 790GX-G65 and 4GB DDR3 (cost = £209)
Bought an X4 640 and Asus M4N68T-M LE V2 and 4GB DDR3 (cost = £150)
Bought a cooler and OCed the E5200 a bit more .. it now plays BC2 @ 1080p comfortably at 40fps+ with a GTX460 768

 

[darren.head]

Surely using a 460 768MB @1920x 1200 with AA doesnt really show much as the 460 is the bottleneck. It would would be better to use a faster card or a lower resolution to show the difference extra cores make.