i5 2nd Gen VS i3 4th Gen

[OspreyO]

I would agree with you on all of that.

However I do like CPU benchmark it gives you a better crude comparison than many other sites. Especially with low end processes. Like my QuadCore Atom in my netbook is on a par if not better in raw processing power with an an older Core2Duo. But the Atom has a better onBoard graphics and optimised better. But was surprised it was on a par just on CPU power.

But, even games some suit faster single threads some suit more cores. Same with Apps.
But also it depends what you are doing. At home I'm rarely using a lot of different apps at once.
At work, though I do. Lots of heavy apps all open at one.

 

[OspreyO]

Low end gaming is a weird one. Some games is all about the GFX card, but some are cpu bound.

I've a i3 2100 with a HD7750 in the kids room, initially for Minecraft, (which kinda needs a gfx card to get the best out of it) but surprisingly it plays most things at medium res/details. I use it for World Of Tanks, and some light video encoding. I mainly use laptop and VPN into my workstation at work, with 12 cores (24 threads)

However one of the kids has some strategy games, that need more RAM and more CPU power. So the i3 is choking. Especially with any mods and larger maps. So I'll probably upgrade it with another off the shelf PC with 1050 and a multicore CPU with at least 8GB RAM.

That why if I was the OP I'd be going Quadcore.

 

[IronVeil]

I would agree with you on all of that.

However I do like CPU benchmark it gives you a better crude comparison than many other sites. Especially with low end processes. Like my QuadCore Atom in my netbook is on a par if not better in raw processing power with an an older Core2Duo. But the Atom has a better onBoard graphics and optimised better. But was surprised it was on a par just on CPU power.

But, even games some suit faster single threads some suit more cores. Same with Apps.
But also it depends what you are doing. At home I'm rarely using a lot of different apps at once.
At work, though I do. Lots of heavy apps all open at one.

That is such a coincodence! I have a 2-in-1 with an Intel Atom and a mini PC with a Core 2 Duo!

 

[OspreyO]

Probably like me the IT budget is low on the family list of priorities.

 

[robinbanks]

Depending on price i would go for the i5 2400/2500. If the i3 is really cheap then i would consider it or if its a pre build (like a optiplex) near the same price i would possibly look at it otherwise i wouldn't bother.