AMD A8-3870 vs Intel 2500k

[bmadd89]

Looking at building a system for an older couple that will have the computer till the end of time. Now the reason I have selected these 2 cpu's is that I don't want to add in a discreet GPU as there should be no need.

The 2500k is the lowest Intel cpu i can get with HD3000 and the 3870 speaks for itself. I’m well aware that the i5 is going to be superior in cpu tasks and will keep its legs well into the future but I’m thinking so should the 3870 as it is not a bad performer right now, just not the best.

With the way things are heading I’m not sure which one will be the best option for the long run as the i5 is a great cpu as I have built a few systems with it but lacks gpu prowess. They wont be playing games of really any nature but I fear the HD300 will not serve them well into the future.

I’m personally leaning more towards the 3870 but would like some people’s advice.

The AMD CPU is also $70 cheap here in Australia which is a decent motherboard almost.

Cheers

 

[BD231]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2227532

I'd go Ivy Brdige.

 

[LoneNinja]

I would go with the 2500K, much better CPU performance and enough GPU performance for what they do. If down the road it isn't enough, it's much easier to add a budget discrete card to the system for improved video than it will be to upgrade the CPU.

I'm not sure if this will change your decision, but you can get an I3 with the HD3000, the 2500K isn't the cheapest Intel processor with it. The I3 2105 has the HD3000.

 

[Kristijonas]

There are 4 best choices in my opinion:
i3 2105 or i3 2125 (HD 3000)
a8-3870
wait for Ivy Bridge
wait for Trinity.

I would probably get them Trinity, because it will supposedly arrive in possibly less than 2 months and will be superior to Llano in all ways for probably the same price.

 

[Zap]

If they don't play games and don't do anything else needing a GPU, then there is no reason to even worry about the IGP. Heck, if you are worried then get a Core i3-2105 for the HD 3000. If they're just doing office and online stuff, such a CPU should be good for years to come.

 

[bmadd89]

@BD231: That does look encouraging but its not solid proof yet. I would love to get it but haven't the rumors been low volume April release with a real supply in Q3 onwards? Also how much more is IB over SB? Don't think waiting till Q3 and paying more (even if it is better which it will be.)

@LoneNinja: I did see that i3 on ARK but i cant seem to find it at a retailer here in Austalia. I can get the 2100 or 2130 only.

@Kristijonas: Unfortunatly i can get those i3's easily. Ivy is still atleast 3months off in Australia given history with other CPU releases. Same thing with Trinity.

I'm willing to tell them to wait but its only going to be so long before they get impatient and want a computer. After all they are not computer enthusiast and don't understand

 

[BallaTheFeared]

What do they actually use their PC for?

With AMD you get a better gpu, but that's only going to really matter in gaming. The i5 will perform well enough in everything else.

With AMD all you get is a weaker cpu, and a better gpu that won't really give them any advantage since they won't be taxing the HD3000 anyways.

With Intel you get Quick Sync for video encodes, as well as Intel Insider for streaming HD quality movies that are unavailable for anyone else.

Obviously the difference for most people isn't going to be noticeable, we don't represent the avg user around here. So I would simply go off price, and features offered and ignore performance for the most part.

 

[Jovec]

The 2500k is the lowest Intel cpu i can get with HD3000

The i3 2105 and 2125 have the HD3000 IGP.

Edit: I understand that these might not be available in your locale Sorry

 

[Mopetar]

In most cases I'd say to go for the 2500k, but in this case get the the A8-3870. While the additional graphics power isn't likely to matter, neither is the increased CPU power in the 2500. Unless they're doing anything computationally heavy, both will be fine for their needs, and the A8-3870 is ~$80 cheaper. You can either save some money on the overall cost build, or stick it into other components that will probably make more a difference. If they don't need a lot of space, you could put the money towards an SSD or a hybrid drive, which honestly would probably provide a better subjective performance increase.

 

[frozentundra123456]

In most cases I'd say to go for the 2500k, but in this case get the the A8-3870. While the additional graphics power isn't likely to matter, neither is the increased CPU power in the 2500. Unless they're doing anything computationally heavy, both will be fine for their needs, and the A8-3870 is ~$80 cheaper. You can either save some money on the overall cost build, or stick it into other components that will probably make more a difference. If they don't need a lot of space, you could put the money towards an SSD or a hybrid drive, which honestly would probably provide a better subjective performance increase.

I would agree pretty much with this. Overall, I am not a big fan of Llano on the desktop, but I think the CPU would be good enough in this case for a long time, you get a better GPU, and the price is less. The A8 would probably use more power though.

I am not really sure that it is worth worrying about the HD3000 vs HD2000. To me either is inadequate for gaming and sufficient for everyday use. Another option that no one has mentioned would be to get a Sandy Bridge pentium and add a low end discrete card later if graphics perfomance became a bottleneck. Really, I have a 5 year old core 2 duo, and it is more than adequate for everyday tasks(edit: and gaming at medium settings), although I have added a discrete graphics card. For the kind of use you anticipate, I would think almost any modern system would be adequate for several years. I really want a quad intel system for improved gaming, but the 2500k seems like overkill for what they will be doing.

 

[Kristijonas]

Conclusion of everyones thoughts in this thread: "Any 2011 CPU (except bulldozer) will do just fine.

 

[AtenRa]

I would get them the A6-3670K + 120/128GB SSD

 

[Phynaz]

Yeah, blow money on an SSD for email and web browsing.

Oh, and Facebook games.

 

[pauldun170]

For an older couple that will use the pc for web and MAYBE some apps
I3-2100 - sips electricity, runs cool 4 virtual cores + 3.1ghz more than enough for everyday use. HD2000 is more than enough to handle "old people" needs.
H61 or H67 board with quality components. I'd find something with USB3 and 6gb.
Quality 80+ PSU. I like the Antec Earthwatts 380 but any quality PSU in that bracket is a must.

What about the monitor? Older eyes have special needs. A 23inch widescreen monitor at 1920x1200 SUCKS for old eyes. Make sure what ever monitor you get looks decent at lower resolutions.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I have an Aunt who is an account who asked me to build a new system for her a couple months ago. At the time I used the Intel® Core™ i5-2300 along with the Intel HD 2000 Graphics and she couldnt be happier with the performance. So you can go with a Intel Core i3-2100 and a h61 or h67 chipset based board and get a very nice system.

 

[AtenRa]

Yeah, blow money on an SSD for email and web browsing.

Oh, and Facebook games.

So, a $225.00 Core i5 2500K will be perfect for those tasks ???

The bottleneck is in the HDD not the CPU this days

 

[sm625]

Dont laugh. An ssd makes a world of difference for this type of user. Try working with a 4 year old quad core machine with a 320GB HDD loaded 3/4 full of crap and fragmented to all hell. Talk about slow as dirt.

They download a bunch of toolbars and virus scanners and god knows what, and they never clean their system. So it will get bogged down with disk accesses and threads running constantly at 100% of a cpu. I was just visiting with a family member who a single cpu core pegged at 100% for months because of a malicious toolbar. lol. It will happen. So the actual cpu core speed isnt that important. Having 4 cores is important, preferably as low power as possible. (Just not atom-low.)

As facebook type games get more and more demanding, the iGPU in a sandy bridge will become the choke point in a system, even for the very casual user. I would settle for nothing less than llano A8, if you want it to last "forever". 4 stars cores should still be ok 5 years from now, maybe. They arent clocked very high which is unfortunate. Really, the best thing to do is wait for ivy since its igpu should be enough for "farmville 2016".

 

[richierich1212]

Llano sips electricity while web browsing as well, and is a quad-core which will help in the future. It also has a decent GPU. I'm a computer hobbyist and my A6-3650 is just as capable for my needs even though it's not as fast as my 2600K. sm625 hit it on the head, llano is perfect for them.

 

[Mopetar]

Yeah, blow money on an SSD for email and web browsing.

Oh, and Facebook games.

I'd be tempted to do it just for the faster boots and application loading, but it's not necessary.

 

[Hubb1e]

My parents run a Sempron single core 140 at 2.7ghz with 4200 graphics and I feel like it is more than enough for another 5 years. (If they need it I do have several other retired Athlon II CUPs to drop in but they seem fine on the single core). Remember that mobile is taking off and websites and applications will target ARM cpu performance. In 5 years many of you will probably be running your phones tethered to an external monitor and keyboard for your web browsing. I don't see apps in the next 10 years getting any more demanding than they are now.

Any core i3 would do fine. For most tasks they are going to perform, it's the single threaded performance that counts the most. I don't think quad core is required and certainly HD2000 graphics are sufficient. They are doing only 2D workloads and for that even Intel 945 graphics works fine in my old boxes.

The only mainstream app they can use that would use more than 2 cores is transcoding video, so unless they are youtube users, or like to edit video of their grandkids, the i3 will be fast enough for another 10 years. If you really just want a quad, skip the K version and get the cheapest i5 you can find.

 

[blckgrffn]

+1 for the SSD crowd, especially as they don't likely need much space and if you shop smart you can get a 128GB for nearly what a nice rotational drive costs.

My Grandma's XP box is constantly hitting the HD (40GB 7200RPM IDE), and I don't know why... so slow. Could it be the Athlon 2200+? I plan getting her onto a H61/G620/64GB SSD soon, along with a more secure OS. I am sure G-MA is firing a High Orbit Ion Cannon without knowing a thing about it. Or worse.

I would save the money too, go A8 given the two options you have listed. I am not a fan of the current APUs on the desktop, but in this case it sounds like the way to go. The A75 (I think? The nicer one...) boards seem to have a lot of great features, especially when compared to the cheaper LGA1155 boards south of the Z68.

Just be sure to put ~$5 back into getting them nicer (DDR3 1600) memory and you should be set. If it is a forever machine you might as well go 8GB as well.

Between expanding the memory and getting an SSD, I think going with the cheaper CPU is going to really help you keep the overall system cost palatable for the non-enthusiast.

 

[pauldun170]

Dell with i3-530 + 4gb ram purchased early last year for in-laws
Dell with AMD Athlon II X2 240 + 4gb ram purchased 2 years ago for my parents
Bought em both on sale for under $400 a pop.

Both systems run just fine and will likely continue to run well for years to come.
SM625's post is correct about the junk that ends up on a PC and its impact.
The solution is not to toss in more power.
The solution is to reinforce "Mom...stop clicking yes to everything that pops up" and make sure a backup\restore solution is in place.

I would go so far to say screw building them a PC...just buy them the cheapest Mac you can find. If that's blows the budget, then just buy off the shelf ensuring that the PSU is standard ATX style.

+1 on Hubbl1e's post.

 

[sm625]

In 5 years many of you will probably be running your phones tethered to an external monitor and keyboard for your web browsing.

God what an awful thought. The last thing I want to do is relive that windows 98 type horror where I am typing in this box and then all the sudden the browser crashes and it doesnt even frickin tell me why. I go on these forums to talk about my browser crashing and how unacceptable it is that it doesnt even say what went wrong. And for that I get an infraction because god forbid there be any discussion of any problems with apple devices...

 

[blckgrffn]

God what an awful thought. The last thing I want to do is relive that windows 98 type horror where I am typing in this box and then all the sudden the browser crashes and it doesnt even frickin tell me why. I go on these forums to talk about my browser crashing and how unacceptable it is that it doesnt even say what went wrong. And for that I get an infraction because god forbid there be any discussion of any problems with apple devices...

Ha! Did that actually happen here?

 

[Phynaz]

So, a $225.00 Core i5 2500K will be perfect for those tasks ???

Where did I say that?

Oh, wait, I didn't.