Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz vs AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz

[AMDRadeonHD]

What is better for gaming? Newer dual core or older quad core processor? For example, what is better for Battlefield 3, Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz?

 

[dwhapham]

What is better for gaming? Newer dual core or older quad core processor? For example, what is better for Battlefield 3, Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz?

That i3 is about 5% faster and is more power efficient then the Phenom. If you have no preferece between Intel and AMD, then I would pick the one that is more cost effective for you.

 

[AMDRadeonHD]

What is better for gaming? Newer dual core or older quad core processor? For example, what is better for Battlefield 3, Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz?

That i3 is about 5% faster and is more power efficient then the Phenom. If you have no preferece between Intel and AMD, then I would pick the one that is more cost effective for you.

It's hard for me to decide, Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz is only 5% faster and more power efficient, but AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz is alot cheaper but runs hotter and it's less power efficient, but it's a quad core, compared to an Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz which is "only" a dual core.

 

[logainofhades]

If you are planning on a graphics card purchase as part of a system build, go with the 965 and use the money saved to get a better GPU.

 

[AMDRadeonHD]

If you are planning on a graphics card purchase as part of a system build, go with the 965 and use the money saved to get a better GPU.

What would run Battlefield 3 better, AMD Radeon HD 7850 and Intel Core i3-3240 or AMD Radeon HD 7850 and AMD Phenom II X4 965? I've heard that Battlefield 3 doesn't like dual cores.

 

[dalmvern]

The 965 is still a great processor and is very good with gaming. The performance is similar to that of the i5 that I have in my computer and my computer has no issues playing any games that are out there now. On top of that, you shouldnt have much of an issue overclocking the 965 to 4 GHz.

 

[logainofhades]

The i3 would probably do a bit better. For $10 less than the price of that i3, though, you could step up to an FX 6300 which would be better yet.

 

[rex4235]

965'S are also unlocked -- under the right conditions, you cant get them up to 3.9-4.0 ghz

 

[ish416]

The i3 is an absolute beast for a dual core. However, my 965 overclocked to 4,336 Mhz was actually up to 20% faster than my i5 2500k at stock clock speeds.

That said, looking towards the future, the more real cores the better it seems, as Crysis 3 has shown.

For $10 cheaper on newegg than the i3, the FX6300 is the processor to buy.

Here is the difference between a 965 @ 4,336 Mhz and an FX6300 @ 5,008 Mhz.

3DMark Vantage

965 @4.3Ghz - Score 21,851 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/4598862

FX6300 @ 5 Ghz - Score 25,082 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/4649609

The jump is just from swapping out the CPU.