Why do people underestimate Ivy bridge i3s?

[goldsauce]

I have noticed many people seems to underestimate Ivy bridge i3s and I just wanna say that they are very good CPUs and not many people know how well they perform, from my researching I have found that my i3 for example my i3 the i3 3220 beats almost all first generation i5s.

Intel Core i3 3220 - 3.3GHz vs Intel Core i5 650 - 3.20GHz:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=144


Intel Core i3 3220 - 3.3GHz vs Intel Core i5 670 - 3.46GHz:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=145


Intel Core i3 3220 - 3.3GHz vs Intel Core i5 750 - 2.66GHz

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=109

Intel Core i3 3220 - 3.3GHz vs Intel Core i5 2400 - 3.1GHz (These 2 perform similar but this one is a 2nd Gen)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=363

 

[ASHISH65]

+1 ^ i3 3220 is really a good budget cpu for games.

 

[amuffin]

The 650 and 670 are both dual cores with HT just like the i3. Obviously they would be slower. You're comparing the 3rd generation to the first.

 

[Scott_D_Bowen]

How does it compare to the i5 750?
- I don't use them as they lack, or lacked, AES acceleration in the CPU. (Which makes the Core i5 the lowest I can consider, unless AMD have something decent to over).

 

[jaguarskx]

Just in case no one knows what AES is it is Advanced Encryption Standard. It is basically used to encrypt data like MS's Bitlocker or TrueCrypt. The only program I use that can gain some benefit from AES is 7-Zip that I am aware of.

The current version is called AES-NI or AES New Instructions.

 

[jaguarskx]

The likely bias against Pentium and Core i3 CPUs is that they are "merely" dual core CPUs. The general impression is more is better like:

1. More cores.
2. Higher clockspeeds.
3. More IPC (instructions per clock)
4. More gasoline to drive 2 blocks... Well... that one is actually a bad "more" scenario.

Most programs only use one or two cores so getting a quad core (or more) CPU is sorta like future proof your PC just in case there's a program or game out there that can give you better performance with a quad core CPU. I have a quad core CPU because it is useful for video encoding.

I am happy with the performance of my dual core Sandy Bridge Core i5-2410m in my laptop. Then again, a mobile quad core i7 CPU would have significantly increased the price of my Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 by $200 - $250.