i3 vs Phenom II quad vs AMD LLano for basic system

[jaybee]

I notice that these come in at about the same price. This is going to be for a PC I am building someone and the intended stuff the PC should do is:

- Streaming duties with PS3 Media server with on the fly transcoding of high quality bit rate rips

- Basic office apps

- Internet

- Occasional encoding duties

- NO GAMING

Requirements are more for it to be cool and quiet and not use too much power.


What would you go for and why? Is an i3 Dual Core sufficient these days or should I really be going quad?

Ta

 

[jaybee]

Oh sorry I should have said if I went i3 it would be Sandy Bridge so no hyper threadng on any of the current 1155 i3 processors. Is Hyper threadng worth while anyway then?

Normally it would be a no brainer and get a Phenom II quad, but they appear to have a TDP of 125watts which is much higher than the i3 or Llano stuff. Perhaps a bit overkill I mean in terms of power sapping. So I guess, it is between Llano and i3. I think the Llano would be like comparing an Athlon II quad to i3.

 

[jaybee]

What is all of this nonsense? All Core i3 CPUs have HyperThreading, including the Sandy Bridge ones.

Do they? Wonders off to google.... Anyway is it that significant? Hyper threading are not real cores are they?

 

[jaybee]

Yep they do. Wikipedia states all models in all architectures do.

 

[jaybee]

Hmm thinking of going i3 for this build.

 

[jaybee]

Edit!!

It seems OcUK have the 95W version of the Phenom II X6 1055T is in stock too:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-309-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1944

Interesting, I was not aware this chip even existed. Apparently been out about a year? Are they popular then? Hard to get hold of? Only, that shows as no reviews of it at all. I would have though this would be more popular? Or is it because it is not a black edition and hence not as overclockable having unlocked multi etc?

This sounds like a good bet.

 

[jaybee]

I think that seems a nice compromise that 1055t 95w edition. Might well go for that. Cheers guys. Other two machines I am building for people should be easier to spec. i5 for gaming rig, and i7 for a big apps machine.

 

[jaybee]

Just to bump this thread up, I just realised that the i3 CPUs are locked down and not able to be overclocked? I mean the newer tech sandy bridge stuff. Is that correct? Does anyone know how well the A6-3500 overclocks? I am hearing rumours on google that they can clock very well and also possibly even unlock the 4th core.

 

[jaybee]

This is a build for my bro. It's now between the i3 2100 (£89.99 dual core + hyperthreading + 65w TDP) vs the Llano A6-3500 (triple core + 65w TDP). I am thinking to overclock the 3500 to within an inch of its life so that it competes or equals the i3 on CPU performance. The 3500 + cheap mobo combination is about £145 where as i3 and cheap mobo is about £170. But then as said above, might need a cpu cooler for the 3500 if I overclock it which would add £20.

He needs to be able to run blurays and HD rips. Thats the only graphically intensive thing.
In terms of software used err....

Office apps
Itunes
Encoding software (not sure what - lets say the most popular one....handbrake is it?)
PS3 Media server
Android software to link up to his phone


All basic stuff to be honest. It's more that it needs to do multiple things at once than one single intensive thing. I have given up on the AMD Phenom due to cost and power usage.

Currently head says i3 as it's the better cpu and then you have the good Sandy Bridge 1155 platform for any future upgrades. Heart says AMD Llano 3500 (1 extra core too) and overclock it lots. But then AMD tend to scale badly with power usage when overclocked of late don't they. I suspect the i3 would be cooler and quieter. I have issues buying locked down products but then, I guess it would be less work for me building it if it's just a "turn it on and leave at stock clocks" type build.

The 3850 is out because it has 100w TDP. I would only go as high as 65w TDP so it's 3500 vs i3 2100. It really depends how well the 3500 overclocks but I cannot see ANYONE on the net reporting anything about that. I have seen that the 3850 overclocks like crazy.

 

[jaybee]

No I haven;t bought anything yet I mean. Still deciding. Yeah it may come down to what I can get for what price.
Ta for help.