What intel cpu can beat out the G4400?

Zak Browning

Honorable
Sep 15, 2013
101
0
10,680
Currently Im using an amd fx 6300. Not very happy with it and would rather go intel. Im looking to spend a bit on the processor, around $200 or so.

The pentium g4400 seems to keep popping up as one of the most effective processors for the price ($65), and when i compare it against some more expensive i5 and i7 models on cpuboss there does not seem to be much of an increase in performance given a $100+ increase in price like the i5 6400 price of $180 for a small upgrade in single and multi core performance . Due to this Im not really sure what to do.

So what should I do? Im likely going to switch out the mobo to a ddr4 version too, but which one I get obviously depends on processor compatibility.

The PC is only used for gaming, no photo or video editing, and I dont intend on overclocking either.

For instance heres a comparison between the G4400 and the i5 6400 (everytime I compare the g4400 seems to win, though this could be due its performance compared to dollar amount) http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-G4400-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6400
 
Solution
It would depend on which games, maybe for a small handful or older games the pentium would hold its own. An i3 would be better and in some games an i5 would be better yet. A lot of AAA games are making use of i5's, smoother frames and less frame drops due to 4 actual cores. If the budget is too tight I wouldn't go with anything less than an i3 really, still a dual core but the hyper threading helps give it a boost over the pentium.

Either a skylake i5 6xxx with an h170 or b150 board and 8gb ddr4 ram or if the budget is tighter there's not a whole lot of performance loss going with 4th gen haswell. Like DustinV mention an i5 4590 and pair it with an h97 board and keep your ddr3 ram you already have.

Each game is a bit different but...
For a skylake upgrade I recommend an i5 6600k (if you OC) - requires a new motherboard and ddr4 ram. But considering you situation, you can keep your ddr3 ram and go with a haswell i5 (4590 or i5 4690K). But it will require a new motherboard). An FX 6300 is ok for now, I suggest you to wait until the new AMD ZEN CPU's come out.
In conclusion, wait untill autumn or so and save up more money.
 
The G4400 is fine for office work and a bit of light multimedia but if you're putting together a gaming or video editing system it just isn't worth considering.

Passmark is a synthetic test so read into it what you will but you can see that the G4400 is a long way behind your fx6300 and a Sandybridge i5 released about 6 years ago. It's price per performance ratio is great but that doesn't mean it gets close to the performance of an i5 or even an i3.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+G4400+%40+3.30GHz
 
It would depend on which games, maybe for a small handful or older games the pentium would hold its own. An i3 would be better and in some games an i5 would be better yet. A lot of AAA games are making use of i5's, smoother frames and less frame drops due to 4 actual cores. If the budget is too tight I wouldn't go with anything less than an i3 really, still a dual core but the hyper threading helps give it a boost over the pentium.

Either a skylake i5 6xxx with an h170 or b150 board and 8gb ddr4 ram or if the budget is tighter there's not a whole lot of performance loss going with 4th gen haswell. Like DustinV mention an i5 4590 and pair it with an h97 board and keep your ddr3 ram you already have.

Each game is a bit different but this is one example with a somewhat recent release, fallout 4. Take a look at the fps, the average and min. They're using a gtx 980ti at 1080p to make sure the fps are reflecting the cpu capabilities and not becoming a bottleneck. i5's and i7's averaging in the 90-100fps range with min fps in the 80's. i3's averaging in the 80's and mins dropping into the 60's. A dual core non ht like the g3258 averaging in the 50's and dropping well below 30fps.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page5.html

In that particular game, 4 true cores provides an advantage over dual cores with hyperthreading. Adding hyperthreading to the i7's 4 cores didn't make nearly as big of an impact. Core speed also had an impact, as speed went up so did fps. Not enough though, at the bottom of that cpu bench they overclocked the g3258 to 4.5ghz and while averages crept up to the mid 60's fps, mins were still in the 30's to 40's.
 
Solution
Its used for gaming exclusively. I cant really wait as my parents would like a new office pc and theyre willing to buy my current cpu, mobo and ram so it makes sense for me to upgrade now especially given the price of the kingston hyper ddr4 ram and ddr4 mobos. Basically if I go with a skylake processor I would like to make sure that its quite a bit better than what I currently have, and will last a few years while allowing me at least one gpu upgrade (I currently have a radeon R7). Im just not sure how to read passmarks which is why im here.