I3 3225 vs i5 3470

[foreste]

Hi friends, i build a PC with this configuration:

Case Cooler Master Elite 120 Itx
Power Supply Thermaltake 600w
Lite on Blu ray rom drive
Kingston Hyperx 3k 120 Gb SSD
WD caviar black 750gb sata 6g/s
Asus H77 p8h77 mini itx
8 gb ram Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz ddr3
GPU HD 7770 XFX
Samsung 1080p monitor 24"

A question is: What is the correct CPU (use 80% internet, play movies, office, and 20% gaming)

i3 3225 o i5 3470? I want build a fast PC, I note a really difference with i5 over i3 ???

Thank you for your answers!

 

[jaguarskx]

Either one should suffice. If you only play games casually the the dual core i3 CPU will be just fine for your needs. However, I recommend dropping down from the i3-3225 to the i3-3220. The basic difference is the integrated graphics core. The "5" model has the faster Intel HD 4000 while all "0" models have the slower Intel HD 2500.

Admittedly, the Intel HD 4000 is a pretty good performing graphics core, especially considering it is from Intel. However, it is not very powerful. It's a little slower than a desktop Radeon HD 5550. If you want to play games, then you should buy a discrete graphics card. Which one depends on your budget. I generally recommend the Radeon HD 6670 if you only have around $60. It offers the best performance for that amount of money. If you want to spend $90 - $100, then the best card to get is the Radeon HD 7750. For $30 - $40 you get a significant boost in performance is the the Radeon HD 7750 is about equal to the Radeon HD 6770.

The core i5 can give you a boost in gaming performance, but only in games that can make use of more than 2 cores. In all other tasks that you listed you will not see any performance difference. Battlefield 3 in multiplayer mode and ARMA 2 can make use of more than 2 cores and if those are the types of games you want to play, then getting a core i5 can be useful. But the vast majority of games only use 2 cores like Skyrim, GTA 4, Battlefield 3 (single player mode), Crysis 2, Metro 2033, StarCraft 2, Mass Effect 3, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs.

 

[ASHISH65]

Get i3 3220.it will easily satisfy your needs and also very powerful at games.

 

[blazorthon]

Either one should suffice. If you only play games casually the the dual core i3 CPU will be just fine for your needs. However, I recommend dropping down from the i3-3225 to the i3-3220. The basic difference is the integrated graphics core. The "5" model has the faster Intel HD 4000 while all "0" models have the slower Intel HD 2500.

Admittedly, the Intel HD 4000 is a pretty good performing graphics core, especially considering it is from Intel. However, it is not very powerful. It's a little slower than a desktop Radeon HD 5550. If you want to play games, then you should buy a discrete graphics card. Which one depends on your budget. I generally recommend the Radeon HD 6670 if you only have around $60. It offers the best performance for that amount of money. If you want to spend $90 - $100, then the best card to get is the Radeon HD 7750. For $30 - $40 you get a significant boost in performance is the the Radeon HD 7750 is about equal to the Radeon HD 6770.

The core i5 can give you a boost in gaming performance, but only in games that can make use of more than 2 cores. In all other tasks that you listed you will not see any performance difference. Battlefield 3 in multiplayer mode and ARMA 2 can make use of more than 2 cores and if those are the types of games you want to play, then getting a core i5 can be useful. But the vast majority of games only use 2 cores like Skyrim, GTA 4, Battlefield 3 (single player mode), Crysis 2, Metro 2033, StarCraft 2, Mass Effect 3, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs.

In the bolded area, switch 7750 with 7770 and 6770 with 6850 and you'll make more sense

Also, Metro 2033 and Sleeping Dogs can make decent use out of i5s compared to i3s from what I've seen. Not to the extent that BF3 multi-player does, but there are considerable improvements in intensive situations.

 

[sarinaide]

I have a itx setup in my sig, i recommend low power chips, trust me it gets hot in a itx case.

 

[blazorthon]

True, but even non T version i5s won't be an issue for that and a Radeon 7770 isn't very hot either.

 

[sarinaide]

I would invest in a Bitfenix Prodigy case, best ITX case money can buy, you get the breatheable version too for airflow.