i3 vs FX-6300 (discussion)

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IndyAJD

IndyAJD

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Sep 6, 2013
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Hello all,

I've built and may in the future be building budget computers for my friends. When it comes to a $550-600 budget the most disputed thing is the CPU. I've heard many people say many things regarding the FX-6300 and the i3-4150. Pro i3 people say that the i3 has a better upgrade path, which is true, and that its two hyperthreaded cores perform better than the six supposedly crappy AMD cores. FX-6300 people say that its extra cores, while not as efficient intel cores will still outperform the i3 in modern games. It also is very overclock-friendly, and is $20 cheaper.

So what do you guys think? I've looked at some benchmarks, and it seems that the FX-6300 generally performs a little better when running all 6 cores, but some would dispute this.

 
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lunyone
Well this is how I look at things, when budget is of concern (especially on the low end):

Intel options:
* i3 is pretty good for 95% of duties. Might have some issues if you have multiple things going on during gaming, but generally is pretty good.
* Non-OC'ing Mobo's are quite cheap, if you don't need too many USB ports and/or SATA connections (there are exceptions, but generally the rule).
* Does consume less power, but usually isn't too much of a concern within a desktop environment.

AMD options:
* CPU is very well rounded for pretty much any task you throw at it, especially if you haven multiple things going on (i.e. gaming while listening to music, while having multiple windows open, etc.).
* Mobo's are usually a bit more $ than...
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rmark45matsu

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Aug 23, 2014
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Simply put, anything that uses all the cores that the cpu's have to offer the 6 fx cores will outperform the two i3 cores. Most modern games today won't use more then two cores which makes the i3 a better gaming cpu. But if you like to listen to music and play a modern game as well as have a browser open the i3 may be lacking the horsepower that it needs to keep up with everything, while the fx will get lower game performance it will be able to handle more at once.
 
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noangel

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Oct 12, 2014
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i3 should be better than FX 6300 for most of apps and games.
i3 has better performance per clock, lower power consumption.
FX6300 is useful only for rare heavily multi threaded tasks.
but believe me u will not do these often at home, so i3.
 
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baazing

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Feb 14, 2014
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I always say if you want to overclock get the fx 6300, if you don't get the i3. Most of the performance tests I've seen favor the i3 over the fx 6300 at stock, but when overclocked the fx 6300 tends to outperform the i3. Also when using the fx 6300 you will most likely be overclocking with it so you'll need to buy a better cooler. That 20-30 dollars on the cooler balances out the price difference between the two making them close to the same value.
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Well this is how I look at things, when budget is of concern (especially on the low end):

Intel options:
* i3 is pretty good for 95% of duties. Might have some issues if you have multiple things going on during gaming, but generally is pretty good.
* Non-OC'ing Mobo's are quite cheap, if you don't need too many USB ports and/or SATA connections (there are exceptions, but generally the rule).
* Does consume less power, but usually isn't too much of a concern within a desktop environment.

AMD options:
* CPU is very well rounded for pretty much any task you throw at it, especially if you haven multiple things going on (i.e. gaming while listening to music, while having multiple windows open, etc.).
* Mobo's are usually a bit more $ than the cheaper Non-OC'ing Intel Mobo's, but they generally have a decent amount of SATA ports (usually 4 to 6 or more) and usually more features for comparatively priced Intel Mobo's (of coarse there are exceptions).
* CPU is also OC'able, but will need optional CPU HSF to push the limits of the CPU OC, which means about $20-30 more (which means your CPU price difference is about equal in initial costs).

The other thing to consider is that most people will probably not upgrade the CPU down the road, because there is usually some other compelling options that they might take advantage of, like SSD's or something like that. Obviously if gaming is a primary option, they might need to upgrade to a 4 core CPU down the road to meet a "New" game requirement. You get the idea here.

Personally I think the FX 6300 is a good all around CPU to have and might just be a slightly better option over the i3, but that is just my opinion. I think if you go with the i3 option, the owner might want to upgrade to an SSD down the road, instead of a CPU upgrade, but that will depend on what the owner wants to do to improve their system (the same could be said about the AMD option too).

Examples of possible builds with either CPU/Mobo needed:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $576.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 23:50 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $546.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 23:52 EDT-0400

Tried to get similar options on the Mobo's, so you could see what kind of pricing you can see. Obviously there are several MIR options, so you can factor those in/out if you like. Both Mobo's have a Front USB 3.0 header on them, so you can take advantage of that on the Corsair 200R. Both Mobo's are ATX and come with 6 x SATA 3 ports.
 
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