i5 2nd Gen VS i3 4th Gen

IronVeil · 4 Mar 2018 at 12:41

Hi.
Can you tell me which cpu is better for gaming?

Intel Core i5 2nd gen 3.1GHz
Or
Intel Core i3 4th gen 3.4GHz

This will be paired with 8GB of RAM and a GT 1030.

robinbanks · 4 Mar 2018 at 13:04

Hi iron, what cpu's are you looking at?

Delta3D · 4 Mar 2018 at 13:10

I'm assuming the 4th Gen I3 is the i3-4130?

Is the 2nd gen the i5-2400?

IronVeil · 4 Mar 2018 at 13:22

Delta3D said:
I'm assuming the 4th Gen I3 is the i3-4130?

Is the 2nd gen the i5-2400?

Yes to both

Delta3D · 4 Mar 2018 at 13:27

I'd be inclined to say the i5-2400 with it being quad-core and having a considerably higher CPU PassMark score (23.82% increase).

Effective speed-wise on average user benchmarks is 15% higher on the i5-2400 also.

darael · 4 Mar 2018 at 14:05

The i5 is slightly faster, but uses more power than the i3. If you after the fastest CPU, then the i5.

spolsh · 4 Mar 2018 at 14:19

I take it you haven't already got a motherboard then, as those processors are different sockets .

IronVeil · 4 Mar 2018 at 14:59

spolsh said:
I take it you haven't already got a motherboard then, as those processors are different sockets .

These are two pre-built pic's with similar upgrade options.

spolsh · 4 Mar 2018 at 16:33

i5 will probably give a better experience to start with.

AiiR · 4 Mar 2018 at 16:34

Depends what gaming.

I had a Haswell i3, think it was the 3.7GHz one, before upgrading to a 4670k. To be honest for 4k gaming it was absolutely fine and I'd highly recommend them.

I'd personally go for the i3 since it's on a newer platform and down the road you could chuck a 4790 in there for a decent upgrade.

Edit - With a GT 1030 you won't notice the difference in games at all, I'd get the i3.

pastymuncher · 4 Mar 2018 at 18:51

IronVeil said:
These are two pre-built pic's with similar upgrade options.

I take it these are used and very cheap pre-builds? Don't overpay. People tend to ask way too much for old components they have thrown together to make a system.

JasonM · 5 Mar 2018 at 21:01

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2400+@+3.10GHz

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-4130+@+3.40GHz

i5 is faster.

ExoMale · 6 Mar 2018 at 00:16

Delta3D said:
I'd be inclined to say the i5-2400 with it being quad-core and having a considerably higher CPU PassMark score (23.82% increase).

Effective speed-wise on average user benchmarks is 15% higher on the i5-2400 also.

Those passmark results mean bugger all, Not real world usage, wouldnt suggest to compare them when debating which component to buy

OspreyO · 6 Mar 2018 at 08:01

ExoMale said:
Those passmark results mean bugger all, Not real world usage, would suggest to compare them when debating which component to buy

Depends what you are doing. For gaming though you'd need to look at what games you want to play and if multi threaded or single threaded performance was more important.

Orcvader · 6 Mar 2018 at 11:48

Even then, the IPC and clockspeed between the two aren't that hugely different so I would go with the i5. Having 4 physical cores will be better in the long run compared to 2 physical/4 logical.

OspreyO · 6 Mar 2018 at 11:50

I would agree.

I notice with the kids i3 playing some games the CPU is maxed out on both Cores.
I find a multi-core system is just more responsive.

z10m · 6 Mar 2018 at 13:12

OspreyO said:
I would agree.

I notice with my i3 playing some games the CPU is maxed out on both threads.
I find a multi-core system is just more responsive.

Your i3 has only 2 threads.? lol

OspreyO · 6 Mar 2018 at 13:52

2 Cores obviously...

OspreyO · 6 Mar 2018 at 13:58

Another option is to buy the newer system then later on when the price of the CPU's drops, change the CPU for a quad core one.

That was my plan, with the pre-built one the kids have. I'll probably just change the i3 system for a newer used prebuilt. Better bang for buck.

ExoMale · 6 Mar 2018 at 14:38

OspreyO said:
Depends what you are doing. For gaming though you'd need to look at what games you want to play and if multi threaded or single threaded performance was more important.

was meant to say 'wouldnt compare'.. i have looked at the benchmarks that get posted and the only ones i particularly care for are the game ones, not to say i would ever play the games they bench, but it gives you a good rough idea of actual gaming performance be like, when i look on a site called notebookcheck or something for general processors/graphics reviews and not just laptops, for graphic side of things it does show results of some games of the era.

i feel the only time that benchmarks/passmark scores that are not of gaming to be useful is if you use the computer beyond general use but not for gaming.