Am I better off with a better ranking dual core or lower ranking quad core on CPU benchmark for multitasking?

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Satearn

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Dec 18, 2015
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What is better for multitasking, dual or quad core?

I don't play games, no movies, don't care about high definition and if the screen is pretty.

What I do care about:

- Opening multiple tabs in browsers
- Running simultaneously Illustrator, Photoshop, MS Office, and tons of programs at the same time
- Manipulating large design files in Illustrator, graphic design
- Running Netbeans and other development platforms
- Using virtual box to run both Mac on my PC on virtual disk

I'm looking at 2 options for my build:

Core i3 7350k or core i5-7400

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i3-7350K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-7400/3889vs3886

Now the test says that the dual core outperforms the quad core...

Should I pick a quad core that performs less than a dual core because it's quad core?


 
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For what you're describing, the 4 core CPU absolutely. The 7350k is getting higher test scores on that benchmark site because it has better single core performance due to a higher clock speed. Base 4.2 GHz, vs 3-3.5 (boost) GHz for the 7400. It's also an unlocked chip, so people are sending in overclocked scores. For OC, you have to factor in the added cost of an aftermarket cooler and a Z series motherboard. At that point, it's actually more expensive than the i5 7500, which is a higher clocked 7400. 3.4-3.8 GHz.

You're talking about heavy multitasking, so the single threaded advantage isn't that important. The bench you linked shows the 7400 outperforming the 7350k by 7-8% in 4 core and mixed, and if you select the 7500 it shows a...
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TJ Hooker

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Unless you managed to find a great deal on the 7350k, it's pretty terrible value and I wouldn't recommend it. I feel like you may be better off with a Ryzen build. Maybe just post your budget, and any components you may already have, and people can recommend a build for you.
 
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TMTOWTSAC

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For what you're describing, the 4 core CPU absolutely. The 7350k is getting higher test scores on that benchmark site because it has better single core performance due to a higher clock speed. Base 4.2 GHz, vs 3-3.5 (boost) GHz for the 7400. It's also an unlocked chip, so people are sending in overclocked scores. For OC, you have to factor in the added cost of an aftermarket cooler and a Z series motherboard. At that point, it's actually more expensive than the i5 7500, which is a higher clocked 7400. 3.4-3.8 GHz.

You're talking about heavy multitasking, so the single threaded advantage isn't that important. The bench you linked shows the 7400 outperforming the 7350k by 7-8% in 4 core and mixed, and if you select the 7500 it shows a 20% advantage. And in general, that site isn't a great representation of typical performance anyway since people send in all kinds of customized systems. Here's a review of the 7350k from Toms:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i3-7350k,4932.html

Pretty much every review agrees it's overpriced. The G4560 platform is over $100 cheaper with close enough performance, and true 4 core CPU's at similar prices vastly outperform it in multithreaded applications.

I'd probably recommend centering your build either on an i5 7500, or a ryzen 1600. The i5 has better per-core performance and clock speed, but the ryzen has 6 physical cores and SMT enabling it to run 2 threads per core for a total of 12.
 
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jpe1701

jpe1701

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He means the Ryzen 1500x cpu. It costs about the same as the i5 7400 but it has 4 cores and 8 threads similar to the mainstream I7. Ryzen would be great or if you are set on Intel the new line up is coming probably next month with 6 core i5s and i7s.
 
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