Intel i3 versus i5 question

go_hercules

Commendable
Jan 7, 2017
8
0
1,510
I have been reading some things online that says an i3 in some instances can actually be faster than an i5. Can someone explain this in laymans terms please. I am shopping for a new prebuilt desktop and think an i3 would be sufficient but am tempted by the i5. But then when I read that, I really got confused. Thanks.
 
Solution
D
What are you going to be using it for? For a basic internet/email/office machine with very lite gaming the i3 is fine.

If you looking for something to game with we can do better building you one.

That's a low power version of the i3 called the i3 6100T. It's slower than a full power i3 6100 which runs at 3.7Ghz. Both of those machines have 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. You would never be able to tell a difference just using them for the tasks you listed.

True Buie

Honorable
Aug 29, 2016
381
0
11,160
Heyo go_hercules

The only thing I've seen where the i3 might be faster than the i5, is when comparing something like an i5 6400 and the i3 6100.
The people you've seen writting that the i3 is faster in some intances, might have been refering to a lower end model of the i5's. The reason why they have done that, is since i5's have their true 4 cores and the i3 'only' has its 2 cores with hyperthreading, and since hyperthreading is basically making 1 CPU core into 2, but then again not, since it's just making its scheduling more effective. This make the i3 almost as fast as the 4 true cores in the i5.
Hyperthreading can make a 2 core CPU act like 4 core, but hyperthreading is NEVER as good as a true core.

In your case, you should probably look at the i5 model and make sure that its clock speed isn't too low, since the i3 otherwise would beat it in some cases. Could you link the PC's you've been looking at?

Hope this was enough answer, and good luck buying the pc!
 
D

Deleted member 217926

Guest
Simply enough it comes down to clock speed. An i3 6100 operates at 3.7Ghz constantly. An i5 6400 has a base clock of 2.7Ghz and it boosts to 3.3Ghz with Intel's Turbo Boost function. Turbo is based on need and boosts one or more cores dynamically while factoring in power usage and heat. It used to be linear and easy to figure the speed based on the core load but Skylake has a revised way of using Turbo. In effect you almost never get more than one core at the full 3.3Ghz.

Since the i3 and the i5 are based on the same architecture you can directly compare them by clock speed. 2 cores ( with Hyperthreading so 4 threads ) at 3.7Ghz is faster than 4 cores at 3.3Ghz or less. This is mostly only true in gaming though. Most game engines perform best with several very fast cores vs more slower cores.
 
D

Deleted member 217926

Guest
Should also add a higher end graphics card will bottleneck with an i3 but the i3 6100 and new i3 7100 are great choices for budget builds. With a GTX 1060/RX 480 or higher I'd go with an i5 though.

 

go_hercules

Commendable
Jan 7, 2017
8
0
1,510


How do these 2 compare:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-510s-08ish-desktop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/5657829.p?skuId=5657829

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-desktop-intel-core-i3-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-business-black/4943806.p?skuId=4943806

The i3 shows a higher clock speed. Does that mean it would be faster on such things as web browsing, youtube, etc? Which would be faster with several programs open at once? Thanks.
 
D

Deleted member 217926

Guest
What are you going to be using it for? For a basic internet/email/office machine with very lite gaming the i3 is fine.

If you looking for something to game with we can do better building you one.

That's a low power version of the i3 called the i3 6100T. It's slower than a full power i3 6100 which runs at 3.7Ghz. Both of those machines have 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. You would never be able to tell a difference just using them for the tasks you listed.

 
Solution