i7 930 vs i3 4160

[celtic_warrior99]

Hi, which of the two CPUs would be better for gaming? I have a good board to overclock the i7 930 aswell. It will be for games like Fallout 4 and Battlefield 4. Thanks

 

[clutchc]

I'd feel the i3 Haswell would be the better choice. It ranks a tier higher than the i7-930 in Tom's CPU Hierarchy Chart. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html
Besides, there's an upgrade path with the i3.

 

[Potato13]

Need some more details. Are you interested in saving money? Seems like you already have a i7 930 and a motherboard for it which you say you can use to overlock your cpu in which case, it could be a more than capable cpu for gaming. What gpu are you currently using? Do you have the i3 right now as well or would you need to buy it along with a motherboard?

Personally, I think the 930 is not bad and having 4 real cores is a benefit. I would not consider it an upgrade to go from 4 real cores with hyperthreading to 2 cores with hyperthreading. Although the haswell i3 would be faster in day to day tasks, for gaming, especially now with DX12 and stuff, you'd want to keep the cores. I would put my money elsewhere but it all depends on your situation. If you really want a cpu upgrade, I think you should aim higher.

 

[Dugimodo]

If you already have the i7 then try overclocking it and see how you go. The i7 9xx series has a good reputation for overclocking, worst case you end up buying the i3 anyway.

If you don't already have one go for the i3, much newer platform, better stock speeds, and a much stronger IPC. Even in heavily threaded tasks where the 930 shines the i3 is pretty close and for most tasks is a bit faster.

In an Ideal world you'd skip both though and go for a skylake i5 or i3. Worth saving a bit longer for in my opinion. Even the 4160 is technically outdated now.

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Hi, i have both CPUs, but i am just wondering which would give me better performance.

 

[clutchc]

Hi, i have both CPUs, but i am just wondering which would give me better performance.

If you have both and platforms to test with, it should be easy to find out

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Well,my friend is currently using the i3 4160 so i guess i could ask him to run cinebench test.

 

[clutchc]

Well,my friend is currently using the i3 4160 so i guess i could ask him to run cinebench test.

3DMark's Firestrike (DX11) and Time Spy (DX12) are good comparisons for game-like usage too.

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Ok thanks, will give them a shot.