Question Budget gaming CPU (200GE i3-4160 G5400)

[sb1370]

Hi;
I'm going to do an upgrade this week. First of all my budget is really limited (bad economy of my country), so I'm thinking about Athlon 200GE, i3-4160 and G5400.
My main purpose for upgrade is casual gaming (single-player) and I already have a R7 250 which works well for me even for this year games. I don't really care about quality just being acceptable and a little future proof.
Unfortunately used prices aren't much different from new in where I live (I have considered them though) and also AMD processors are really hard to find and are also expensive. I also have to find a budget mobo.
From budget aspect I could find a great deal for i3-4160 with B85, but I decided to ask here to know which one is better for gaming.

In addition does AVX matter in gaming? cause G5400 doesn't support AVX.

Thanks

 

[sb1370]

Hi;
I'm going to do an upgrade this week. First of all my budget is really limited (bad economy of my country), so I'm thinking about Athlon 200GE, i3-4160 and G5400.
My main purpose for upgrade is casual gaming (single-player) and I already have a R7 250 which works well for me even for this year games. I don't really care about quality just being acceptable and a little future proof.
Unfortunately used prices aren't much different from new in where I live (I have considered them though) and also AMD processors are really hard to find and are also expensive. I also have to find a budget mobo.
From budget aspect I could find a great deal for i3-4160 with B85, but I decided to ask here to know which one is better for gaming. for 20% more I can get the G5400 with a compatible mobo.

Thanks

 

[Jimzz]

For the 2 intel CPUs you listed they use different sockets I believe. The G5400 is newer and should be a hair faster.

The AMD 200GE is a Zen1 based CPU so it is more current than the G5400. It also requires a AM4 socket.

So between those 2, 200GE and g5400, if they are similar priced go with the AMD 200GE. Get a decent B450 board and you will have a good upgrade path as well. The 200GE can be overclocked quite a bit as well, even with the factory cooler.

 

[ondma]

For the 2 intel CPUs you listed they use different sockets I believe. The G5400 is newer and should be a hair faster.

The AMD 200GE is a Zen1 based CPU so it is more current than the G5400. It also requires a AM4 socket.

So between those 2, 200GE and g5400, if they are similar priced go with the AMD 200GE. Get a decent B450 board and you will have a good upgrade path as well. The 200GE can be overclocked quite a bit as well, even with the factory cooler.

200 GE is Zen 1 and 5400 is Coffee Lake. Coffee Lake is actually a better architecture for gaming than Zen 1.
Here is a test of the 2 cpus by Anandtech. https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review
With a discrete card at stock clocks the pentium is better for gaming. OTOH the 200 GE can be overclocked and has a better upgrade path. Either is going to the lowest end for gaming. I would base the choice on price, but really, it might be better to save up for at least a quad core.

 

[Zepp]

there is a relevant review of the G5400 and 200GE https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review/21

what CPU are you currently using out of curiosity?

 

[moinmoin]

Depending on where you live the successor to Athlon 200GE, Athlon 3000G may be actually cheaper, it's also slightly faster. Both use AM4 as socket.

 

[Markfw]

200 GE is Zen 1 and 5400 is Coffee Lake. Coffee Lake is actually a better architecture for gaming than Zen 1.
Here is a test of the 2 cpus by Anandtech. https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review
With a discrete card at stock clocks the pentium is better for gaming. OTOH the 200 GE can be overclocked and has a better upgrade path. Either is going to the lowest end for gaming. I would base the choice on price, but really, it might be better to save up for at least a quad core.

But the am4 socket gives him an upgrade path. No so with the Intel ones.

 

[Jimzz]

200 GE is Zen 1 and 5400 is Coffee Lake. Coffee Lake is actually a better architecture for gaming than Zen 1.
Here is a test of the 2 cpus by Anandtech. https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review
With a discrete card at stock clocks the pentium is better for gaming. OTOH the 200 GE can be overclocked and has a better upgrade path. Either is going to the lowest end for gaming. I would base the choice on price, but really, it might be better to save up for at least a quad core.

The 200GE overclocks and performs as well or better when done so. As you can see from the review it uses less than 20 watts at default. Hence why I said it could be overclocked even with the factory cooler.

The other major part is he can have an upgrade path to at least the 3000 series and looks like maybe 4000 series AMD chips. Either one will be fine for his current GPU. But the AMD one gives him a longer upgrade path with more options. That was the deciding part in those 2.

 

[Campy]

Are you sure the 200GE can be overclocked? It was a locked processor at launch.If i recall correctly there were certain BIOSes for certain boards that allowed overclocking but I don't know if that support was expanded/continued or became official later on.

The replacement for the 200GE is the 3000G, which does officially support overclocking.

 

[Jimzz]

Are you sure the 200GE can be overclocked? It was a locked processor at launch.If i recall correctly there were certain BIOSes for certain boards that allowed overclocking but I don't know if that support was expanded/continued or became official later on.

The replacement for the 200GE is the 3000G, which does officially support overclocking.

Yea AMD said they were locked, but all the reviews showed them to be able to overclock them. Some up to 4Ghz.

The $60 CPU Question: AMD Athlon 200GE or Intel Pentium Gold G5400? A Review

www.anandtech.com

Locked AMD Athlon 200GE Overclocked to 4.05GHz With New Asus BIOS (Updated)

We've managed to overclock the un-overclockable Athlon 200GE processor to 3.8 GHz.

www.tomshardware.com

I believe most are still overclock-able. All the people I have read that bought one has overclocked them, or at least had the option.

 

[sb1370]

200 GE is Zen 1 and 5400 is Coffee Lake. Coffee Lake is actually a better architecture for gaming than Zen 1.
Here is a test of the 2 cpus by Anandtech. https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review
With a discrete card at stock clocks the pentium is better for gaming. OTOH the 200 GE can be overclocked and has a better upgrade path. Either is going to the lowest end for gaming. I would base the choice on price, but really, it might be better to save up for at least a quad core.

G5400 doesn't support AVX, does it matter for gaming?

 

[sb1370]

there is a relevant review of the G5400 and 200GE https://www.anandtech.com/show/13660/amd-athlon-200ge-vs-intel-pentium-gold-g5400-review/21

what CPU are you currently using out of curiosity?

An entry level Ivy-bridge.

 

[sb1370]

Depending on where you live the successor to Athlon 200GE, Athlon 3000G may be actually cheaper, it's also slightly faster. Both use AM4 as socket.

Unfortunately I'm not sure even can find 200GE, although I can order it from USA, but (through an agent, which with what they charge) it'll cost the same price as i3-9100.😔

 

[Jimzz]

Unfortunately I'm not sure even can find 200GE, although I can order it from USA, but (through an agent, which with what they charge) it'll cost the same price as i3-9100.😔

Where do you live if you do not mind me asking? I don;t see any info in your profile.

 

[sb1370]

Where do you live if you do not mind me asking? I don;t see any info in your profile.

It's ok, I live in Iran.

 

[Jimzz]

It's ok, I live in Iran.

Ah yea hard for us USA folks to help there then. Thought you might be in Europe somewhere and get other options.
I know there are restrictions for tech, like processors, so I see why you may have a hard time finding them.

But keep an eye out for any 200GE-300GE and 3000G CPUs and a good B450 board.

 

[sb1370]

Boards are easy to find but unfortunately I couldn't find budget AMDs in market .
It's better to buy Haswell i3 or paying 20% more and buy a coffee lake Pentium ? (considering that Pentium doesn't support AVX)