G3258 vs i3 4150

[legitfromtheman]

Hi,

I'm trying to decide between two similar motherboard deals, the main difference being the choice of processor (Either a G3258 + 8GB RAM or i3-4150 +4GB RAM).

I intend to use the system for several years and would not be looking to upgrade once i complete my build. I have looked at some of the available benchmark results and the overclocked version of the G3258 seems to score similarly to the i3.

Any advice about which would be better suited for general browsing/office work and light gaming?

[MrJim]

For a low budget system, you might like to look at an AMD APU or CPU, as such systems are generally better value. You'll also get more cores for your money - the G3258 is dual core, and the i3 4150 is also dual core but with hyperthreading (which appears as 4 cores to the OS). I recently had a problem with Far Cry 4 refusing to run on a dual-core system, & I think that's a trend which will continue moving forward.

[legitfromtheman]

Thanks for the reply, had not considered an AMD system - I am intending to spend around £100 on a CPU and Motherboard. Is there anything in particular you would recommend

[domix596]

Hello! Dispassionate advice, forget AMD! xD 1Ghz of an Intel corresponds to a 2Ghz AMD. However, I've recently installed a PC with G3440 and a AsRock H81M-VG4. Obviously they aren't products at the top, but they give a lot of satisfaction!

[watercooled]

1Ghz of an Intel corresponds to a 2Ghz AMD.

Not even remotely true I'm afraid. And it's been a very long time since it's been sensible to just use clock speed as a metric of comparing architectures.

Anyway, what is meant by 'light gaming', as that would be useful to know when picking out CPUs. With modern CPUs, the choice doesn't tend to have a huge impact on stuff like office work or web browsing.

[Bagnaj97]

As others have said, on a budget it's usually worth going for an AMD build. Once you get into i5 territory then intel are usually faster, but at the low end AMD are very competitive. That said, it depends what gaming you're planning to do. For some games Intel is the way to go even on a budget.

[MrJim]

Thanks for the reply, had not considered an AMD system - I am intending to spend around £100 on a CPU and Motherboard. Is there anything in particular you would recommend

Have you got a graphics card already, or are you planning to use an integrated GPU? If you buy an AMD CPU (as opposed to an APU, which has graphics integrated onto the processor), you'll have to budget for a graphics card as well...

[wasabi]

Realistically either will be more than up to the job. The de facto standard nowadays for most office software is a midrange laptop (with SLOWWWW) mobile procesor, or XBox One for games. Assuming you're putting a decent graphics card in there (and SSD?), both rigs will be miles ahead of that.

[legitfromtheman]

Thanks for the replies,

To clarify, I'm not bothered about playing this years games or First Person Shooters etc. (I am actually quite content playing a lot of the old DOS/freeware games). I would likely stick to the onboard graphics with a view to possibly upgrading at a later date. I have been struggling along with my 10 year old Athlon 64 but i feel it is getting to the stage where even basic browsing/streaming and office work is becoming noticeably slow.

On reflection my primary aim is to buy once (i.e. no upgrading every year or so) and to get the best value for money given that i would like this new system to last a similar length of time, so i suppose there is an element of forward projecting.

I guess the main difference is dual core (overclocked) vs quad core (non-overclocked) but given that i wont be playing the latest games then i am unsure where this leaves me.

[DanceswithUnix]

If you are prepared to overclock the dual core, you should be prepared to overclock anything. Personally, these days if it isn't fast enough out of the box then I am not interested. Any overclock should be a bonus.

A 10 year old Athlon, is that socket 939 then? Luckily that isn't hard to improve on these days.

I would suggest looking at the A8-7600 APU and an FM2+ motherboard. However, if you want it to last I wouldn't buy a motherboard that is too cheap.

[watercooled]

An overclock isn't a metric I'd be using to choose a processor, and agree with DanceswithUnix that it should be seen as a bonus. Not only that, a given overclock isn't guaranteed with every CPU and isn't as straightforward as copying someone else's overclock settings - each individual CPU is different.

Also, if you're hoping it will last another 10 years, OC'ing the pants off it isn't one of the first things I'd suggest, not least because OCs can degrade over time and introduce instability - i.e. prepare to occasionally check it's still stable and tweak if necessary.

And it seems overclocked processors have a vastly higher failure rate than non-overclocked CPUs: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/13...thusiast-myths

[MrJim]

Thanks for the replies,

To clarify, I'm not bothered about playing this years games or First Person Shooters etc. (I am actually quite content playing a lot of the old DOS/freeware games). I would likely stick to the onboard graphics with a view to possibly upgrading at a later date. I have been struggling along with my 10 year old Athlon 64 but i feel it is getting to the stage where even basic browsing/streaming and office work is becoming noticeably slow.

On reflection my primary aim is to buy once (i.e. no upgrading every year or so) and to get the best value for money given that i would like this new system to last a similar length of time, so i suppose there is an element of forward projecting.

I guess the main difference is dual core (overclocked) vs quad core (non-overclocked) but given that i wont be playing the latest games then i am unsure where this leaves me.

I would echo Danceswithunix & suggest an FM2+ APU for the kind on usage you're describing.

In my experience, Windows tends to slow down quite a bit once it's been installed for a while. I'd also recommend an SSD for your system drive, which definitely helps mitigate such effects.

[wasabi]

Or get an Intel Celeron or Pentium dirt cheap now which will give you potential to upgrade in a few years time when the current crop of i5s are bargain bin on ebay. Again, still faster than almost all laptops at a fraction of the price. And I agree with the others, get a SSD drive, at least a little one for the OS and most commonly used applications.

[watercooled]

when the current crop of i5s are bargain bin on ebay. Again, still faster than almost all laptops at a fraction of the price.

That doesn't always happen though, I remember looking at Clarkdale i5s a few years back and was surprised how expensive they still were.

Even now, a 2500k is still about £130 used on ebay, that's only about a score off its new retail price.

IMO, buy something which meets your current requirements rather than double-spending.

[DanceswithUnix]

IMO, buy something which meets your current requirements rather than double-spending.

Agreed, and on top of that most of us won't buy a CPU off ebay as you don't know how badly it has been abused.

I have an i3-540 (I think) kicking around somewhere, unused because the motherboards are so stupidly expensive new that I would rather put the money towards a Haswell (or something new from AMD).

My daughter has an older A10-5800K APU and plays fairly up to date games on it, as well as general browsing and her school work, with just the on board graphics.

[hsncool]

I know you're not looking at upgrading down the line, that's not quite what I'm suggesting, but what I'd do...

I'd go by this advice...

IMO, buy something which meets your current requirements rather than double-spending.

...and of your two options I'd go for the G3258 + 8GB RAM

This will be more than enough for your're current requirements.

You say you're not looking at upgrading, but that's technically what you're doing with you're old Athlon64 skt939...
In 5+ years time when it's time for you to do this again, you'll be able to get your hands on a second hand i5/i7 for next to nothing; this will let you significantly increase your systems performance, at minimal cost as you already have the Mobo and RAM to support it!