CPU Beginner needs help on choices.

ArkHavoc · Oct 20, 2014

Hi, I am VERY new to CPU's, and PC's in general (about 4 months into it) and I have a question. Can I overclock the Intel Pentium G3420 using a Z97 board and a CM Hyper 212 EVO to match or beat the Intel i5-4440, or even the 4590? Please let me know, BTW this is for gaming.

Geek Jed · Oct 20, 2014

Yes it can. The cooler is good enough.

Kingbob · Oct 20, 2014

You will have no luck with that overclock, especially with gaming. The i5 is a quad-core which means that in most games, you will see significant performance increases even if the clock speed (GHz) is lower (which it probably wont be).

bliq · Oct 20, 2014

If you're looking to overclock for performance on the cheap, go for an MSI H81 board with the overclocking BIOS and a G3258.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html

RazerZ · Oct 20, 2014

Depends on the game. In older games which don't make use of more than two cores the G3240 ( or now G3258) should work fine. In any of the newer/more demanding games such as Crysis 3, Battlefield 4, Watchdogs, etc. the i5 would be a much better choice mainly due to it being a quad core.

ArkHavoc · Oct 20, 2014

RazerZ :

all that I would be playing are: Skyrim, Elder Scrolls Online, Smite, Minecraft, Would it match the i5? I am on a heavy budget that is the only reason why I am having this discussion.

Kingbob · Oct 20, 2014

ArkHavoc :

If you are on a heavy budget you can definitely get away with it. It wont be maxed out by any means but it will certainly be playable.

ArkHavoc · Oct 20, 2014

Kingbob :

ArkHavoc :

If you are on a heavy budget you can definitely get away with it. It wont be maxed out by any means but it will certainly be playable.

My GPU is a Sapphire r9 270x 2GB OC Edition. Could it max out Skyrim at least? what would I have to OC the Pentium to? 4.5Ghz or below, or what?

RazerZ · Oct 20, 2014

What's wrong with your 8320?

ArkHavoc · Oct 20, 2014

RazerZ :

hah, I ended up selling both my CPU and Motherboard to my friend. Still have to change my list. But I liked it fine, I kind-of didnt know how to overclock (which ive heard is big for AMD), but ya know. A noob is gonna be noobish.

RazerZ · Oct 20, 2014

ArkHavoc :

Should be fine for those games. The i5 will have higher fps, but overclocked it should come close. I'd expect fps around the 60s for high settings unmodded at 1080p (besides minecraft).

Rather than spending money on an G3258+Z97+212 EVO it would be a much better choice to go with a locked i3 and a h81 motherboard.

Kingbob · Oct 20, 2014

To get truly max settings on Skyrim you'll need a bigger GPU and CPU (that is with the upgraded hi-res texture packs). Plus, it depends on your definition of max settings. With no anti-aliasing, you should be able to run close to max settings with the overclock.

ArkHavoc · Oct 20, 2014

RazerZ :

ArkHavoc :

Should be fine for those games. The i5 will have higher fps, but overclocked it should come close. I'd expect fps around the 60s for high settings unmodded at 1080p (besides minecraft).

Rather than spending money on an G3258+Z97+212 EVO it would be a much better choice to go with a locked i3 and a h81 motherboard.

Really? Why? Which i3 and Motherboard do you recommend for the price point of the G3258+Z97+212 (If you don't mind). Would I be able to get better FPS? And I put around 20-25 mods in my skyrim load.

RazerZ · Oct 20, 2014

Ideally for that amount of mods you would want an i5, but if it's out of your budget an i3 will be the best choice. Hyperthreading tech. can make its dual cores act like a quad core, effectively improving framerates and decreasing frame time variance (less stutter).

I'd suggest either

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.85 @ Amazon)
Total: $158.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-20 23:05 EDT-0400

or if you can fit an i5 in your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.85 @ Amazon)
Total: $223.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-20 23:06 EDT-0400

ArkHavoc · Oct 21, 2014

RazerZ :

Can't fit the i5 into my budget sadly. Can the i3 really out-perform the Pentium when the Pentium is overclocked? I've seen videos where the Pentium at 4.5Ghz destroys the i3 in gaming.. Also, do you have any MoBo ideas for the i3 that are ATX-sized?

RazerZ · Oct 21, 2014

It should... which videos showed that? If you wanted an ATX motherboard you could consider a h97 ATX motherboard.

Anandtech is a reliable site I go to for reviews and they said in games which can make use of multiple threads, the i3 always pulled ahead of the overclocked G3258. Most games are starting to use three or more threads and the i3 would be a better choice long term.

bliq · Oct 21, 2014

check out the link I sent out. for jobs where multiple cores are beneficial, the i3's hyperthreading can make the difference. otherwise, the overclocked G3258 is better. but remember that overclocking is not guaranteed, you need a decent PSU to do it safely. It looks like there's a lot of wisdom in going the i3 route since the aftermarket cooler you need to OC the G3258 eats into the savings. It might be a net $10-15 difference and that might be worth the i3's better performance on multithreaded tasks.

ArkHavoc · Oct 21, 2014

RazerZ :

Ideally for that amount of mods you would want an i5, but if it's out of your budget an i3 will be the best choice. Hyperthreading tech. can make its dual cores act like a quad core, effectively improving framerates and decreasing frame time variance (less stutter).

I'd suggest either

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.85 @ Amazon)
Total: $158.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-20 23:05 EDT-0400

or if you can fit an i5 in your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.85 @ Amazon)
Total: $223.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-20 23:06 EDT-0400

Thanks for your help.

RazerZ · Oct 21, 2014

Anytime.

CPU Beginner needs help on choices.

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