Performance difference between these 2 builds? And 3 years down the line?

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RCS-Raincloud

RCS-Raincloud

Commendable
Jun 17, 2016
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Hello.

I'm upgrading my brother's PC from a Phenom II X4 955 / 8GB RAM / GTX 650. He uses it for internet, youtube/netflix and 1080p 60hz gaming.

I was wondering if there's a noticeable performance difference between these two builds, i5 / 16GB RAM / 8(6)GB GPU Vs i3 / 8GB RAM / 4(3)GB GPU (waiting for custom RX 480 and GTX 1060 models before deciding on a GPU):

(please ignore total price, it's messed up)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($73.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($272.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($27.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $775.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-02 15:38 EDT-0400

Vs

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 4GB Video Card
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($27.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $376.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-02 15:44 EDT-0400

I would like to know two things:
Is there a real performance difference now?
How well will these two builds likely perform in 3 years time?

Thank you for your comment.
 
Solution
CountMike
For now, 8GB of RAM and 4GB of VRAM on that GPU is quite enough and doubling them may produce only few % of performance boost. On the other hand, less and less games are single threaded and many can use four cores but for serious use more cores is better. Windows 10 for instance, can spread the load over all cores even when program itself doesn't demand it.
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CountMike

CountMike

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Oct 31, 2015
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Apart from 4 core processor (better option) everything else seems to be same. As for next few years, who the heck knows so making a system that can be overclocked may be better if somewhat more expensive option but if it extends your satisfaction with system for a year, it's good investment.
 
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RCS-Raincloud

RCS-Raincloud

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Jun 17, 2016
28
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I see. I'd definitely consider it if the system was for me, but my brother is a basic user. As simple as overclock can be, it's probably better going for stock configurations.

Apart from processors, the other 2 differences are RAM 8 / 16, and the GPU memory 4 / 8 (3 / 6 if GTX 1060).

I'm mostly concerned about FPS and gaming performance. Would an i3 with 4GB GPU run current games close enough to an i5 8GB GPU? Sure there will be a FPS difference, but wouldn't it be a small one?

And then there is the question of how well an i3 and 4GB GPU will be running games in 2019-2020.
 
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CountMike

CountMike

Titan
Oct 31, 2015
33,753
3,142
147,990
For now, 8GB of RAM and 4GB of VRAM on that GPU is quite enough and doubling them may produce only few % of performance boost. On the other hand, less and less games are single threaded and many can use four cores but for serious use more cores is better. Windows 10 for instance, can spread the load over all cores even when program itself doesn't demand it.
 
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Plumboby

Respectable
Apr 18, 2016
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i am running a 1150 socket i3 4150 processors 8gig ram on a stepsons set up & goes well as on both processors the i3 out of the skylakes be on par or betters than the last gen i5s as a thing intel has been doing as they do throughout as they creat new chips. Either was are very good & for gaming go allright invest in a decent psu 8gig rams as the kits are so cheap unbuffed makes a diffrence. Go with the i3 i you dont have the funds they are good as they are tecnicaly a quad because of hyperthreading but i been running 10 Pro 64 bit on my stepsons set ups both i3s playing most modern games 10 has smoothed up the interfacing of all the motherboard controllers & hardware any of the skylake builds will go well but i go with the rule of thumb & pricing is cheaper 8gig a good starter for ram if you pick up a decent 16kit for not much more or the 8gig kit go for it but 4gig in any system i try avoid as for avalibility & find that a 4gig kit will cost as much or work out cheaper to go 8gig how i recomend as for causal gaming U Tube steaming
 
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RCS-Raincloud

RCS-Raincloud

Commendable
Jun 17, 2016
28
0
1,540
Thank you, that's good to know. I'm going with Windows 10 in this build, so this is helpful information.

Good point about the GPU. From what I've read so far, the 4GB GPU should be fine for a long time since it's for 1080p 60hz gaming and, in the long run, the i5 is worth the investment vs the i3.
 
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CountMike

CountMike

Titan
Oct 31, 2015
33,753
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147,990
I'd rather go for real 4 cores as opposed to hyperthreading because not all programs/games can take advantage of it. AMD uses similar but opposite approach, they use 2 real cores to one thread and it's not working very well for them up to now and that's one of reasons Intel has some advantage.
 
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