Intel i3 not going to work with games requiring 4 cores?

[Palnetz]

Hello.

I am finding parts for my budget rig and I was about to pick up the i3-4170 until i looked up that i3 processors will not run games requiring 4 cores. At first I was sure that the hyperthreading will take care of this problem but people kept saying that 4 true cores are needed.

Will i3 processors actually run these games like Witcher 3?

Another question: Will the FX-6300 run this game, you know, as a cheaper alternative to the i3?

Thanks!

 

[DasHotShot]

Firstly, i3's don't have hyperthreading. Only i7's do.

Secondly, the i3 has 4 "virtual" cores rather than true, however it will "run" games which require 4 cores. The questions is how well.

For the Witcher, you are running into a problem immediately, as you need an i5 2500k to fulfill minimum requirements set by the developer. Which in real world terms means you need a 4 core i5q or i7 or AMD equivalent.

It is a badly optimized game and an i3 will cause noticeable performance issues. So will an FX-6300.

So build a PC which can play games beyond right now, you need to aim for an i5-4460 or AMD A10/FX8350 as you are running the risk of creating what I call PS4 syndrome:

Using outdated hardware which is too weak, even at point of release (point you buy it). A system with the spec you mention is not good for AAA gaming on a decent level.

So with either of the processors you mention, be ready to settle for low settings on witcher and medium in other new titles.

 

[badboyrog2]

the i3-4170 have hyperthreading.... but it give not a true cores but 4 threads so not enough to run game like witcher 3 ......recommended system requirements is I7 cpu so...

if you are tight on budget the least you can use as cpu is I5 4460 to run at low to medium settings

amd is far behind

 

[herrwizo]

Firstly, i3's don't have hyperthreading. Only i7's do.

No idea where you got that info, man, but it is completely wrong.

i3s DO have hyperthreading. They are 2 physical cores with HT (and this is exactly what enables additional 2 virtual cores). Intel HyperThreading Technology: YES.

http://ark.intel.com/products/77490/Intel-Core-i3-4170-Processor-3M-Cache-3_70-GHz

As for Witcher 3, OP, have no fear. This game actually runs even on ancient Core 2 Duo, believe it or not. And on only 4GB of memory, to be even more funny. They downright overestimated system requirements by a huge margin oc CPU and RAM part. Your i3 will run it perfectly fine - even G3258 users get very high FPS provided they have a good graphics card. Did any of you guys actually try to run it on i3? My friend has. And it runs PERFECT, no issues whatsoever.

 

[DasHotShot]

Firstly, i3's don't have hyperthreading. Only i7's do.

No idea where you got that info, man, but it is completely wrong.

i3s DO have hyperthreading. They are 2 physical cores with HT (and this is exactly what enables additional 2 virtual cores). Intel HyperThreading Technology: YES.

http://ark.intel.com/products/77490/Intel-Core-i3-4170-Processor-3M-Cache-3_70-GHz

As for Witcher 3, OP, have no fear. This game actually runs even on ancient Core 2 Duo, believe it or not. And on only 4GB of memory, to be even more funny. They downright overestimated system requirements by a huge margin oc CPU and RAM part. Your i3 will run it perfectly fine - even G3258 users get very high FPS provided they have a good graphics card. Did any of you guys actually try to run it on i3? My friend has. And it runs PERFECT, no issues whatsoever.

My bad, assumed it didn't based on most i5's not having it (as fart as I know)

Not sure about your info on Witcher 3 running really well on low grade components. Seems fabricated. People with the most powerful consumer grade components are having trouble running the game optimally.

If you mean running it fine on the lowest settings, then maybe.

 

[herrwizo]

True, old dual-core CPUs run it only on low to medium(ish) max, regardless of GPU. However, even a G3258, which lacks hyperthreading, runs it on high easily with a good GPU. This game is almost exclusively GPU dependant, tried and tested. But try anything lower than Radeon R9 280 or GTX 760, and you can say goodbye to high settings

 

[badboyrog2]

with a lower end cpu ...it will run almost 100% usage and will heat your house

 

[Palnetz]

Thanks for all the answers. Apparently i can't give all of you the "Best Answer Award".

 

[photonboy]

Hi,

The "requires quad-core" issue has been in the news because some games were prevented from starting despite some of the Intel i3 CPU's being sufficient.
http://wccftech.com/death-gaming-dual-core/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2851126/far-cry-4-woes-with-dual-core-processors-point-to-a-bleak-future-for-budget-pc-gamers.html

*In fact, according to Passmark the i3-4370 (dual-core with Hyperthreading) has more processing power than the FX-4300 assuming there's no limit to using it.

Here's a slightly older benchmark since I couldn't find one for 4th gen right away but it shows the i3-3220 vs FX-4300 doing quite well in a fairly CPU intensive game: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html

Now there are definitely games that require more than an i3-4370 but some of the game in recent times that wouldn't launch was down to poor choices on the game developers (i.e. allowing a weaker AMD 4-core to launch but a stronter Intel 2C/4T to not). There are apparently workarounds for some games and possibly patches since then to remove the problem.

Other:
"with a lower end cpu ...it will run almost 100% usage and will heat your house"

WTF??
I don't think you understand much about computers. A program will only use the amount of CPU cycles required. A weaker CPU might not have enough processing power and thus pose a bottleneck but that would result in LESS heat output not more.

Also if I was just idling and used say 10% average of my quad-core and someone had a dual-core with SAME frequency/architecture then the dual-core would average 20% usage but the computer would use LESS power overall because it's simply more efficient to have less cores running.

 

[photonboy]

Witcher 3 and DX12:
There's strong evidence that the game will end up running on DX12. It's not confirmed though and if true it might not be until closer to 2016.

Witcher 3 and i3-4130, i3-4370:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page5.html

*The i3-4130 is getting 84FPS average (GTX980, Medium, 1080p). Yes, it is a SLIGHT bottleneck if you're at these settings or similar with a similar card to the GTX980 but you're still getting 84% of what you'd get with an i7-4790K and if using a lesser GPU there would be less of a CPU bottleneck.. possibly almost none depending on the card and settings.

I didn't want to say "no bottleneck" but it's fairly minimal.

**Also if comparing the i3-4370 to the i3-4130 in the benchmark note that the top frequency's are different (3.8GHz vs 3.4GHz). That's almost 12% more processing power so any major bottleneck is further reduced.

So with a GTX980 and the i3-4370 at these settings you're looking at roughly 92% the performance of the i7-4790K + GTX980. So again a weaker GPU would have very minimal bottleneck for sure.

 

[badboyrog2]

http://www.hardwarepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Average-CPU-usage-chart.png
http://pile.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/I5-vs-I7-Star-Citizen-Total-CPU-Usage-percentage.png?fd16fd
http://in2gpu.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Hyper-Threading-in-games-FPS-table.jpg
https://gaming.msi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/dx_comparison_intel4790.jpg

 

[r_ward_87]

wow, DasHotShot. you should do your research before you claim that everyone's statements are fabricated. try and wrap your head around cpu/gpu utilization per game engine. just because a game is hard to run does not mean it is cpu dependant. The witcher 3 runs fine on low end cpu's. Im tired of this attitude. I post a few video's on the tube of my HTPC running witcher 3 and bf4 and suddenly its fake and you need at least i5/970 to get anywhere near playable framerates.

If you even bothered to test the game for cpu bottlenecks with an i3 you would know. I have an i3 2100, i5 2310 and i3 4170. A gtx 750 ti 2gb and a R9 280 3gb. Game runs fine at 1080p high settings with medium shadows and full post processing. gets around 35fps. Proof that there is no cpu bottleneck, when i turn resoultion down to 1280x720p it pegs out at 60fps with full high settings, even more with no vsync and low settings. And thats with the i3 2100/750 ti. frame rates would not increase if there was a cpu bottleneck. Even better when i switch out cards from the 750 ti to the 280 the framerate skyrockets on low settings.

Stop claiming that games all require i5's and gtx 970's to run.

 

[gameboy9867]

lol i5's i3's have hyperthreading too

 

[flipwire]

Firstly, i3's don't have hyperthreading. Only i7's do.

Secondly, the i3 has 4 "virtual" cores rather than true, however it will "run" games which require 4 cores. The questions is how well.

For the Witcher, you are running into a problem immediately, as you need an i5 2500k to fulfill minimum requirements set by the developer. Which in real world terms means you need a 4 core i5q or i7 or AMD equivalent.

It is a badly optimized game and an i3 will cause noticeable performance issues. So will an FX-6300.

So build a PC which can play games beyond right now, you need to aim for an i5-4460 or AMD A10/FX8350 as you are running the risk of creating what I call PS4 syndrome:

Using outdated hardware which is too weak, even at point of release (point you buy it). A system with the spec you mention is not good for AAA gaming on a decent level.

So with either of the processors you mention, be ready to settle for low settings on witcher and medium in other new titles.

i have a amd A6-3670k and it can run witcher 3 max all on with no problems so far

 

[chorniko]

well actually i have a core 2 duo and a gtx 560 non ti 1gb ddr5 4gb ram and im running withcer 3 on medium settings smoothly. oh and im not even overclocking it hahahaha.