Intel Core I3 3240 vs AMD FX 6300

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DeathAndPain
Hard to tell. Generally, GPU and CPU have differing tasks, but it is true that the CPU needs to supply the GPU with data in time. You will certainly be able to enjoy the performance of your good GPU, but it may well be that once you upgrade your CPU, you notice another graphics-related boost. This also depends on the game.

But if your budget does not support a good CPU right now, you may want to get yourself a cheap GPU for now, something that fits the CPU while costing you little money, and upgrade them together later. You may lose the money you spend now on the GPU (even though you can recover some by selling it on ebay), but you gain the technological advance that the GPUs have made in the meantime. The price of a cheap GPU now...
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_Vass

_Vass

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for gaming? depends. do you want to play old gamess? go with the i3. do you want to play the newer 'multi-core optimized' games? go with the FX6300. You can overclock the 6300 while you can't overclock the i3, so i'd say this is a easy choice.
 
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DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

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Why would you want to buy an outdated 3240? Intel stopped producing that chip in summer! Don't let vendors sell you their old stock remnants. Consider getting a Core i3-4330 or 4130 instead. That is the current Intel competitor to the AMD FX-6300.

Which of the two is better? Depends on the games you plan on playing. The AMD has 6 cores, the Intel only 2, but with hyperthreading (so the Intel emulates 4 cores to make better use of the two it actually has). Sounds like a big one in favor of AMD, but every single i3 core is hugely faster than a FX-6300 core. If you have a game that is programmed to make good use of several cores doing work in parallel, the FX-6300 will probably perform better. Most games cannot use many cores though. For instance, Starcraft 2 can use a maximum of 2 cores and leaves any additional cores unused. Very new games tend to make better use of more cores though. It is a close decision.

Another advantage of the Intel that may or may not be important to you is that it consumes less power, meaning smaller electricity bill, less heat output into your room, and easier to cool without using fans that make a lot of racket.

So both processors that I named (but not the outdated i3 you named) are comparable. Note that both the i3 and the FX-6300 are entry-level CPUs. They will perform as good as they can, but games are demanding applications, and neither of these two CPUs offers outstanding performance.
 
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Danar Christanto

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for all of you, thanks for your answer. I really appreciate it :)

@DeathAndPain : If I prefer 3240. does 3240 playable for future game ?
at least for 3 years. so I don't need to upgrade my CPU at least for 3 years.
 
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DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

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Well, as I told you above, the 3240 is outdated even now, so what makes you think it will be good for the future?

And as I said you before, both the FX-6300 and the i3 (even the current 4xxx line) are entry-level CPUs. They will handle most current games, seeing that game manufacturers endeavor to make their games playable on as many CPUs as possible, but they will struggle hard if confronted with demanding games. In the future, games will gradually become even more demanding. So no, I cannot promise you that these processors will be able to play all games well for the next 3 years. I cannot even promise you that they are able to play all current games really well. They are no gaming CPUs. Gaming CPUs are faster and more expensive. If they are the maximum your budget can support, then get one of them, but do not expect wonders and do not blame me if you run into their limits sooner or later.

If you want a really good gaming processor, get a Core i5.
 
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DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

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There is a misconception on your side.
Core i3, i5 and i7 are lines of Intel processors. Approximately once a year, a new, improved generation of these lines is released to the market, with the old ones becoming obsolete. You can distinguish the generations by the first of the four digits that comprises the model name. So your Core i3-3240 belongs to the "3"-generation, also known as "Ivy Bridge". Ivy Bridge fits in mainboards that sport a socket 1155.

Intel stopped production of Ivy Bridge in summer. The current Core-processors are the Haswell generation, with a 4 being the first digit. Haswells fit in mainboards that have a socket 1150.

If you buy your i3-3240, you will only be able to upgrade to other obsolete i5 and i7 processors that also belong to the Ivy Bridge generation. Buy a current i3-4130 or 4330, and you not only get more performance for the same money, but can also upgrade to any current (!) Core i5 or Core i7 later! Sorry, but there is nothing smart about buying the outdated chip. Especially not with regard to future upgrading.
 
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Danar Christanto

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yess, but Haswell i5 and i7 processor and motherboard currently expensive as hell, that's why I make a preferences about core i3 3240 not core i3 4320 eventhough their prices almost same. what about Intel G3220, it is haswell but I know it not stronger than i3 3240 as usual.
 
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DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

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They will remain that way, seeing that Intel usually doesn't lower CPU prices. But I never said you need to buy an i5 or i7 right now if you cannot afford it. Starting out with an i3 is perfectly fine. Just make sure you get a current one! If you find that Ivy i5 or i7 are cheaper than Haswell ones, then that is because vendors want to clear their stores, offering a discount. I expect that if you buy an i3 now, there will be some time until you want to upgrade, and by then, the Haswell i5 and i7 can be cheaper just the same, especially when their successor has already been released.

That being said, I fail to find offers of Ivy Bridges that are significantly cheaper. I am just not claiming that they do not exist. But if you know some, you will probably also be able to find discounted Haswells for your upgrade when Broadwell is out.

And Haswell mainboards are not more expensive than Ivy Bridge ones. They aren't expensive in general, not unless you want a Z87 overclocker board with lots of features you'll probably never use. You should be able to get a B85 mainboard that will do the job nicely for between $70 and $80. No performance drawback to the expensive mainboards (other than that you cannot overclock, and even that is only partially true, since some mainboards offer BIOSes that support "non-Z-overclocking".


G3220 is the Pentium line. It is below the i3 line, difference being that Core i3 offers hyperthreading while the pentiums do not. Whether that matters depends on the application. Games are not known to be able to make use of hyperthreading, although this may be different for very new and future games.

But you can always buy a G3220 and upgrade to any Haswell later, seeing that the mainboards are the same. The cheaper the CPU you buy now, the more sense a future upgrade will make, seeing that you are limited to upgrade within your CPU generation.
 
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DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

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Hard to tell. Generally, GPU and CPU have differing tasks, but it is true that the CPU needs to supply the GPU with data in time. You will certainly be able to enjoy the performance of your good GPU, but it may well be that once you upgrade your CPU, you notice another graphics-related boost. This also depends on the game.

But if your budget does not support a good CPU right now, you may want to get yourself a cheap GPU for now, something that fits the CPU while costing you little money, and upgrade them together later. You may lose the money you spend now on the GPU (even though you can recover some by selling it on ebay), but you gain the technological advance that the GPUs have made in the meantime. The price of a cheap GPU now plus the cost of a GTX 650ti-equivalent later may well eb equal or less to the price of a GTX 650ti now - and this way you shift the bulk of the cost into the future.
 
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