Pentium or i3 vs FX series

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Pablo_8

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Jun 2, 2016
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Hi, so i was talking to a friend the other day and i mentioned that i had bought an FX-8350 for gaming because i was saw it had good performance in triple AAA games using the www.game-debate.com "can i run it?" tool and he told me that he has not checked anything in game-debate but that for "just gaming" i could get a pentium or an i3 with two cores, super OC it and i would get the same performance and i'm here basically asking if it is true.
According to most data i've seen in multiple websites an i3 or a pentium would bottleneck a GTX 970 which is what i have, but i'm not sure anymore is there a lot misinformation out there or is my friend flat out wrong with his statement?
 
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Mr Kagouris
Your friend isn't very knowledgeable about this, I'll tell you that. Modern i3s are actually better for DX11 games (DX12 / Vulkan is another story), but a Pentium? No, just no. Also there are no unlocked i3s, so any overclocking would have to rely on Z170 boards with a non-K OC BIOS, which does allow overclocking but introduces several problems when used.

tl;dr You made a good choice, your friend should read up more on game CPU usage.
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Gam3r01

Gam3r01

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Jan 12, 2013
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Generally speaking an i3 (in CPU heavy games like Fallout 4) matches even an FX 9590.
I typically dont recommend a Pentium for gaming, as its limited to 2 threads but can OC. The i3s hyperthreading does help, though it cant OC (dosent really matter).

This does not necessarily make an 8350 a bad processor, but it is true an i3 can match it.
 
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turkey3_scratch

turkey3_scratch

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You can't overclock I3 CPUs, and Pentiums are a no-no period for gaming. In terms of the I3 vs FX 8350 it depends on the specific game and how it is programmed. I'd say without overclocking the I3 will have the edge in the majority of games, but overclocked the FX 8350 can gain some headway. But overclocking the FX 8350 results in a more expensive cooler and motherboard, so the cost does add up, and at that point it probably would have been wise to just get an I5 CPU with a cheaper motherboard and the stock Intel cooler.
 
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Mr Kagouris

Mr Kagouris

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Your friend isn't very knowledgeable about this, I'll tell you that. Modern i3s are actually better for DX11 games (DX12 / Vulkan is another story), but a Pentium? No, just no. Also there are no unlocked i3s, so any overclocking would have to rely on Z170 boards with a non-K OC BIOS, which does allow overclocking but introduces several problems when used.

tl;dr You made a good choice, your friend should read up more on game CPU usage.
 
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bignastyid

bignastyid

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Depends on the game, in some games an i3 6100 will outperform an 8350 as the i3 has superior single threaded performance. In some games a 8350 will hold back a 970 but you likely wouldn't notice much unless you are running 1080p@120+Hz. At a higher resolution or 60Hz refresh rate the difference wouldn't be very noticeable. The positives with the i3 is it has an upgrade path(i5 and i7) and can be used on cheaper boards without fear of performance issues, where an 8350 needs a board with a good VRM setup or you could run into VRM throttling issues.
 
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gity69

gity69

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If it was me (which it is I just got around to upgrading from my FX8350), I would go with a cheap asus socket 1151 MB and throw the low end i5 in it. All things considered you probably only spend $50 more and get way better performance on a new platform that isn't like 6 years old in AMD's case. However if your not wanting to buy new ram as well then the 8350 is still a decent chip but you will notice fps problems on the high end of graphics settings in some cases. At least I was which lead me to upgrade to the latest gen intel.
 
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Pablo_8

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Jun 2, 2016
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So the general consensus is that an i5-6400 is waay better than an 8350 and that pentiums and i3s don't hold up with newer games?

EDIT: Also, i'm not upgrading anything in my current setup, i'll be getting a whole new PC somewhere next year, but i was a bit confused when my friend started talking about my CPU choice.
 
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turkey3_scratch

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Pablo_8

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Jun 2, 2016
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Got it, though the difference in price in my country between an i5-6400 and an FX-8350 is negligible is the i5-6400 overkill or should i go for an i3?
 
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Pablo_8

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Jun 2, 2016
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Got it man, thanks a lot everyone really appreciate your support!
 
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