Is i3 2120 better than Q9300?

[ExoMale]

i know i3 is like 1155? So Has better upgrade path, but is this particular one worth it over my quad?

Basically just seen a Acer Veriton M290 for £40 which is all standard minus hdd removal, has 4gb ram so maybe upgradable still? haven't looked, but would it be a waste of money? My 5770 and gold rated supernova gs would go in to it or as the Q needs graphics card I could just replace it.

 

[MagicBoy]

i3 just edges it. Half the cores physical cores (although hyper-threaded) but more efficient per clock, and 800Mhz faster.

 

[ExoMale]

Okay thank for for reply, I know the i3 in haswell were very good from what I had, I just wasn't sure how worthy the older i3's were.

I want it because it's next generation or two after my quad and also because of the path to a 2400/2500/2600(k ones included), but I wouldn't be in a position to get a 2400 onwards straight away so I'd be stuck with the i3, which is not want I want if it's not big enough improvement.

 

[MagicBoy]

As a point of reference, Haswell is about 10% quicker per clock than Sandy Bridge.

Depends what you're using it for really. Single threaded applications will benefit from IPC and clockspeed on the i3.

 

[ExoMale]

casual gaming and a lot of general, youtube,

i didnt build my computer for demanding games, currently updating the division to check that out, then i got RB6S and Anno 2205 ready to be tested then i got recent disc purchase of Mortal Kombat X to test, installed The Forrest not long ago and running fine on high preset @ full screen 1920x1080, didnt have fraps installed, but the game running smooth considering i seem to be having system ram issues, everything at stock levels, theres some older games like SC2, hitman and silly games along with sims 4 i might play again and various other games, but Anno 2205 is my main game i want to play and with i3 4160, 16gb ram, gtx 750 OC 1gb, that game and every other game ram very well on high at 720p @ over 45 fps, so aiming something similar.

ideally i need a motherboard that support minimum 8gb ram, but 775 prices for anything decent i could get something like that Veriton or something else.

 

[Vince]

casual gaming and a lot of general, youtube,

i didnt build my computer for demanding games, currently updating the division to check that out, then i got RB6S and Anno 2205 ready to be tested then i got recent disc purchase of Mortal Kombat X to test, installed The Forrest not long ago and running fine on high preset @ full screen 1920x1080, didnt have fraps installed, but the game running smooth considering i seem to be having system ram issues, everything at stock levels, theres some older games like SC2, hitman and silly games along with sims 4 i might play again and various other games, but Anno 2205 is my main game i want to play and with i3 4160, 16gb ram, gtx 750 OC 1gb, that game and every other game ram very well on high at 720p @ over 45 fps, so aiming something similar.

ideally i need a motherboard that support minimum 8gb ram, but 775 prices for anything decent i could get something like that Veriton or something else.

This is completely random but if you have members market access have a look there on Saturday as ill be listing a DFI Infinity 775 board sometime in the morning that would meet your needs for cheap, ill also be listing a couple of i3's including the 2120. To be honest though the 2120 is a marginal upgrade to what you have and although lga 1155 offers some decent upgrades from the 2120, It's difficult to recommend a jump to it from where you are now given the jump is up to the i3, granted it gives you the path to the 2600k etc but you might just find that by the time you get there the 2600k will be being soundly beat by the entry level of the next gen given that a ryzen 1400 gives it a run for its money today.

Honestly, and if it were me I might consider a board that is capable of running the ram but only if its a really cheap fix, after that the best option is saving for entry onto either am4 or a later gen intel platform where massive performance gains over your current kit are to be had.