Intel i3 vs AMD?

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w0rmh0lez

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Sep 29, 2013
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Hello guys. I am just wondering why aren't i3s recommended for budget gaming builds? From some benchmarks that I've seen the most powerful AMD chip (with the exception of the 9590) is still slower then an i3. I'm not planning on purchasing either I'm just wondering.
 
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Roland Of Gilead


well, I3's are dual core with hyperthreading. Most AMD CPUs, even entry level are 3-4 core (actual cores). So for certain games, and software you'll get slightly better performance. Saying that the higher end I3's are only a fraction behind some quad core AMD CPU's, so it's much of a muchness really. AMD CPU's typically cost less than their equivalent Intel CPU's, same goes for mobo's, so it can work out cheaper to build a decent gaming rig with AMD.

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Roland Of Gilead

Roland Of Gilead

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well, I3's are dual core with hyperthreading. Most AMD CPUs, even entry level are 3-4 core (actual cores). So for certain games, and software you'll get slightly better performance. Saying that the higher end I3's are only a fraction behind some quad core AMD CPU's, so it's much of a muchness really. AMD CPU's typically cost less than their equivalent Intel CPU's, same goes for mobo's, so it can work out cheaper to build a decent gaming rig with AMD.

Intel CPU's have better IPC (instructions per cycle) so generally perform the same as higher clocked AMD parts.
 
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barto

barto

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Simply because it only has 2 cores and you can't overclock it. Most budget builds will have the 6300 because it has more cores for games that are optimized for them and you can overclock it to keep up with an i5. I don't have a problem recommending an i3 when there are plans for an i5 or i7 in the near future. But it's simply hard to beat the 6300 in a budget build.
 
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D

de5_Roy

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it is very much task-dependent with a mix of brand preference. i3s are the cheapest-but-capable gaming cpu from intel, they get recommendation just because of that. however, they aren't very capable overall. being essentially a dual core cpu, it's pretty easy to overwhelm with load. most older games and most present games still favor strong single/dual core performance (this is where clueless fanboys spam gamegpu's poorly executed crysis 3 benches :p), which core i3 provides. most day to day tasks are still dependent on single and dual core performance. bd and later cpus have inherent single core performance deficit which can only be lessened with high overclock, that's why 9590 (which is a factory oc'ed fx8350) can perform as such.

but newer games are starting to use more cores and that's where core i3 fails. same with multithreaded tasks. this makes core i3 unsuitable for long term.

now, the amd counterparts. before, core i3 used to compete against dual module quad core bd cpus (fx41xx), llano (a8 3870k and lower) and trinity apus (a10 6800k and lower) as they were in the same price range. compared to those, core i3 ( sb 21xx and ivb 32xx) were better cpus, including in gaming with powerful discreet gfx cards. but now that fx6xxx cpu prices have fallen so much, along with haswell core i3 41xx cpus not lowering (instead increasing) price, core i3 don't deliver much performance for price. the haswell i3s can still outperform fx cpus in less threaded games and in games that use hyperthreading.

despite fx cpus price-performance advantage, there's another area even high perf/price can be beaten - mini itx. fx platform doesn't have mini itx motherboards. i3s perform overall better than apus (in cpu tasks) and current kaveri apus are overpriced (except in microcenter).
 
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jacobian

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The gaming CPU guide of _this_ web site (not its forum) certainly recommend the Core i3 CPU for gaming, if your budget is around $130.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

But they also recommend the AMD FX-6300, which also costs about the same money. The AMD CPUs have slower cores, but they give you more cores for the same money as intel processors. The "battles" about what's better, 8-core AMD vs 4-core Intel, or 6 core AMD vs 2-core intel i3, are raging here every day.
 
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jacobian

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I thought AMD's cores do have independent ALUs, so per core Intel and AMD has the same number of ALUs, one. The AMD CPUs do share an FPU for every two cores.
 
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vmN

vmN

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AMD have 4 ALU per modules. So 2 ALUs per core that the other core cannot interfere with. They share their FPU yes.
Intel have 4 APUs per core, but hyper-threading let them share it.
 
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jacobian

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But to overclock, you need a better cooler and your power consumption is going to go up. At this point ask the question, why not just get a lower-tier multiplier locked Core i5?
 
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