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i3 vs Phenom II quad vs AMD LLano for basic system

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.
 
Correct, only two Sandy Bridge CPUs are overclockable, the i5-2500K and i7-2600K.

However, a stock i3-2100 will beat even an overclocked Phenom II in single-threaded applications and some multithreaded ones as well. It also uses less power, runs cooler and obviously doesn't need a third party cooler.
 
jaybee said:
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.
Click to expand...

Did you get the Phenom II X6 1055T in the end??

You really need to tell us what software you intend to use.
 
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.
 
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jaybee said:
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.
Click to expand...
So,you got the Phenom II X6 for the build in your OP.

Like,I said I have a Core i3 2100 myself and it is a fine CPU for general usage. Looking at the A8-3850 it is around 10% to 15% faster in HandBrake than my Core i3 2100:

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss33/CAT-THE-FIFTH/HandBrakeChart26-09-2011-1.png

This means an A6-3500 triple core will be slower for encoding and an A6-3650 quad core probably will around the same speed.

The Core i3 2100 will be better for word processing and encoding music IMHO.

However,regarding a Llano based build this motherboard can be had for around £55 if the budget is tight:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?model=a75m-hvs

There is also noise that Trinity might work on existing FM1 based motherboards although this is not confirmed.

The major selling point of Llano is the better IGP over equivalent Intel CPUs but you trade CPU processing power.

Regarding the TDP figures,you will NOT see a CPU hitting these under normal usage.If anything idle figures are closer to what a general purpose system will be for most of the time.
 
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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.
 
jaybee said:
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.
Click to expand...

For HandBrake the 95W Phenom II X6 is going to be relatively energy efficient anyway. Like I said it has the same power draw as an Athlon II X4 635 if you checked the review I mentioned. It is around 50% quicker too than a 2.9GHZ Phenom II X4 and around 70% quicker than a Core i3 2100 in HandBrake.At idle and peak power consumption is similar to a Core i5 750.
 
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