[SOLVED] 28 dollar i3-2120, 56 dollar i5-2400 or 75 dollar i7-2600?

[supermanu15]

So I wanna upgrade from any of these options from a Pentium G630, I have a Foxconn mobo, 2x4 GB RAM, 120GB SSD and 500GB HDD and a 400W PSU. Take note that all of these are 2nd hand items, thanks in advance!

Technically this is my girlfriend's rig, and she is into content creation for blogs and stuff, which involves rendering videos and other multimedia activities. Wanna know which of these options you guys think are practical. Take note that I am using a stock cooler, I use to think that locked i-series processors would be friendly with stock coolers until I met the i7-4790. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rdslw]

for content creator its only i5 or i7. Just bear in mind that that i7 is same power as current ryzen 3. If she renders anything longer, like hour+ videos (I think it will take ~6h with pentium ~2h for i7 2600 on 1080p) it might be resonable to go for new CPU ram and mobo.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-2600-vs-Intel-Core-i5-2400/620vs803
it will be a huge investment, but you will literally double rendering speed with ryzen 2600
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-2600-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-2600/620vs3955

and yes, bu benchmark results, this i7 2600 CPU is slightly throttled down by weak cooler.

 

[supermanu15]

for content creator its only i5 or i7. Just bear in mind that that i7 is same power as current ryzen 3. If she renders anything longer, like hour+ videos (I think it will take ~6h with pentium ~2h for i7 2600 on 1080p) it might be resonable to go for new CPU ram and mobo.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-2600-vs-Intel-Core-i5-2400/620vs803
it will be a huge investment, but you will literally double rendering speed with ryzen 2600
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-2600-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-2600/620vs3955

and yes, bu benchmark results, this i7 2600 CPU is slightly throttled down by weak cooler.

Thanks for the suggestion! However I just want to keep the current setup and just replace the processor.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

The speed of the render will depend on the software you're using and how patient you are. In most instances, video creation and editing software will use as much of the CPU as it can, so the additional threads of the i7 will effectively half the rendering time over the i5. In all likelihood it will be even faster than that on account of the i7's faster clock speed. The i3 and i5 will still be up to the job, they'll just take longer.


The biggest bottleneck will be the disk. If the SSD has sufficient capacity then use it as a scratch drive.

 

[supermanu15]

I am just wondering if its worth the extra x number of dollars choosing the i7 over the i5, or the i5 over the i3 and such. Just want a take from you guys.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

If it were me, I'd take the i7. The price isn't much higher and I'd probably end up kicking myself if I'd gone for one of the other two.

 

[velocityg4]

I am just wondering if its worth the extra x number of dollars choosing the i7 over the i5, or the i5 over the i3 and such. Just want a take from you guys.

It's less than $20 difference. That could barely buy three lunches at McDonald's or two six packs of good beer. It's definitely worth it for the big performance increase.

If that just enables her to take on one more job per year. It will have more than paid for itself.

 

[supermanu15]

If I 'd go for the i7 chances are I might end up buying a 3rd party cooler 🙁 big performance gain but additional cost I guess. Sorry guys really staying tight on the budget but basing on your responses which I really appreciate a lot knowing that I came to the right place for opinions, I am leaning towards the i7 now but that is what's deterring me at the moment.

 

[velocityg4]

The i5 2400 and i7 2600 have the same TDP. They should use the same cooler.

 

[supermanu15]

I am just making sure because I used to borrow an i5-4460 that went alright with a single fan deepcool ice blade 100, when I replaced it with an i7-4790 it went to hell temp-wise when I did a repetitive run of cinebench because I did not use prime95 at that time but that would certainly throttle the processor had I used it. And the i5-4460 and the i7-4790 both have a TDP of 84W 🙁 I guess hyperthreading does come with its disadvantages

 

[supermanu15]

I also forgot to mention that this is housed in a ICE The Beatles DIY HTPC Gaming Desktop Computer Box Mini Chassis, and there are no fans save the stock CPU cooler. Right now its the most silent rig I built but is doing fine since I have the Pentium just kicked in there.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

The heatsink for a Celeron is exactly the same as the heatsink for an i7. Intel don't manufacture different heatsinks for different CPUs.

The probable reason you had overheating issues is because the case has no fan intakes or exhausts, so the warm air generated by the components has nowhere to go.

 

[lazyboy947]

They do make smaller stock coolers for their 35watt low tdp cpus, but I do not think they did so with Sandy Bridge, it should be fine. take the i7 and run. no regrets there. If its older than 4th gen I would personally only take an i7.

 

[dontlistentome]

At under $100 I'd go with the i7. However, I would deal with any case related heat issues first. You can't have it all, a small convenient HTPC case, low temperatures, older components, and a powerful editing rig. Some of those items are working at cross purposes.

 

[velocityg4]

I also forgot to mention that this is housed in a ICE The Beatles DIY HTPC Gaming Desktop Computer Box Mini Chassis, and there are no fans save the stock CPU cooler. Right now its the most silent rig I built but is doing fine since I have the Pentium just kicked in there.

If you want quiet. Add at least one intake or exhaust fan to the case. The Arctic F12 PWM is cheap, very quiet and has good air flow. I know it may sound counter intuitive. However, if all the heatsink has is warm air it has to work hard (loud) to keep things quiet. If it is well supplied by cool air it doesn't work as hard. Two fans operating at a low RPM are quieter than one fan working at a high RPM.

Without a cooling fan you may not even be able to keep the CPU cool. Whether you go with the i5 or i7. Your current CPU has a 65W TDP. The i5 and i7 are 95W.

 

[supermanu15]

The heatsink for a Celeron is exactly the same as the heatsink for an i7. Intel don't manufacture different heatsinks for different CPUs.

The probable reason you had overheating issues is because the case has no fan intakes or exhausts, so the warm air generated by the components has nowhere to go.

The overheating issue I had was with my rig which had 7 cheap led 120mm at the time, I had the i5-4460 cooled by the deep cool ice blade 100 which was also cheap. Then when I replaced it with the i7-4790 and ran cinebench at multiple sequences it could not handle it. Which is why I bought a 2nd hand CM Seidon 240v which handled it like a boss no matter how long I stressed it. 😀

But I am still baffled as to why it had the said TDP's the same but the other ran hotter than expected.