i3-6100 or i5-6400

[DarqFX]

GPU: Gtx960
board: H110M-K

I am using the pc for gaming but ive heard that the i3-6100 can preform equally with the i5-6400 for much less. What do you think in terms of bang for buck for gaming?

 

[yourilevoye]

I personaly would prefer the i5 6400. There is some standard boost option to overclock. Ofcourse you can go higher with a beefy cooler. What are your pc specs next to your cpu?

 

[DarqFX]

I personaly would prefer the i5 6400. There is some standard boost option to overclock. Ofcourse you can go higher with a beefy cooler. What are your pc specs next to your cpu?

GPU: Gtx960
board: H110M-K
Memory: DDR3 8gb RAM
1tb HDD

 

[yourilevoye]

I personaly would prefer the i5 6400. There is some standard boost option to overclock. Ofcourse you can go higher with a beefy cooler. What are your pc specs next to your cpu?

GPU: Gtx960
board: H110M-K
Memory: DDR3 8gb RAM
1tb HDD

If your into not that extreme gaming like bf1 and stuff I would go with the i3. If your planning to do more things on your pc like a little bit video editing and more games like some newer ones I would say i5 and maybe overclock it. that doesn't say you can't game with the i3. It's still a beefy cpu for it's price.

 

[geofelt]

See if your games are comparable to any in this i3-6100 review.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10543/the-skylake-core-i3-51w-cpu-review-i3-6320-6300-6100-tested

Most likely, you would find the i3-6100 equal performer for a lesser price.

 

[DarqFX]

Ok heres the situation, all i need to know at this point is whether ill see an increase in performance if i use an overclocked i3 instead of my amd fx 4300 (diffferent motherboard for the amd). What do you think?

 

[delaro]

Neither... Wait for KabyLake CPU's, Flash your BIOS and run one of these as they will be faster and a little bit cheaper.

Core i5-7400 3.0 GHz ~3.5 GHz ~ $170 US
Core i3-7320 3.9 -4.1 GHz ~$139 US
Core i3-7300 4.0 GHz ~ $129

 

[geofelt]

I would not count on overclocking any non-K processor.
Yes, it can be done with issues.

If your budget permits, I predict the kaby lake i3-7350K@4.2 before oc is going to be a big gaming winner. Probably priced around $175

 

[TJ Hooker]

If your into not that extreme gaming like bf1 and stuff I would go with the i3. If your planning to do more things on your pc like a little bit video editing and more games like some newer ones I would say i5 [6400] and maybe overclock it. that doesn't say you can't game with the i3. It's still a beefy cpu for it's price.

In general, you can't overclock locked (non -k) CPUs, and you can't overclock any CPU with an H110 mobo.

 

[geofelt]

Ok heres the situation, all i need to know at this point is whether ill see an increase in performance if i use an overclocked i3 instead of my amd fx 4300 (diffferent motherboard for the amd). What do you think?

You will get a boost with even a non overclocked i3-6100.
Look at the benchmarks in the review I linked.

 

[TJ Hooker]

If your budget permits, I predict the kaby lake i3-7350K@4.2 before oc is going to be a big gaming winner. Probably priced around $175

For the price of a 7350k + cooler + Z[x]70 mobo, you could probably get an H110 + i5 7500/7600. I would personally prefer the latter.

 

[Hawx541]

I personally have the i5 6500, and at a general standpoint I would take the i5, but for primarily gaming, I would grab the i3. Or, you could do what others said wait for the i3. But as TJ Hooker said, with the price of mobo and cooler for the overclockable Kaby Lake i3, I would much rather get a non overclockable i5.

 

[DarqFX]

ive seen on a very high rated video that you can OC the i3-6100 though?

 

[yourilevoye]

ive seen on a very high rated video that you can OC the i3-6100 though?

You can yes. The i5 have boost frequency. You can oc above the standard boost frequancy of the i5. at the i3 you can oc it too.

 

[DarqFX]

Ok i feel like i can conclude that the i3-6100 overclocked should run significantly faster than a FX-4300 (both with gtx960)

The i5-6400 seems a waste of money for a small difference.

 

[yourilevoye]

Ok i feel like i can conclude that the i3-6100 overclocked should run significantly faster than a FX-4300 (both with gtx960)

The i5-6400 seems a waste of money for a small difference.

For some people its a waste, for some not xD Both are okay in my opinion. Can't go wrong with that i3

 

[TJ Hooker]

ive seen on a very high rated video that you can OC the i3-6100 though?

You can yes. The i5 have boost frequency. You can oc above the standard boost frequancy of the i5. at the i3 you can oc it too.

You can only OC a locked CPU like the i3-6100 if you have the right Z170 motherboard and the right BIOS revision. You cannot overclock either an i3-6100 or i5-6400 with the H110 motherboard the OP listed.

 

[delaro]

ive seen on a very high rated video that you can OC the i3-6100 though?

You can yes. The i5 have boost frequency. You can oc above the standard boost frequancy of the i5. at the i3 you can oc it too.

You can only OC a locked CPU like the i3-6100 if you have the right Z170 motherboard and the right BIOS revision. You cannot overclock either an i3-6100 or i5-6400 with the H110 motherboard the OP listed.

Actually yes you can.

Here is a Qoute straight from the Asus description

ASUS H110M-K micro-ATX motherboard with Intel® H110 and 5X Protection II for ... allowing you to supervise overclocking, energy consumption, fan speeds

Here is someone doing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpQqUNIv5sI

I wouldn't recommend this for someone that has no idea what they are doing, the point is you can still do it with the right BIOS revision.

 

[TJ Hooker]

You can only OC a locked CPU like the i3-6100 if you have the right Z170 motherboard and the right BIOS revision. You cannot overclock either an i3-6100 or i5-6400 with the H110 motherboard the OP listed.

Actually yes you can.

Here is a Qoute straight from the Asus description

ASUS H110M-K micro-ATX motherboard with Intel® H110 and 5X Protection II for ... allowing you to supervise overclocking, energy consumption, fan speeds

I have to say, you clipped that quote in a kinda misleading way, making it look like the 2nd part is referring to the mobo/ "5X Protection II". That quote is just a generic description of their AI Suite 3 software utility. It is not directly related to that mobo. It's just a piece of software they provide, and I imagine not all components work with all mobos.

Here is someone doing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpQqUNIv5sI

...did you actually watch that video? At no point do they even attempt a CPU overclock.

In one of the comments, someone asks if they can overclock a 6600k with that mobo. Here's the response from the person who posted the video:

"No you cannot. You'll need a Z170. [...]"

 

[Sillycornlotty]

Won't say i3-6100 performs equally as an i5 in gaming.
However, I feel quite certain that buying an i5 provides you with only marginal benefit in gaming (which you won't even notice probably).
So, unless you are going to do video editing and open tons of browsers at the same time, go for an i3-6100 or Kaby i3.

Pairing i3-6100 with your GTX 960, won't bottleneck as long you stick with fast DDR4 memory.

My Spec:
i3-6100
MSI Z170 A-Pro
Inno3D GTX780 3GBDDR5
2666 Corsair RAM runs @ 3200MHz 1.35v 16-18-18-39-390


Bioshock infinity Benchmark Utility: Avg 117.5fps
Cinebench R15: 118fps

OC RAM from stock 2133 > 3200Mhz provides 10fps improvement in my case. Probably more if you can go to 3333 or 3600, but invest in such fast memory leads you to the point of diminishing returns and you should go for an i5 instead.

 

[Sillycornlotty]

Ok i feel like i can conclude that the i3-6100 overclocked should run significantly faster than a FX-4300 (both with gtx960)

The i5-6400 seems a waste of money for a small difference.

Yet many people out there praise the i5 without giving i3-6100 a chance to stand....

 

[DarqFX]

Ok i feel like i can conclude that the i3-6100 overclocked should run significantly faster than a FX-4300 (both with gtx960)

The i5-6400 seems a waste of money for a small difference.

Yet many people out there praise the i5 without giving i3-6100 a chance to stand....

I decided to pay the extra amount because i do work with cinema4d where having more cores will be exceptionally beneficial. Im sure the i3 is still a great processor from what ive evidently seen.