Can't decide i3 or 8320E for new system

[FinneousPJ]

Hey guys,

I'm building a new system for a family friend. He's 12 years old, and won't be overclocking or upgrading the system. If I go with the 8320E I will dial in a mild overclock and leave it at that, as the family lives in another city and I can't offer support. Upgrade paths are irrelevant as this build must last for years, at which point they will get a new system. This is why I'm not sure if I should pick the i3 or if the FX will be better as more and more games require more cores.

Thx,
FinneousPJ

 

[JonnyDough]

i3 = faster cores. More doesn't matter if you have 4 cores running faster than 6 cores running slower. The i3 is more energy efficient and should offer a better upgrade path, depending on what socket you're talking about.

 

[MystoPigz]

It depends on which i3 CPU you are getting. I would go for any i3 though if i3 and FX CPUs were my only choices.

-MystoPigz

 

[logainofhades]

I3's tend to game as well, if not better, than FX. FX is power hungry, and on a dead platform. I would go with a current gen i3, at this point.

 

[JonnyDough]

Is there a double echo in here? LOL

 

[spdragoo]

A Haswell i3 is also a "dead" platform -- LGA 1150 (Haswell) sockets are not pin-compatible with the LGA 1151 (Skylake) CPUs, so if you pick a Haswell i3 you're definitely limiting yourself.

By the same token, is there a particular reason you're looking at the FX-8320E (95W) CPU, instead of an FX-8320/8350/8370 (125W)?

 

[FinneousPJ]

@JohnnyDough Like I said, upgrading is irrelevant. They won't be upgrading for years at which point there will be a new platform out.

@MystoPigz @logainofhades The Haswell i3-4150 is currently cheapest at my location. Current gen is too expensive with DDR4 and all.

 

[FinneousPJ]

@spdragoo The E model is the cheapest.

 

[JonnyDough]

i3 -> i7 = double the cores...I'm pretty sure that would be considered a worthy future upgrade. You'll be able to grab a nice but old used i7 off of EBay and breathe new life into the system again.

 

[Bossyfins]

Picking a haswell CPU is NOT going to be limiting yourself. 1151 is just more connectivity things if he needs it. Haswell is STILL relevant. No idea where that idea came frome.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Isn't it true new games are refusing to run on i3?

 

[JonnyDough]

Depends on the game. Some don't care for hyperthreading, which the i3 utilizes to get more threads. What GPU are you planning to pair with this system?

 

[FinneousPJ]

@JonnyDough The Gigabyte (IIRC) GTX 960 OC is currently on sale, which should be good match for either CPU.

 

[logainofhades]

Isn't it true new games are refusing to run on i3?

You are confusing the i3, with the pentium G.

 

[JonnyDough]

@JonnyDough The Gigabyte (IIRC) GTX 960 OC is currently on sale, which should be good match for either CPU.

Truth. I would expect that two of them would be CPU bottlenecked in some titles though. One should make for a balanced system. If you could swing an i5 it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Bossyfins]

An i3 won't be to big of a bottle neck for a 960. If it was a 970 or something above it, you'd see it. The i3 and 960 is a fairly balanced build.

 

[FinneousPJ]

@logainofhades Well, like I said, my point is games are becoming more parallelized. I'm thinking as more games are requiring 4 core CPUs the FX might be better in the future, as it functions better than the i3 in threaded apps. I need someone to check your crystal ball for what games will require in 2017

 

[logainofhades]

The FX architecture, of the FX 8320e, is over 3yrs old. AMD scrapped it and is starting over with Zen, which should be out next year.

 

[JonnyDough]

AMDs chips will do better with DX12 games yes, but I would still rather have 4 fast cores than 8 running at half the speed. I don't mean Mhz, I'm talking per core architecture.

 

[FinneousPJ]

@JonnyDough i3 is a dual core

 

[FinneousPJ]

If we were talking i5, I wouldn't be asking this. Unfortunately, those are out of budget.

 

[JonnyDough]

Yes, with hyperthreading.

 

[JonnyDough]

And AMDs 8 cores are only 4...by that logic.

 

[FinneousPJ]

@JonnyDough I'm not here to argue processor architecture come on. The point is AMD has a better multithreaded performance. Do you guys think that will make a big difference in the future?

 

[logainofhades]

Fallout 4 is a pretty demanding title, and the i3 6100 beats even an FX 9590. Even the i3 4360 does better. An i3 4150 wouldn't really be much different. Is it possible to get a locked i5, if you pair it with lower end H81 board?