i3 6100 vs i5 6600

[BGCH24]

Hi guys,
I have been researching this for a while now, and most of what i find seems to just be hot air.
The question:
How much better is the i5 6600 CPU actually compared with the i3 6100?

So far, the only solid information i have found are the benchmarks which indicate a slightly better performance from the i5 (around 5-10%).

Can anyone justify getting the i5 at almost double the cost?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

yes, it has four cores. albeit it running slightly lower speeds. the i3 will fall short in a year or two with more demanding games/software. the i5 won't. simples.

In addition, running the I5 gives you options to running high end GPU's with some high end SLI configs too.

No brainer really.

 

[Rogue Leader]

The i5 peaks stock at about 200mhz more, and its unlocked so it can be overclocked quite a bit more. As well the 6600 has 2 more physical cores effectively making it double the processor of the i3.

In single threaded and single core games the difference is not very huge, but as you get to multithreaded software the 6600k has the potential to be quite a bit faster.

 

[geofelt]

A $125 i3-6100 passmark rating is 5500 with a single thread rating of 2102.
A $220 I5-6600 has a passmark rating of 7546 and a single thread rating of 2091.

For games which depend on a single fast master core, the i3-6100 is good.
That would include sims, strategy and mmo games.

If your use is for multithreaded apps like editing, where all 4 threads will be in use, the i5-6600 will be better.
It turns out that few games can make use of more than 2-3 threads.

At $225, I would not buy a I5-6600, but spend a bit more for a I5-6600K.
With a Z170 motherboard you can oc and improve capability by some 30%.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

^ substantially faster.

 

[Hlsgsz]

It depends on what you use your computer for. If you're talking pure bang for buck in gaming performance, the i3 wins hands-down.
If on a budget and face with a choice between getting an i3 and better GPU or an i5 and a lower GPU, it's always best to choose the i3 + better GPU path. You can always drop a second hand i7 in there in a couple oif years when the i3 shows it's age as games get better threaded.

 

[TJ Hooker]

An i5-6500 with a cheap mobo is probably the best value for money when it comes to Skylake i5s.

 

[BGCH24]

Good response - indeed with the overclocking of an 6600K instead will produce a better result, but it also requires the motherboard upgrade to z170 which is about 60% more expensive than my alternative (Asus B150I), and I am guessing i would need to spend more on a cooler as well?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

or second hand older gen i5 for ~100-130$

 

[Rogue Leader]

Good response - indeed with the overclocking of an 6600K instead will produce a better result, but it also requires the motherboard upgrade to z170 which is about 60% more expensive than my alternative (Asus B150I), and I am guessing i would need to spend more on a cooler as well?

6600k does not come with a cooler so you would need to buy one, the Cryorig H7 is a good choice for only 35 bucks. And yes you need a Z170 for any K processor.