upgrading to i3 4130, opinions please

[GandalfNL]

Dear people,

I've been reading this forum for about 15 years now. And decided to ask for your help this time.

I'm upgrading 2 computers (mine and my girlfriends). Her system is a:

• 
  AMD Athon II X3 435
  1 x 4 GB 1333 memory (single channel )
  Asrock 770 Extreme 3
  9400GT video card
  500GB WD HD Sata 2
  Radix 3 420Watt

My system is a (7,5 years old):

• 
  Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe
  4 x 1 GB 667
  Asrock Conroe Xfire esata2
  Ati HD 2900 GT
  Samsung 840 Pro
  I still have a new ozc power suply I want to use (Modxstream-pro 500 Watt)

We don't intend to overclock. And planning on buying video cards some other time and until then try out the Intel Graphics build in on the CPU. We will both need a new DVD burner because the ones we have now are IDE.

We want:

• 
  Usb 3.0
  8GB RAM

She wants to be able to:

• 
  Play Sims 3 with all 20 expansion packs (it takes like an hour to save the game right now)
  Play Neverwinter
  Play new MMORPG's

I want to be able to:

• 
  play a game once in a while. (Racing, MMORPG's)
  Use some virtual machines once in a while
  Use Office apps
  Use allot of browser tabs at once (sometimes 50+)

The budget is low (~500 euro). So I first want a main board CPU and memory for both cases.
I was first planning on getting i5 4440's but I noticed the i3 4130 is 50 euro cheaper and comes close to the performance of the i5. So I came up with this list:

-i3 4130 - 102,90 euro
-Asrock H81M-DGS - 41,90 euro
-Crucial 8GB Ballistix Tactical (2x 4GB, 1600MHz) - 65,00 euro
-Sony AD-5280 DVD-RW - 13.38 euro

= 223,18 euro

Questions:

• 
  Does the hardware I choose works well together?
  Should I reuse the 4GB of the AMD set (I can get the exact same memory to upgrade it to 8GB Dual). This safes us 30 euro.
  Will the Intel Graphics on the CPU be faster than our video cards? When I look at the Passmark benchmark website and YouTube movies I see it should be a bit faster for now.
  Should I get the 10 euro more expensive i3 with Intel Graphics 4600 instead of 4400?
  Will the sata 1/2 hard drives have any issues with a sata 3 mainboard? I read they are backwards compatible, but I have also read people having issues with it.
  Is the 420Watt enough? Will it be enough when we put in a decent video card? I don't think so right?
  Does the H81 chipset support the Intel Graphics? I read that it does but I just want to be sure.
  Does anyone have experience with the Sony AD-5280 Burner? Is it silent? Does anyone know any other cheap burners that are silent? Or brands that are known to be silent?
  Should be use different main boards and go for 12GB? 16 would be over the budget I think (and overkill?)

We already considered AMD, but I think the games we play have more use for single treath then multi tread power, also Intel seems to be faster in real life tests. Also the electricity is about 23 eurocents each kWh. So if u se an AMD for 7,5 years again it would be much more expensive in my calculations. We have 1 computer on almost 24/7.

I was wondering about your thoughts thanks in advance. If you have only time to answer 1 question that is also appreciated I understand I ask allot of questions.

 

[guggi4]

I Would go for an AMD APU with your Budgets and needs. A a10-5800k will do well with a a75 board and 2x4 GB 1866mhz ram. The igpu of the a10 will be a way faster than the Intel one, and don't care too much about the power usage, in idle the consumption is nearly identically between Intel and amd

 

[GandalfNL]

Hi Guggi4,

Thanks for your fast reply. I have considered the A-10's. They are 100W. But if the power consumption is really lower it's worth reconsidering. I did see benchmarks where the A10 APU's crush the Intel Graphics.

A10 5800K Black Edition – 105, 99
ASRock FM2A75M-DGS - 47,90
Crucial BLT2CP2G3D1868DT1TX0CEU – 73, 50
=227,39

So about the same price.

I wonder if you guys agree with him. Thanks allot for sharing this information. It is much appreciated!

 

[guggi4]

if you intend to game on the pc's, you WANT to add a discrete graphics card later if you choose the intel. And cpu+ dgpu will pull more power than a apu alone.
you may want to look at this review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6347/amd-a10-5800k-a8-5600k-review-trinity-on-the-desktop-part-2/8
it actually shows that the idle power usage is even lower than the i3's and at full load its "only" 50w higher, but keep in mind any discrete video card will eat up more than 50w.
also, if you dont like the idea of a 100w cpu (although it got a strong videocard included) take a look at the a10-5700, its a bit lower clocked 5800k but without unlocked multiplier (so no overclocks) so therefor comes with a 65w tdp

edit: this shows you how urgent the use of fast ram is with an apu: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-trinity-vs.-ivy-bridge-im-gpu-test/13/
(1866mhz might have the best price/performance)

 

[GandalfNL]

Thank you that was useful and also puts AMD back on the list of possibilities.

 

[GandalfNL]

Another option would be upgrading the AMD X3 to 8GB and get a decent video card like: MSI N650Ti-2GD5/OC BE (MSI 650 ti boost OC 2GB).

4GB of the same memory would enable dual channel.

4GB - 35 euro
MSI 650 ti boost OC 2GB - 124 euro
= 159 euro

Then safe up for an intel i3/i5 moederbord re-use the 8GB of memory and accept the (5%?) loss compared to 1600 memory.

Would that give a huge performance boost (for playing and saving the game) in Sims 3 with all 20 expension packs?

Or would boosting the saving performance in Sims 3 be better done with an SSD like Mushkin Chronos SSD 120GB

4GB - 35 euro
MSI 650 ti boost OC 2GB - 124 euro
Mushkin Chronos SSD 120GB - 82 euro
= 241 euro

 

[GandalfNL]

Oh another option is getting a Phenom II X6 1090T (which scores 5700 points on passmark which is between the 4rth generation i3 and i5)
I can get that new for 150 euro.

There are so much posibilities

 

[guggi4]

the phenom is a bad option. it performs similar to a fx6300, is more expensive and consumes more power

 

[GandalfNL]

Thanks for your help, I am wondering if someone can help me with my other questions. Or maybe tell their opinion.

 

[GandalfNL]

I ordered the i3 because of the single tread power, I will get a videocard soon, so the build-in videochip doesn't mather that much I figured. I also decided to buy a case to keep my old PC complete (except for the SSD and the 1GB HDD). The case is a Zalman Z9 Plus. (like 300 euro total)

I'm thinking about a 7790/ 7950 or 650 ti Boost, or maybe a used 470/480/570 something like that.

For the AMD system I got some used parts for cheap/free, 8 GB ram, 6650 videocard and a Athlon II X4 640 (like 100 euro total)

Thx to Guggi for the help!