Intel i3 processor or AMD Athlon II Quad-Core

[alaney]

My son is into role-playing games online such as Minecraft and Roblox. He actually has his own small server that he and his friends use on Minecraft. I am purchasing him a new computer for his birthday. I am trying to decide between a Gateway and an HP Pavilion. Both have 6 GB/1 TB Hard drive. Both are the same price. The Gateway has an Intel i3 Processor, the HP has an AMD Athlon II Quad-Core Processor...

Any advice or opinions? Thanks so much!

 

[saint19]

Hi and welcome to Tom's forum.

Why you don't build yourself? I think that you can get it more cheap and more decent that buy one of those.

 

[myersjohnar]

hp pavillion would be a better pick bcause of more cores

 

[8350rocks]

If you have need for a dual core CPU, you have need for a quad core CPU. Future applications and games will be much more threaded, and if he runs a home server, especially, he needs the ability to multitask. The quad core is always the better bet.

EDIT: If it was me, I would build one myself and save some money, plus your son can likely assemble the PC if he is very mechanically/electronically inclined at all. It could be a fun family project.

I would build something like this:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HU1
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HU1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HU1/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.15 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Acer G215HVBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $787.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-06 17:10 EDT-0400)

Now, that PC would need a mouse and keyboard...but has everything else, also the CPU and GPU for this one are considerably more potent than the solutions you're likely looking at. Which means his gaming and overall system performance would be better.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HZO
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HZO/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13HZO/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 ATX FM2 Motherboard ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Acer G215HVBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $728.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-06 17:15 EDT-0400)

This system is a very capable one as well, it uses an APU, and has more RAM and a Blu-Ray drive. It won't be quite as good on the top end as the system above, but it would still be fine for his needs.

 

[beyondlogic]

My son is into role-playing games online such as Minecraft and Roblox. He actually has his own small server that he and his friends use on Minecraft. I am purchasing him a new computer for his birthday. I am trying to decide between a Gateway and an HP Pavilion. Both have 6 GB/1 TB Hard drive. Both are the same price. The Gateway has an Intel i3 Processor, the HP has an AMD Athlon II Quad-Core Processor...

Any advice or opinions? Thanks so much!

i would say get

APU amd a10 they are much better then a single i3 and a althon

they are about same price the diffrence is the a10 has better graphics power and is cheap to upgrade to get better gaming power out of it

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-CM1745-US006S-ASUS-Desktop-Black/dp/B009PHWI2W/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1370558674&sr=1-4&keywords=a10+desktop


upgrades you can get if you have the cash for it or he can do it himself gives him a goal

psu first upgrade
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

graphics card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442


old video of apu duel set up but its still the same it combines the apu with the new graphics card to increase performance in gaming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrEkqyREQes

also richland should be supported by this board as well which he can upgrade later if he wants even more power




What the guys on here suggest is the best way is to make it yourself however if you just want a easy solution get the a10 amd. plus its energy efficient the amd a10 so you wont have to worry about high electric bills