We're using the same memory and storage subsystem on both platforms in order to normalize as many variables as possible. In addition to the Core i3-3220 and FX-4170, we're also including Intel's Core i5-3550 in our benchmark results. This gives us a reference point in order to gauge how these $125 budget-oriented CPUs measure up to a $200 model.
| Socket AM3+ | LGA 1155 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD FX-4170 (Zambezi), 4.2 GHz Base Clock Rate, 4.3 GHz Turbo Core | Intel Core i3-3220 (Ivy Bridge), 3.3 GHz, Hyper-Threading enabled | |||
| Motherboard | Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 Socket AM3+, Chipset: AMD 990FX | ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance LGA 1155, Intel P67 Express PCH | |||
| Networking | On-Board Gigabit LAN controller | ||||
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance, 2 x 4 GB, 1866 MT/s, CL 9-9-9-34-2T | ||||
| Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 7970 925 MHz GPU, 3 GB GDDR5 at 1375 MHz | ||||
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s | ||||
| Power | ePower EP-1200E10-T2 1200 W ATX12V, EPS12V | ||||
| Software and Drivers | |||||
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 x64, Service Pack 1, KB2645594 and KB2646060 installed | ||||
| DirectX | DirectX 11 | ||||
| Graphics Drivers | AMD Catalyst 12.8 | ||||
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Operation Swordbreaker" 60-Second Fraps Run Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF), 1920x1080 |
| DiRT Showdown | Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml, Modified to two laps and no competing cars Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA, 1920x1080 |
| Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Update 1.4.27, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25 Seconds Fraps DX11, Ultra Details, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA enabled, 1920x1080 |
| StarCraft II | Custom map "Tom's Hardware Guide", 60 seconds Fraps Ultra Details, Extreme Quality, 1920x1080 |
| Metro 2033 | Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene DX 11, High Preset, 4x MSAA, 4x AF, PhysX/DOF Disabled, 1920x1080 |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC formatĀ |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version 0.95: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile) |
| MainConcept Reference | Version: 2.2.0.5440: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS5 | Version 12.1 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 | Version 12.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| WinZip | Version 15.5 Pro: THG-Workload (650 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.1: THG-Workload (650 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.22: THG-Workload (650 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2012 | Version 2011.10.17.80, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
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Summary
- AMD FX-4170 Vs. Core i3-3220: A Fair Fight?
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Conversion
- Benchmark Results: Content Creation And Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3 And DiRT Showdown
- Benchmark Results: Metro 2033, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, And StarCraft II
- A Close Race Today, But Tomorrow Shows More Promise For AMD
Ask a Category Expert
Hope Piledriver is all that it promises and more.
"...but Tomorrow Shows More Promise for AMD".
Tomorrow...as in ... Oct 16, 2012 or is it only figurative?
At 3.3 GHz, the 6100 doesn't fare well. It's easily out-gamed by the FX-4170, and only gets a bit of a break in highly threaded apps.
In my opinion, if you are on a budget, the FX4170 can be a decent cpu, it is $10 cheaper than the i3, it isn't much but might be able to give you a slightly bigger budget on graphics. Its not a complete wash either. The power consumption might be high but nothing a desktop can't handle, would be more expensive for people who pay more for power but generally in north america, power is pretty cheap.
At 3.3 GHz, the 6100 doesn't fare well. It's easily out-gamed by the FX-4170, and only gets a bit of a break in highly threaded apps.
Does that mean the FX-4170 and 6100 really share the same MSRP? Because I was thinking that it may just be a Newegg (shop-specific) price thing (possibly a sale/discount).
I don't think it would've been a bad idea to have it around if that were the case (though I don't mean to impose more work on you guys). It might've been something to see what relative application performance score it would've gotten compared to the i5, as well as how much it performs less compared to the FX-4170. (I imagine by not so much since a lot of the games were GPU-limited already.)
NO fanboi here....
My current AMD powered laptop plays Skyrim reasonably, something that would have easily required another $100 to do with an Intel laptop at the time of upgrade.
Next time? Whatever has the best numbers will be what I buy... (I always wait to see if a chipset or CPU/GPU is plagued with problems before I buy - usually 3-6 months after they hit market)
Brand loyalty is something companies try to instill in consumers, and nowadays it has no place in a consumer's choice of hardware or software.
Buy what will do the things you NEED to do... forget about joining the war one way or the other.
If more people would buy what is on top instead of supporting only one company, more companies would have to innovate and improve their products more substantially.
A: 10 frames is significant. It's 16.6%
B: This is about benchmark performance, not whether you'll notice the drop in frames or not.
However, I will note that if your display is 60hz, and the game you're playing has vsync, then that small 5 frame difference between the game running at 55 fps and the display's 60hz actually changes to a HUGE frame drop, because the FPS will drop to 30 to stay in sync with the display.
Not something you'd like with Australian electricity prices.