E8500 vs Pentium G860

twelve25

CPUs Authority

February 22, 2013 9:07:50 PM

I was looking at building a low cost system for the kids for homework and entertainment, maybe some mild video games, but they are young girls so I doubt it's going to be Metro 2033 or BF3 kind of load. I was going to use something like a Sandy Bridge dual core Pentium. But recently I stumbled across some HP refurb E8500 systems that are only $150 complete from a reputable dealer and they have a short warranty. I'm going to spend probably $250 at minimum to put together a new build. Looking at anandtech bench, the E8500 and G860 are roughly on par. Any reason you can think of why I should still go with the new build?

I already have a 60GB SSD I would be putting in either system.

More about : e8500 pentium g860

| E-mail me updates
| Report abuse

Reply to twelve25

SchizTech

CPUs Expert

February 22, 2013 9:25:27 PM

For the light use here, those refurb HPs should be more than enough.

| Report abuse

Reply to SchizTech

wh3resmycar

February 22, 2013 9:27:28 PM

the 860 brand new, will sport better warranty and lower power consumption. i'm sold.

but on a different note, maybe an APU will do good as well. check an a4 APU.

| Report abuse

Reply to wh3resmycar

twelve25

CPUs Authority

February 23, 2013 1:16:56 AM

I could do an A4-5300 APU build for about $225 (excluding drive and OS which I already have) but I could do the $150 E8500 refurb and a GT640 for about the same price.

E8500 has a slightly higher passmark and gt640 has about 3x higher passmark than the A4 APU.

I think I am going to have to spend $300-350 to beat the E8500 system with a $60 GPU, so I think I'll just grab the older system. Kids won't know the difference.

| Report abuse

Reply to twelve25

haider95

February 23, 2013 2:43:08 AM

Even if they did want to play battlefield 3 on it, The E8500 would be able to handle it amazingly. Even though its old tech, its still pretty damn good in terms of performance. Also i would recommend you scratch the GT640 as the HD7750 is roughly the same price and offers better power consumption meaning you don't have to upgrade the power supply and it has performance on par with GTX650 so thats your best bet. Nvidia does support their drivers more though. Your call

| Report abuse

Reply to haider95

twelve25

CPUs Authority

February 23, 2013 3:41:09 AM

I can get a GT640 or 545 for $50 right now. 7750 is $90. I agree about the 7750 but not at those prices for the light gaming I suspect this will do.

| Report abuse

Reply to twelve25

haider95

February 23, 2013 3:42:13 AM

I wasn't aware of that

Good deal go for it man

| Report abuse

Reply to haider95

twelve25

CPUs Authority

February 25, 2013 9:52:14 PM

I can't do it! I went to hit checkout twice and I can't bring myself to order the ancient C2D system!

I think I'm going to collect bargain parts for the next few weeks and throw together an Ivy Bridge Celeron system with whatever bang-for-the-buck low power video card I can find. It might cost more, but I'll have upgrade paths and parts I might want to reuse in the future.

Ah, NZXT source 210 case on sale for $30 today. I think that will be my first part!

| Report abuse

Reply to twelve25

haider95

February 26, 2013 2:17:56 AM

More room to upgrade with the G1610 Ivy bridge systems

| Report abuse

Reply to haider95

Zsolt Pal

March 21, 2013 3:04:41 PM

twelve25 said:

I could do an A4-5300 APU build for about $225 (excluding drive and OS which I already have) but I could do the $150 E8500 refurb and a GT640 for about the same price.

E8500 has a slightly higher passmark and gt640 has about 3x higher passmark than the A4 APU.

I think I am going to have to spend $300-350 to beat the E8500 system with a $60 GPU, so I think I'll just grab the older system. Kids won't know the difference.

I myself had a similar dilemma a month ago and chose a used Dell SFF complete build with core2duo E8400 for £130 and put in a low profile gt440, works like a treat for a total of £180

| Report abuse

Reply to Zsolt Pal