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Core i3 2120 VS. 4Ghz Phenom II

F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Hey guys,

Intel recently sent me a free Core i3-2120, so I am tempted to start my Z77 build. Ultimately I would like to purchase a 3570K as this PC is used primarily for gaming, but money is tight this time of year so $350-$400 for a Mobo, CPU and new ram is not going to happen. Would a i3-2120 game better than A Phenom II @ 4Ghz?

I mostly play Skyrim, GTA 4, Farcry 3 and BF3.

Is the i3-2120 able to overclock as well?

Here are the parts I currently have the money to purchase (up to $200)- Also, trying to keep in color scheme, big reason why I chose this mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128583

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096


I can always wait if this is a bad idea and just sell the core i3.The Phenom II does pretty good, but for games like GTA 4 and even some areas in my modded Skyrim are starting to get annoying.. frame drops

I also plan on moving the 960T over to my media server so no plans on selling that CPU.
 
I'd say the Phenom has a slight advantage overall.

Have you also overclocked the northbridge on that Phenom for a bit better performance? 2.4-2.6 ghz usually gives a little bit more.

I'd say sell the 2120 and wait for a better build.
 
Haserath said:
I'd say the Phenom has a slight advantage overall.

Have you also overclocked the northbridge on that Phenom for a bit better performance? 2.4-2.6 ghz usually gives a little bit more.

I'd say sell the 2120 and wait for a better build.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I used to have my NB overclocked to 2.6, but it will no longer take anything over 2.0. Doesn't matter what voltage I give it it, it always bluescreens. My motherboard is a cheap $60 motherboard that really suck, so that doesn't help.
 
NTMBK said:
Have you tried unlocking that 960T? You might be able to get 2 extra cores out of it.
Click to expand...

I have. No luck on this motherboard. I can get the chip to boot into Windows @ 4.3 Ghz, but no matter the voltage (up to 1.525) it will always BSOD running prime95 (Temps in the mid 50's)
 
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AtenRa said:
Core i3 has no Turbo.

You can only OC with BCLK and that will only be 2-5MHz. So, Core i3 2120 with 103MHz BCLK will OC to a staggering 3399MHz from 3300MHz 😛
Click to expand...

Ha...that's not promising. Seems like I should just wait and save up some more..
 
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Assuming that by "moving the 960T" to the server you would just be changing chips (thus ending up with an unused 60$ mobo, which by what you wrote sounds like it might be on its way out) I'd suggest selling the 2120.

Then pick up a used Sandy Bridge (yeah, I love mine) on FS/T for a nice price assuming you can find one. Couple that with a recent z77 board which fits your color scheme and have yourself an upgrade path to 3770K. I figure that this should fit the bill considering 200$ + what you get for the 2120.

Otherwise, maybe sell the 2120 and wait for Haswell. Though, unless you value integrated graphics or low power consumption, I doubt that Intel will deliver anything which could really put to shame the bang/buck of something like a used 150-170$ 2500K OC'ed to, say, 4.2.

In any case, I too vote against building around the 2120.
 
Plimogz said:
Assuming that by "moving the 960T" to the server you would just be changing chips (thus ending up with an unused 60$ mobo, which by what you wrote sounds like it might be on its way out) I'd suggest selling the 2120.

Then pick up a used Sandy Bridge (yeah, I love mine) on FS/T for a nice price assuming you can find one. Couple that with a recent z77 board which fits your color scheme and have yourself an upgrade path to 3770K. I figure that this should fit the bill considering 200$ + what you get for the 2120.

Otherwise, maybe sell the 2120 and wait for Haswell. Though, unless you value integrated graphics or low power consumption, I doubt that Intel will deliver anything which could really put to shame the bang/buck of something like a used 150-170$ 2500K OC'ed to, say, 4.2.

In any case, I too vote against building around the 2120.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. I would replace a X3 445 (Server) with the 960T. So I could sell the X3 and the Biostar mobo for $60 or something. Maybe get $100 for the i3...? I would be very happy with a 2500K - don't think I would even bother upgrading to a 3770K at that point. I will keep on the lookout for a used 2500K..
 
The I3 should offer similar performance, but the Phenom II is going to win more often than lose. I3 would have much lower power draw if that matters at all.
 
LoneNinja said:
The I3 should offer similar performance, but the Phenom II is going to win more often than lose. I3 would have much lower power draw if that matters at all.
Click to expand...

Power draw is not a big deal for me. The machine is really only used for gaming and MS office. Other than that it's off most of the time. Two iPads in the house keep my wife off of it 🙂
 
Face2Face said:
Thanks for your input. I would replace a X3 445 (Server) with the 960T. So I could sell the X3 and the Biostar mobo for $60 or something. Maybe get $100 for the i3...? I would be very happy with a 2500K - don't think I would even bother upgrading to a 3770K at that point. I will keep on the lookout for a used 2500K..
Click to expand...

What's the motherboard in the server? Could that be good enough to let you unlock cores on the 960T?
 
Sell the i3, hang on to your PII for a while longer (until haswell comes out) and you should be able to score a sweet deal on a used 2500k/3570k 2600k/3770k + Z77 board in the sell/trade forum
 
Face2Face said:
I have. No luck on this motherboard. I can get the chip to boot into Windows @ 4.3 Ghz, but no matter the voltage (up to 1.525) it will always BSOD running prime95 (Temps in the mid 50's)
Click to expand...

Why the hell would you try overclocking that chip to 4.3ghz with all six cores activated? I must be understanding something wrong. I have the same chip and it's much faster with 6 cores unlocked @ 3.5ghz than 4 cores @ 4.2ghz.

I only need 1.35vcore for six cores, so temps are lower too. You should revisit the unlocking of that chip since it's probably very capable of doing so
 
Smoove910 said:
Why the hell would you try overclocking that chip to 4.3ghz with all six cores activated? I must be understanding something wrong. I have the same chip and it's much faster with 6 cores unlocked @ 3.5ghz than 4 cores @ 4.2ghz.

I only need 1.35vcore for six cores, so temps are lower too. You should revisit the unlocking of that chip since it's probably very capable of doing so
Click to expand...

I have only 4 cores activated. I tried to unlock with this motherboard and she won't boot. So I assume the other 2 cores are not going to enable. I use this computer mostly for gaming, so I would assume that 4 cores @ 4.0 Ghz would be faster than 6 cores @ 3.5 Ghz, since most if not all of the games I play can only take advantage of 4 cores.
 
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