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Thread: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

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    In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    the core i3 2120 or the A8-3850 ?
    i know the A8 3850 has the advantage of a GPU component, but i'm asking interms of clock per clock CPU performance

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Core i3 2120.

    http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/399?vs=289

    You get the general idea, the 2120 has an extra 200MHz over the 2100 as well IIRC.
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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Clock for clock comparisons are pointless when comparing architectures. It depends on whether it is a low IPC high clockspeed CPU or a lower clockspeed high IPC CPU. On top of this it also depends on what sort of applications you are running and under what OS.

    In lightly threaded applications the Core i3 2120 is faster but is more expensive and with more expensive motherboards too.

    In multi-threaded applications like video encoding the Core i3 2100 and Core i3 2120 will be slower on average. OTH,a Phenom II X4 955BE is even cheaper than a Core i3 2100 and has better multi-threaded performance and can be overclocked.

    If you want to use clock for clock comparisons,the Core i3 has better lightly threaded performance but has relatively poor multi-threaded performance. However, many music production and image editing programmes tend to run better on Intel CPUs and this has been the case for years. This is down to the the fact of better optimisations for Intel CPUs.

    For video encoding applications like HandBrake,a Core i3 is clock for clock slower than even an old Q6600 or Athlon II X4.

    An example can be seen in HandBrake:

    http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ded-power.html



    I have provided scores for a Core i3 2100 and a lightly overclocked Q6600.

    The A8-3850 can also be overclocked too unlike the Core i3 2100 or Core i3 2120.

    OTH,you do realise you will need to spend at least £40 to get a faster graphics card than in the A8 3850. If you are considering the A8 3850 you need to take this into consideration.

    If not consider a Phenom II X4 955BE as it is quicker.

    The important things is you need to see what you intend to use the PC for and then decide which CPU fits your usage pattern.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 27-08-2011 at 04:34 PM.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Well i'm intending to build a budget gaming system for a friend, but from your post it seems that the best option for now is the A8 3850 since he doesn't have enough money to buy a gpu.
    maybe in the future he'll have more money to buy a 6670 and run it in dual graphics.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    The Core i3 2100 or i3 2120 would have the edge for gaming(if you are looking at the CPU only) IMHO but OTH my mate has a 2.9GHZ Phenom II X4 and still runs many games fine with an HD5770.

    Have you considered getting an AM3+ motherboard,an Athlon II X3 and something like an HD5670 GDDR5??

    What budget are you looking at??

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    The Core i3 2100 or i3 2120 would have the edge for gaming(if you are looking at the CPU only) IMHO but OTH my mate has a 2.9GHZ Phenom II X4 and still runs many games fine with an HD5770.

    Have you considered getting an AM3+ motherboard,an Athlon II X3 and something like an HD5670 GDDR5??

    What budget are you looking at??
    well he's got about £380, and he already has the OS
    but he also needs a monitor, so that's an issue

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    I have come up with four builds from Ebuyer.

    Build One - decent motherboard



    This uses a 970 motherboard and should be fine with Bulldozer. It has USB3.0 and SATA3.0 and should be fine for a reasonable amount of overclocking. It can work with 140W CPUs and has cooled VRMs.

    Build Two - cheap motherboard and faster graphics card



    This uses a much cheaper motherboard which uses the older 760G chipset. It has an AM3+ socket meaning Bulldzoer will work in it. However,AFAIK the 900 series motherboards will probably have better power regulation with Bulldozer.

    It will not be suitable for overclocking and can only work with 95W CPUs. The motherboard does not support USB3.0 and SATA3.0 at all. The motherboard only has two RAM slots.

    However,it has a much better graphics card meaning better framerates.

    Build Three - cheap motherboard and faster processor



    This uses a 65W Core i3 2100 and the cheapest H61 motherboard. The motherboard does not have USB3.0 or SATA3.0 ports. It will support 95W CPUs although it seems to have less power phases than the AMD motherboard in Build Two. The motherboard only has two RAM slots.

    The HD5670 GDDR5 can be had for around £56 delivered from Amazon:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0032W414...SIN=B0032W414O

    Build Four - bigger monitor but slower graphics card,better motherboard than builds two and three and slightly better processor than builds one and two



    The motherboard has USB3.0 and SATA3.0 ports.It has only two RAM slots and won't be great for overclocking but is a better quality motherboard than in the second and third builds. The HD6550D IGP in the A8-3850 is much slower than an HD5670 GDDR5 and is more on the level of an HD5570 DDR3. However,the build does have a much bigger monitor. This build might be compatible with the Bulldozer based Trinity APU being launched next year but there is no solid comfirmation of this.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 27-08-2011 at 07:24 PM.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Well my friend i really appreciate that you took your time with these builds.
    my mate just came to my house about 1/2 hour ago we've been sitting here going though the build options that you posted. and he's leaning towards the fourth build

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Is there anyway your mate can borrow an old LCD or CRT monitor for a while?? The first three builds only use an el-cheapo 18.5" monitor so TBH it would be worth just putting that towards the base unit. Once he has saved up up some more money he can get a better monitor.

    Going with a Llano based build seems to be the only way to get a decent monitor and a reasonable motherboard too.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    I made a slight typo. The Core i3 2100 is a faster CPU for most games than the Athlon II X3 455 and Llano A8-3850.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 27-08-2011 at 07:49 PM.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    Is there anyway your mate can borrow an old LCD or CRT monitor for a while?? The first three builds only use an el-cheapo 18.5" monitor so TBH it would be worth just putting that towards the base unit. Once he has saved up up some more money he can get a better monitor.

    Going with a Llano based build seems to be the only way to get a decent monitor and a reasonable motherboard too.
    yeah that's what we were thinking, and unfortunately he can't use an older monitor. he only had one before and it broke.
    so he definitely needs a new one.
    but the build looks very solid, he'll obviously do some upgrades in the future.
    but he seems very satisfied with this build.

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    Quote Originally Posted by Walker View Post
    yeah that's what we were thinking, and unfortunately he can't use an older monitor. he only had one before and it broke.
    so he definitely needs a new one.
    but the build looks very solid, he'll obviously do some upgrades in the future.
    but he seems very satisfied with this build.
    You could get hold of an old CRT for free?? Alternative you could get a cheap secondhand LCD monitor from Ebay. Once he has saved some money up to get a new one he can use it as a secondary monitor.

    There is this new 20" HP monitor on Ebay for around £73:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-20-wide...item336afee9f7

    It is £100 from Currys:

    http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-s203...qatrp&istBid=t

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    Re: In terms of CPU performance, which is more powerful?

    I had a look around at some benchmarks and the A8-3850 tends to be faster than a Phenom II X4 840 for gaming.

    I came up with one more build.

    Build 5



    It has an 870 motherboard which will be better than the 760G one(although it still has two RAM slots). It has USB3.0 and SATA3.0 ports too.

    You could combine this with the HP monitor from Ebay. This means you will have around £70 for a graphics card. I found a deal on a cheap HD6750 1GB card for slightly under £70.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 27-08-2011 at 08:47 PM.

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