Budget intel build... now or wait?

[birthdaymonkey]

I'm considering upgrading an aging Athlon 64 X2 system to an i3. This computer is used for office/browsing and Starcraft 2--hence my thought to go with an intel build rather than AMD (if I'm honest, I'm a bit of an AMD fanboy), since SC2 struggles on even the best Phenom systems in large battles.

With a newegg combo deal, I can get an ASUS H55 board and an i3 550 for $225 (I'd need to buy some DDR3 too, which is of course cheap). My first instinct was to wait for the SB i3s, but they won't be overclockable and they'll be more expensive.

What should I do?

 

[Arkaign]

For the love of god, plan your sale of the old components (dual-core socket 939 stuff can bring shocking $ on ebay, am2 a lot less so) ..

and get at least a lynnfield quad (i5-750 or better iirc).

Clarkdale dual-core is not a wise buy right now if you're the type to try to keep a system for donkey's years. Looks like the current cheapest route is the SB i5-2300 3.1ghz Quad-Core for $185 (US prices, but the % increase should be similar in canada for the benefit over clarkdale i3).

The Clarkdale i3s are all overpriced imho.

 

[mnewsham]

Yes but he isnt looking for a complete new main system he just wants this as an extra for SCII only. It isnt going to be a regular use system (if i remember his first post in GH). If you want to go intel and your budge is around 200-250 then SB i3 is better then a current i3, if you can fit in an i5 more power to you, but if you are budget constrained that much then the i3 isn't "bad" IMHO

 

[ShadowVVL]

yeah i agree with arkaign, the i3 will be $119 or $129 from retailers so if the i5 is $185 you get 4 cores and more power for about $60 more.

Also check for benchmarks, sadly ananadtech has not bench marked the i5 2300 so maybe check toms hardware.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The Intel® Core™ I5 760 is a great processor to start your build around. You will find that the Core I5 760 should handle anything that Starcraft 2 can throw at it. If you match that up with a good video card and memory it should make a big difference on your playing experience.
Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[mnewsham]

The Intel® Core™ I5 760 is a great processor to start your build around. You will find that the Core I5 760 should handle anything that Starcraft 2 can throw at it. If you match that up with a good video card and memory it should make a big difference on your playing experience.
Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

Would be great but he is budget constrained to around 200 bucks, your i5-760 (a great cpu that i love) costs about that much alone.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Yes but he isnt looking for a complete new main system he just wants this as an extra for SCII only. It isnt going to be a regular use system (if i remember his first post in GH). If you want to go intel and your budge is around 200-250 then SB i3 is better then a current i3, if you can fit in an i5 more power to you, but if you are budget constrained that much then the i3 isn't "bad" IMHO

Like I said, my first instinct was to wait for the SB update. But if I get an SB i3, I'm limited to the stock speed. With the Clarkdale i3s most overclockers seem to hit 4GHz fairly easily. Would a stock SB i3 beat a 4GHz Clarkdale i3? Coupled with the "now" factor and the lower price, it's a tough decision.

 

[mnewsham]

The charts show the SB i3 beating the current i3 by a fair amount.

 

[titan131]

I would get the i3 550 and OC to 4ghz if your budget wont allow for a quad. It should be fine for SCII.

 

[titan131]

The charts show the SB i3 beating the current i3 by a fair amount.

but he cant OC SB i3

 

[mnewsham]

but he cant OC SB i3

I know, if he plans on OC'ing then i would go ahead and get the current i3 but at stock the SB i3 wins.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Thanks for all the input, folks. I would almost certainly be overclocking, although I've never OCed an intel machine before. All my experience is with AMD; I've only bought intel in laptops since my Coppermine PIII.

This benchmark from August seems to suggest that the i3 does pretty well OCed in SC2:

http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page13.html

But then this more recent Anand bench suggests that the i3 2100 is pretty durn powerful for this game:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

If I go with Clarkdale, would 4 GHz easy on an i3 550 and this board? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDe...t=Combo.592257

I've got a Scythe Big Shuriken kicking around that was more than adequate to handle my old Phenom II dualie @ 3.8GHz, so I might not even have to buy a new HSF.

What about using H55 as opposed to P55 (I want cheap and mATX, and onboard video might be nice, as this build could easily end up being recycled for HTPC duty in time)?

 

[mnewsham]

Thanks for all the input, folks. I would almost certainly be overclocking, although I've never OCed an intel machine before. All my experience is with AMD; I've only bought intel in laptops since my Coppermine PIII.

This benchmark from August seems to suggest that the i3 does pretty well OCed in SC2:

http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page13.html

But then this more recent Anand bench suggests that the i3 2100 is pretty durn powerful for this game:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

If I go with Clarkdale, would 4 GHz easy on an i3 550 and this board? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDe...t=Combo.592257

I've got a Scythe Big Shuriken kicking around that was more than adequate to handle my old Phenom II dualie @ 3.8GHz, so I might not even have to buy a new HSF.

What about using H55 as opposed to P55 (I want cheap and mATX, and onboard video might be nice, as this build could easily end up being recycled for HTPC duty in time)?

you need P55 i think for Oc'ing

 

[ShadowVVL]

A friend of mine has a gigabyte h55 running i3 530 at 3.6ghz so the h55 will oc. But the p55 is probably better for ocing.

 

[AtenRa]

Wait for the Intel Z68 chipset and pair it with an SB i3. I believe the Z68 motherboards will have On-Board PLL Clock Generators to OC in the old fashion way.

As for the OC Clarkdale i3 vs SB i3, the Clarkdale at 4GHz will be faster.

ps: Z68 boards could be IB ready

 

[titan131]

A friend of mine has a gigabyte h55 running i3 530 at 3.6ghz so the h55 will oc. But the p55 is probably better for ocing.

Overclockers and aria.co.uk both sell OC bundles of i3 OC'd to 4.2ghz on h55 motherboards. So h55 motherboards should be fine.

 

[docp]

Wait for the Intel Z68 chipset and pair it with an SB i3. I believe the Z68 motherboards will have On-Board PLL Clock Generators to OC in the old fashion way.

As for the OC Clarkdale i3 vs SB i3, the Clarkdale at 4GHz will be faster.

ps: Z68 boards could be IB ready

exactly,i would say same.
ivy bridge compatibility is also to be thought of.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Wait for the Intel Z68 chipset and pair it with an SB i3. I believe the Z68 motherboards will have On-Board PLL Clock Generators to OC in the old fashion way.

As for the OC Clarkdale i3 vs SB i3, the Clarkdale at 4GHz will be faster.

ps: Z68 boards could be IB ready

Yes, after reviewing some benchmarks, I think the best course of action would be to wait. As much as I would like to just order and be done with it, I think I'd be disappointed a few months from now. What are we, a month away from re-launch give or take?

 

[SickBeast]

OP, I was recently in the same position as you, and I went with a Phenom II. I got a combo deal for $150 which included a Phenom II 905e and a decent MSI motherboard.

The thing is, if you look at your Anandtech link, the Phenom II at 3.5ghz keeps up with the SB i3 in Starcraft 2. In all likelihood, you will hit 3.8ghz with a Phenom II, plus you can overclock the CPU-NB, which should gain you an additional 10-15%.

The current i3 is a different story, and really I would only recommend it to you if you only care about gaming performance.

I will tell you that the Phenom II takes some work to get the most out of it. I found it interesting and fun; some might find it tedious though. IMO the Phenom II is a better option overall as you get much better performance in highly threaded workloads.

 

[SickBeast]

I should also point out that my Phenom II runs Starcraft 2 beautifully. Most of the time I maintain 60fps, with it dropping into the 40's during heavy battles. I can keep it pegged at 60fps even during intense battles by turning down the physics.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I should also point out that my Phenom II runs Starcraft 2 beautifully. Most of the time I maintain 60fps, with it dropping into the 40's during heavy battles. I can keep it pegged at 60fps even during intense battles by turning down the physics.

Yes, I've got another machine in my living room that doubles as an HTPC/Starcraft 2 computer. It's got a 940BE, which I managed to OC to 3.55GHz. It runs SC2 pretty well, although my video card (6870) seems to choke a bit when there's a lot of transparency or lighting effects, which is strange considering it should be more than enough for SC2. I haven't overclocked the NB... is it as simple as turning up the clock and increasing the voltage a little, or do other components come into play as well?

I'm going to hold off on the i3 upgrade of my GF's PC for a little while. I may just end up upgrading my main rig to BD or a 2500K in a few months and move the Phenom into her system.

 

[bryanW1995]

Wait for the Intel Z68 chipset and pair it with an SB i3. I believe the Z68 motherboards will have On-Board PLL Clock Generators to OC in the old fashion way.

As for the OC Clarkdale i3 vs SB i3, the Clarkdale at 4GHz will be faster.

ps: Z68 boards could be IB ready

no, the big benefit of Z68 (other than not screwing up SATA performance) is that they can run integrated graphics but still OC a k-series cpu. we won't get old-skool overclocking from intel again until 2011 comes out.

@OP: since you're such a big amd fan, I'd wait a couple months and see what BD brings to the table, with any luck you'll be able to keep to your budget but get a modern cpu that will also OC.

 

[SickBeast]

Yes, I've got another machine in my living room that doubles as an HTPC/Starcraft 2 computer. It's got a 940BE, which I managed to OC to 3.55GHz. It runs SC2 pretty well, although my video card (6870) seems to choke a bit when there's a lot of transparency or lighting effects, which is strange considering it should be more than enough for SC2. I haven't overclocked the NB... is it as simple as turning up the clock and increasing the voltage a little, or do other components come into play as well?

I'm going to hold off on the i3 upgrade of my GF's PC for a little while. I may just end up upgrading my main rig to BD or a 2500K in a few months and move the Phenom into her system.

There should be a "CPU-NB" frequency setting or divider in your BIOS, along with a "CPU-NB voltage". I run my CPU-NB at 2400mhz, and I had to increase the CPU-NB voltage moderately.

 

[Concillian]

If I go with Clarkdale, would 4 GHz easy on an i3 550 and this board? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDe...t=Combo.592257

I've got a Scythe Big Shuriken kicking around that was more than adequate to handle my old Phenom II dualie @ 3.8GHz, so I might not even have to buy a new HSF.

What about using H55 as opposed to P55 (I want cheap and mATX, and onboard video might be nice, as this build could easily end up being recycled for HTPC duty in time)?

I have an i3-5xx OCed to over 4 GHz with very little voltage increase on an H55 board. Should be no problem.

SB is a better architecture, but with no overclocking on the i3s, the only budget route is Clarkdale. 4-4.4 GHz Clarkdale will be faster than an SB i3 stuck at stock speed.

Intel has specifically designed their SB product line to push people like us to either move up to the $200 CPU range or to AMD.

 

[Artista]

For the love of god, plan your sale of the old components (dual-core socket 939 stuff can bring shocking $ on ebay, am2 a lot less so)

Holy smokes you were right!

You can get a AM2 setup cheaper than 939!

Instead of giving my 939 Mb/cpu/memory to my GF I will sell it on ebay!

Guess she will have to get her own upgrades.:biggrin: