[SOLVED] Is this i5 8400 (used) worth buying for games?

Dadrian Daedalus

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I want to upgrade my existing i5 4460 based setup as it cannot keep up with latest titles and exhibits a lot of stuttering while running them.

I found a seller online who was offering an used i5 8400-is it good enough for games and can it handle the games that are likely to be released in the next 2-3 years?In particular,i want to run cpu-intensive titles like AC origins,which simply failed to work satisfactorily on my current system.

I requested the seller to send me some photos of the cpu and these are the ones that i received:

View: https://imgur.com/a/YjZyFQe


The gold pads to the left at the rear of the cpu look slightly discolored/faded-is it normal or is it likely to have sustained some damage due to overheating etc which may have caused the discoloration?

Should i buy this cpu?the person selling it wants 9000 INR(approx 123 USD) for it.

Is the 10th gen i3 10100 actually better than this hexa core 8th gen i5?
 
Solution
If your main and perhaps only goal is playing games, then the answer is probably not.

Don't get me wrong, both chips will be better than your current Core i5, but the 10400 should be more noticeable (FPS wise).

Also, if you think about a future GPU upgrade, maybe in a year, the Core i5 10400 should still give you more FPS at 1080p.


About your last question, you can use the R7 2700X on any B450/X470 motherboard, but as I wrote before, I would skip cheap ones since the 2700X is a high end CPU that deserve a decent VRM and thus a decent motherboard.

Finally, MSI said that they will launch BIOS updates for all thier B450 and X470 mobos for the new Ryzen 5000 series. Im not saying you should buy MSI, just making sure you know that...
This is a real blunder.

The cpu is likely fine, and not broken so that's probably not a problem.

But the question between the i3 10100 and the i5 8400 is a little harder to answer.

the i5 is 6 cores, but no hyperthreading so 6 threads.
the i3 is only 4 cores, but 8 threads.
Per clock performance, and clock speed is quite similar on the 2, and the i3 probably edges a little.

But the i3 Is also a lot cheaper. at around 89$.

How much does the i3 cost where you live, and how much is an i5 10400?
 

Dadrian Daedalus

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like i said before,i am thinking of buying this cpu to upgrade my existing setup,which entails buying the cpu itself along with the mobo+ram bundle.

my current mobo only supports haswell cpus,so support for 8th gen or higher processors is out of the question-and thus irrespective of which cpu i decide to go for,i will certainly have to buy a new mobo as well as ram,as i am currently using DDR3 memory.

the i5 8400 in question is available 2nd hand-its not a new item,and the price of this 2nd hand cpu is very nearly the same as that of a new i3 10100,which reportedly performs similar to an i7 7700k.

So i am wondering which of these 2 would be a better choice-the 8th gen i5 or the new i3 10100.My primary choice was the i5 as its a 6 core cpu and hence likely to be more future proof compared to the i3,which is afterall a quad core cpu.
 
I would buy everything new, I3 10100 + mobo and ram. Later on you can upgrade to a better 10th gen cpu or the next "gen" intel is launching next year.

In any case is kinda strange talking about this without knowing your full system specs. Like for example, what GPU and PSU, monitor resolution and resfresh rate do you have?

Without knowing what GPU you have I can not be 100% sure the CPU is the culprit of poor performing games. Specially since you wrote about AC origins which should work well with your current CPU (as long as the GPU is strong enough to handle the game).
 
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Dadrian Daedalus

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the specs of my current pc are as follows:

i5 4460,B85 mobo,12GB DDR3 1600 mhz,Gtx 1060 6gb,Corsair TXM 550 psu,1080p 60hz monitor

i think the poor performance can be ascribed to the cpu itself as in certain areas in cpu demanding games like ac origins,the cpu load goes upto 100% while the gpu sits at 50-60% only,resulting in low fps in the range of 30-40.

yeah i am limited to a budget,otherwise i wouldn't have considered an used cpu in the first place.

my budget is upto 270 usd.

will the next gen cpus that intel will be releasing next year be compatible with current b460/h410 mobos?
 
QUOTE="Dadrian Daedalus, post: 22011597, member: 1825369"
the specs of my current pc are as follows:

i5 4460,B85 mobo,12GB DDR3 1600 mhz,Gtx 1060 6gb,Corsair TXM 550 psu,1080p 60hz monitor

i think the poor performance can be ascribed to the cpu itself as in certain areas in cpu demanding games like ac origins,the cpu load goes upto 100% while the gpu sits at 50-60% only,resulting in low fps in the range of 30-40.

yeah i am limited to a budget,otherwise i wouldn't have considered an used cpu in the first place.

Your current GPU may be able to give a little more with a stronger CPU indeed, but do not expect a miracle, going with a 10th gen intel platform will allow you to upgrade in the furture.

my budget is upto 270 usd.


will the next gen cpus that intel will be releasing next year be compatible with current b460/h410 mobos?

As far as we know yes

QUOTE


Whatever you do try to get 16GB of RAM, in the form of a kit of 2x8GB DDR4 2666 up to 3200 (they usually cost the same. And make sure the kit show up in the motherboard QVL.


I would advice to consider AMD too, perhaps something like the following (which will also allow you to upgrade to a better Ryzen 3xxx or even the new 5xxx series launching on november 5), but Im guessing its over your budget:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor (₹14980.00 @ Amazon India)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M GAMING Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (₹10899.00 @ Amazon India)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (₹8000.00 @ Amazon India)
Total: ₹33879.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-14 22:33 IST+0530
 
3300x is way too expensive-for a few thousands more,one could get the i5 10400 which would be a lot better.

10400 is currently available here for around 15k.

Indeed, thats why I wrote "something like the following". And of course, if you can get the 10400 thats an overall better CPU.

The thing with AMD is that if you want o be sure you are going to be able to upgrade to Zen 3 (Ryzen 5000 series) you need a B550 or X570 mobo, and thats were you need the Ryzen 3300X which btw is better than the i3 10100. You could get the Ryzen 3 3100 for a lot less too and thats about equal performance as the Core i3 10100 with DDR4 2666 in most games.

Then again, some time after Ryzen 5000 series launch we may see drop in prices of all zen chips. So this isn't really the best time to buy a new CPU+Mobo and RAM. Heck we may even see intel drop its prices eventually if AMD's Zen 3 really perform as they said they will.
 

Dadrian Daedalus

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rather than going for a 2nd hand i5 or 10th gen i3 build,i have decided to get the i5 10400

but due to the constraints of budget,i have decided to pair it with a gigabyte h410 m s2 motherboard.

however this board has only 2 memory slots and i plan on using 8+8 gb ddr4 ram modules.Also i will be reusing the cooler master h410r cpu cooler that i currently have.

will using an aftermarket cooler like the H410 r interfere with or block any of the memory slots ,which could prevent me from using both of them at the same time?

Also is it a good idea to pair an i5 with a cheap h410 motherboard?Could it lead to throttling/cpu overheating or other issues in the long run due to the fact that these cheaper boards may have weak VRMs and no vrm heatsink?
 
"will using an aftermarket cooler like the H410 r interfere with or block any of the memory slots ,which could prevent me from using both of them at the same time?"

I do not know for sure but probably not since the CM H410R is a small cooler.
Also the Core i5 10400 comes with a stock cooler, so you can try that one instead and see if its enough to keep the i5 cold.



"Also is it a good idea to pair an i5 with a cheap h410 motherboard?"

A good idea no, but shouldn't be a big problem either. Keep in mind your Core i5 10400 wont be able to OC anyways, no matter what mobo you pick. Also you won't be able to run the RAM higher than 2666MHz (unless you go with a Z490 mobo)

From my humble perspective, cheap motherboards (for gaming PCs) aren't a good idea for any kinf of CPU, in the same way that a U$600 Z490 mobo isn't a good idea for a Core i3. In life balance is the most dificult thing to achieve.

The motherboard is what defines your upgrade path, so pick low budget mobo and it will probably have a not soo good VRM, and limited XMP support (even more limited cause it depends on the CPU segment) and thats what you have to deal/work in the future.

But intel is kinda like: you need to spend a lot more money if you want what AMD basically gives you on every CPU segment and platform (at least for the time been).



"Could it lead to throttling/cpu overheating or other issues in the long run due to the fact that these cheaper boards may have weak VRMs and no vrm heatsink?"

Gigabyte said on its website you can install up to a i9 10900K (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/H410M-S2-rev-10/support#support-cpu), so if this sorta "weak VRM" can/should handle a i9 10900K (according to gigabyte), I believe it should be enough for a Core i5 10400.

My advice on this, make sure you have enough airflow inside your case so that a lot of fresh air can get in, while the hot air can get out fast enough.
 
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Dadrian Daedalus

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My local pc hardware retailer suggested that i opt for ryzen 2700x rather than an i5 10400-will that be a good idea?

Will the r7 2700x offer significant performance gains over the i5 when it comes to gaming? Also is it more future proof as it has 8 cores ?

Can this cpu ie 2700x be paired with a cheaper b450 motherboard rather than an expensive x470 motherboard? Is it likely to impede its performance?
 
If your main and perhaps only goal is playing games, then the answer is probably not.

Don't get me wrong, both chips will be better than your current Core i5, but the 10400 should be more noticeable (FPS wise).

Also, if you think about a future GPU upgrade, maybe in a year, the Core i5 10400 should still give you more FPS at 1080p.


About your last question, you can use the R7 2700X on any B450/X470 motherboard, but as I wrote before, I would skip cheap ones since the 2700X is a high end CPU that deserve a decent VRM and thus a decent motherboard.

Finally, MSI said that they will launch BIOS updates for all thier B450 and X470 mobos for the new Ryzen 5000 series. Im not saying you should buy MSI, just making sure you know that https://www.tomshardware.com/news/msi-400-series-motherboard-amd-ryzen-5000-cpu-support
 
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Solution
I want to upgrade my existing i5 4460 based setup as it cannot keep up with latest titles and exhibits a lot of stuttering while running them.

I found a seller online who was offering an used i5 8400-is it good enough for games and can it handle the games that are likely to be released in the next 2-3 years?In particular,i want to run cpu-intensive titles like AC origins,which simply failed to work satisfactorily on my current system.

I requested the seller to send me some photos of the cpu and these are the ones that i received:

View: https://imgur.com/a/YjZyFQe


The gold pads to the left at the rear of the cpu look slightly discolored/faded-is it normal or is it likely to have sustained some damage due to overheating etc which may have caused the discoloration?

Should i buy this cpu?the person selling it wants 9000 INR(approx 123 USD) for it.

Is the 10th gen i3 10100 actually better than this hexa core 8th gen i5?

AC: Origins is a real torture test on any system. The bottleneck is likely two fold: Your old CPU and (more likely) your video card.