Is there a big difference between i5 and i3?

[lightningblade]

Planning to build a gaming PC and I was wondering if buying a core i5 really worth the extra money. thanks in advance.

 

[mickypheonix]

Hi lightningblade

This may help answer your question
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/61150.aspx

 

[i7Baby]

If you're building a pc for less than $500 you might consider an i3. But an AMD FX say 6300 would be better - same performance but a cheaper cpu.

Over $1000 pc build go for an i5. Or an AMD 8 series FX cpu.

An i5 will let most expensive graphics cards without 'bottlenecking' them. FX 9 series get too hot and need expensive water coolers to control them

For extreme builds - say over $1500 - you may want an i7

 

[Alpha3031]

For sub 500 builds you may also want to look at the Pentium G3258 or the Athlon X4 750k

 

[leeb2013]

yes, I3's are dual core with hyperthreading, I5s are 4 core. But if you can, get the Xeon E3, basically an I7 - 4 cores + hyperthreading for the same price as an I5-xxxxK

 

[RobCrezz]

Yes the i5 is worth the extra as it has 2 more cores. That said, the i3 is a good budget option.

 

[maktovic]

Planning to build a gaming PC and I was wondering if buying a core i5 really worth the extra money. thanks in advance.

i5 is a quad core, has more Level3 cache, better integrated GPU while i3 is hyperthreaded Dual-core. Games don't benefit much from HyperThreading though.

Is i5 worth it? Depends on your budget.

You can get i5 4590 + R7 260x around same price as i3 4130 + R9 280. Now i3 4130 + R9 280 will be far better in games as compared to i5 4590 + R7 260x since games tend to be more GPU bound.

In short, if getting i5 means to choose a weak Graphics Card, then it is not worth it.

 

[RobCrezz]

Planning to build a gaming PC and I was wondering if buying a core i5 really worth the extra money. thanks in advance.

i5 is a quad core, has more Level3 cache, better integrated GPU while i3 is hyperthreaded Dual-core. Games don't benefit much from HyperThreading though.

Is i5 worth it? Depends on your budget.

You can get i5 4590 + R7 260x around same price as i3 4130 + R9 280. Now i3 4130 + R9 280 will be far better in games as compared to i5 4590 + R7 260x since games tend to be more GPU bound.

In short, if getting i5 means to choose a weak Graphics Card, then it is not worth it.

Not totally correct. Any game that can take advantage of 4 cores, will take advantage of hyperthreading on a dual core.