Two New SFF Desktops for Same Price: AMD X4 645 vs. Core i3-2100

[glove4]

http://us.gateway.com/gw/en/US/content/model/PT.GCFP2.003
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/PT.SGM02.002

Both small desktops from Gateway and Acer include respectively a second generation core i3 and AMD Athlon II X4 645 processor. Both have 1TB hdd, 4gb RAM. The two systems outside of the CPU are nearly identical, and both go for around $400. My needs are quite modest: I do mostly web browsing, word processing, and run music programs like Media Monkey, have 30gb of music. As you can see, I don't do much, hence my need for a budget system. What I can't figure out is how I might benefit from the quad core, which happens to have the exact same clockspeed as the core i3-2100: 3.1 ghz. So four cores, or two cores with hyperthreading. Given how little I am likely to tax the CPU, and the fact that I do almost no gaming (if I ever did, it might be something along the lines of Team Fortress 2 on Steam, but this is a rarity), which is the recommended cpu?

 

[FALC0N]

Yep, they are pretty close. They are even made by the same company. Acer is owned by Gateway.

I would go with the Acer. All things being equal, go for the underdog. I also like the case a little better.

 

[jaguarskx]

Acer is owned by Gateway.

You got it reversed. Acer is the parent company of Gateway.

 

[jaguarskx]

My needs are quite modest: I do mostly web browsing, word processing, and run music programs like Media Monkey, have 30gb of music. As you can see, I don't do much, hence my need for a budget system. What I can't figure out is how I might benefit from the quad core, which happens to have the exact same clockspeed as the core i3-2100: 3.1 ghz. So four cores, or two cores with hyperthreading. Given how little I am likely to tax the CPU, and the fact that I do almost no gaming (if I ever did, it might be something along the lines of Team Fortress 2 on Steam, but this is a rarity), which is the recommended cpu?

Overall the Core i3-2100 is a little better than the Athlon II X4 645 in most applications. It absolutely crushes the Athlon X4 645 in games (but you don't play games). See following benchmarks if you are curious. Note that in some benchmarks the higher the score is better whereas in others the lower the score the better. The last benchmark is power consumption, naturally since the Athlon has more core, it also uses more electricity.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/188?vs=289


According to the following review, the Core i3-2100 consumes 39.2w while idling and 77.2w under load. That is the full system power consumption.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_8.html#sect0


According to the following review, the Athlon II X4 645 consumes 37.6w while idling and 124.2 under load. Again, that is full system power consumption.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-benchmark-mainstream_10.html#sect0

 

[glove4]

Thanks for the info and links.