Intel Pentium G2120 vs. AMD Athlon X4 750K

[cbn]

Some gaming tests I found from the following thread (and the link contained within it):

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2305741

(released November 2011)

(released September 2012)

(Released March 2009, but from what I remember scales nicely with quad core)

(Released September 2010)

i3-3220 (3.3 Ghz Ivy bridge based dual core with HT) does well against the AMD Athlon x4 750K quad core.

 

[cbn]

Not sure if i see the point in a x4 750k for fm2,as a fm2 build should honestly be paired with a apu imho like a 5400k or a 6800k or the like.

Comparing the 6800K ($149.99 on newegg) to Athlon x4 750K ($85 on newegg) and HD7770 ($80 AR on newegg) we get a difference of $15.

But after figuring in memory prices the gap either narrows or is completely eliminated. (re: Athlon x4 750K can use the slowest cheapest memory kit, while the 6800K benefits from faster more expensive RAM)

So for basically the same total price a person buying x4 750K can afford a much faster GPU in the HD7770 while getting two free games (Far Cry 3 and Blood dragon) in the process.

Someone might even make the argument overclocking the x4 750K CPU would be easier since the stock heatsink no longer has to cool an iGPU. In addition, It *might* be the VRMS on a motherboard with iGPU-less processor (such as x4 750K) receive less stress compared to the equivalent cpu overclock on an APU.

With that said, maybe some of the above advantage is negated by the fact the 6800K cpu cores are Richland based (ie, more efficient) compared to the Trinity based cores of the x4 750K.

 

[inf64]

APU means less power and less noise, that's why it costs the same as Athlon+discrete . Not everyone is after pure performance.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Comparing the 6800K ($149.99 on newegg) to Athlon x4 750K ($85 on newegg) and HD7770 ($80 AR on newegg) we get a difference of $15.

But after figuring in memory prices the gap either narrows or is completely eliminated. (re: Athlon x4 750K can use the slowest cheapest memory kit, while the 6800K benefits from faster more expensive RAM)

So for basically the same total price a person buying x4 750K can afford a much faster GPU in the HD7770 while getting two free games (Far Cry 3 and Blood dragon) in the process.

Someone might even make the argument overclocking the x4 750K CPU would be easier since the stock heatsink no longer has to cool an iGPU. In addition, It *might* be the VRMS on a motherboard with iGPU-less processor (such as x4 750K) receive less stress compared to the equivalent cpu overclock on an APU.

With that said, maybe some of the above advantage is negated by the fact the 6800K cpu cores are Richland based (ie, more efficient) compared to the Trinity based cores of the x4 750K.

Made somewhat of a typo when i typed in 6800k,i meant something more along the lines of like a 5600k or 5800k,the 6800k in itself like you said would be a bad purchase as a x4 750k and a 7770 would get more milage for the buck.

Don't see anything appealing about the 6800k at $150,there is many better options of cpus and gpus you can combine for better overall gaming performance.

 

[cbn]

Made somewhat of a typo when i typed in 6800k,i meant something more along the lines of like a 5600k or 5800k,the 6800k in itself like you said would be a bad purchase as a x4 750k and a 7770 would get more milage for the buck.

Don't see anything appealing about the 6800k at $150,there is many better options of cpus and gpus you can combine for better overall gaming performance.

The 5800k is $130 and it includes Blood Dragon but not Far Cry 3 (I didn't know about the free game till I found the link below)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113280

In fact, after clicking on this newegg promo link the 6800K also includes Blood Dragon but not Far Cry 3. (also news to me.)

Still I am not sure if even the 5800K is worth it? The x4 750K and HD7770 is only about $20 more (after factoring in memory prices) and includes an extra game (Far Cry 3) not included in the Never Settle APU bundles.

 

[skipsneeky2]

The 5800k is $130 and it includes Blood Dragon but not Far Cry 3 (I didn't know about the free game till I found the link below)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113280

In fact, after clicking on this newegg promo link the 6800K also includes Blood Dragon but not Far Cry 3. (also news to me.)

Still I am not sure if even the 5800K is worth it? The x4 750K and HD7770 is only about $20 more (after factoring in memory prices) and includes an extra game (Far Cry 3) not included in the Never Settle APU bundles.

x4 750k and the 7770 to me is worth the extra $20 all day long,no question about it.

 

[AtenRa]

A few things,

Athlon 750K = 3.5GHz base
A10-6800K = 4.1GHz base

That means for people that DONT OC the A10 will be much faster

Athlon 750K + HD7770 = 150W+ TDP + more noise from the GPU
A10-6800K = 100W TDP less noise

A10 can be installed in slim Mini-iTX cases, Athlon + HD7770 cannot

Also, you can always put a dGPU later on if you need more performance.

but,
If you OC and you really want the highest performance/$ for gaming then the Athlon 750K + HD7770 is the winner.

 

[Arkaign]

7770 is ludicrously faster in gaming. I mean it's absolutely a staggering gap.

The A10 is the best IGP (by FAR really when you consider driver quality), but it's still relatively horrible unless you're running really low res with mediocre details, and even then it's meh.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-6700-a10-6800k-richland-review,3528-6.html

^^ A10 loses to a freaking DDR3 6670!!!!!

To give an idea, the 7770 (non-Ghz!) GDDR5 card is literally more than twice as fast as the 6670 DDR3.

Any gamer would be massively better served by the 7770, so much so that's it's just ridiculously huge.

EDIT : Also, in the A10 review above, they're using EXPENSIVE DDR3-2133 memory, and it STILL is a slug. Getting that ram would drive the price of the A10 setup to the same price or higher than the 7770 combo setup. Going with regular 1333 or even 1600 ram would result in even worse performance.

Really there are only two times that I think Llano/Richland should be on the table :

Cheap laptops and cheap HTPCs. For desktop gaming they're the worst thing imaginable.

 

[seitur]

Agreed with above.

750K + 7770 combo should be really nice. Much better than A10.

 

[AtenRa]

The A10 is the best IGP (by FAR really when you consider driver quality), but it's still relatively horrible unless you're running really low res with mediocre details, and even then it's meh.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-6700-a10-6800k-richland-review,3528-6.html

From your own link,

F1 2012 @ 1080p
http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/N/387527/original/F1-2012.png

Skyrim @ 1080p
http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/U/387534/original/Skyrim.png

Also, have a look at my review(link bellow), A10-6800K can game at 1080p in a lot of games.

^^ A10 loses to a freaking DDR3 6670!!!!!

Again from your link the A10-6800K with 2133MHz memory is faster than HD6670 DDR3. Not only that, its even faster than Core i3 + HD6670.

EDIT : Also, in the A10 review above, they're using EXPENSIVE DDR3-2133 memory, and it STILL is a slug. Getting that ram would drive the price of the A10 setup to the same price or higher than the 7770 combo setup. Going with regular 1333 or even 1600 ram would result in even worse performance.

2x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz = $56,99 (newegg)

2x 4GB DDR3 2133MHz = $64,99 (newegg)

Price difference = $8.00 :whiste:

Really there are only two times that I think Llano/Richland should be on the table :

Cheap laptops and cheap HTPCs. For desktop gaming they're the worst thing imaginable.

Can you put the Athlon + HD7770 inside a slim Mini-iTX case ??? No,
Also as i have said before, CPU + dGPU = louder + more power consumption. A10-6800K also has higher OC headroom than Athlon 750K and can be paired with any dGPU as well.

Its all about what you want to build and at what price. There are times that Athlon + HD7770 is the better choice and times when A10-6800K is better.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I would have a field day buying a celeron g1610,pairing it with a gt630,hook up my 5:4 1280x1024 monitor and build a retro pre 2006 game box/htpc.:biggrin:

Already been done, except I'm using a GT640. Its pretty fun playing old games on a 42" 1080p TV... :biggrin:

 

[littlebluesmurf]

7770 is ludicrously faster in gaming. I mean it's absolutely a staggering gap.

The A10 is the best IGP (by FAR really when you consider driver quality), but it's still relatively horrible unless you're running really low res with mediocre details, and even then it's meh.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-6700-a10-6800k-richland-review,3528-6.html

^^ A10 loses to a freaking DDR3 6670!!!!!

To give an idea, the 7770 (non-Ghz!) GDDR5 card is literally more than twice as fast as the 6670 DDR3.

Any gamer would be massively better served by the 7770, so much so that's it's just ridiculously huge.

EDIT : Also, in the A10 review above, they're using EXPENSIVE DDR3-2133 memory, and it STILL is a slug. Getting that ram would drive the price of the A10 setup to the same price or higher than the 7770 combo setup. Going with regular 1333 or even 1600 ram would result in even worse performance.

Really there are only two times that I think Llano/Richland should be on the table :

Cheap laptops and cheap HTPCs. For desktop gaming they're the worst thing imaginable.

Did you read the review or just cherry pick a benchmark? From the conclusion of that review "complemented by 2133 MT/s memory, the A10-6800K manages to elbow past the same processor with a discrete Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 installed. That's what we consider an entry-level gaming card, so the APU's achievement is a significant one."

DDR3-2133 is about £10 more than DDR3-1333 here in the UK, not exactly going to drive the price up to the same amount as a 7770 combo set up.

Even more when you consider a 7770 is only around £35 cheaper on it's own than a A10 6800k. £35 buys you an Intel Celeron :whiste:.

Back to the 750k, the 760k comes with a higher stock clock speed which has a 3.8ghz base clock and 4.1ghz turbo. They are only around £5 more in the UK at least than a 750k. Not too bad for a cheap quad, should put you around the same performance as a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/675?vs=49

 

[skipsneeky2]

Already been done, except I'm using a GT640. Its pretty fun playing old games on a 42" 1080p TV... :biggrin:

My oldest game i play occasionally is UT99,sometimes a little Q3A and BF1942 and these games really have no 16:10 support out of the box so using my 24'' u2412m is sorta funky with these games so i hook up my 17'' 1280x1024 occasionally.

Might look into some sort of multi monitor configuration where if possible i can play certain games by choice on the 17'' and the newer ones on my 24''.

 

[Arkaign]

Did you read the review or just cherry pick a benchmark? From the conclusion of that review "complemented by 2133 MT/s memory, the A10-6800K manages to elbow past the same processor with a discrete Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 installed. That's what we consider an entry-level gaming card, so the APU's achievement is a significant one."

DDR3-2133 is about £10 more than DDR3-1333 here in the UK, not exactly going to drive the price up to the same amount as a 7770 combo set up.

Even more when you consider a 7770 is only around £35 cheaper on it's own than a A10 6800k. £35 buys you an Intel Celeron :whiste:.

Back to the 750k, the 760k comes with a higher stock clock speed which has a 3.8ghz base clock and 4.1ghz turbo. They are only around £5 more in the UK at least than a 750k. Not too bad for a cheap quad, should put you around the same performance as a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/675?vs=49

The only way the 6800K edges past the DDR3 6670 (a horrendously slow card to begin with), is with the DDR3-2133 memory.

It's just a horrendous value. I'll give an example.

These are the cheapest prices possible from newegg at the moment.

For an ITX A10-6800K build with case/psu/mobo/2133 ram, the total is $344.96

For a mATX A10-6800k build with case/psu/mobo/2133 ram, the total is $286.96

For a mATX X4-750K build with case/psu/mobo/1600 ram, the total is $315.95 (THIS PRICE INCLUDES A 1GB 7850!!!!!)

The X4 + 7850 will utterly destroy the A10-6800K in gaming. Absolutely demolish it to such a degree that it's almost inconceivable.

After all :

A10-6800K is roughly equal to a DDR3-6670 discrete card in GPU prowess. Slightly slower with 1866 ram, slightly faster with 2133 ram. And a 6670 DDR3 is REALLY BAD for gaming. Only paired with a 1366x768 display does it make any sense at all.

Now prices in the UK might be less ideal. But the fact remains that in the US, the 6800K is just awful value. No gamer with any amount of sanity would choose A10 vs. well, almost anything with a 7850.

Even IF you whine about the X4 + 7850 being slightly more expensive than the A10 mATX build, you could drop the 7850 to a 7750 DDR5 card and come in CHEAPER than the A10 mATX build, while still being hugely faster.

As for MiniITX, at the prices they want, it's a bit ludicrous.

 

[Arkaign]

Also in case someone doubts the pricing on the 7850 combo :

"Newegg has the PowerColor AX7850 1GBD5-DH AMD Radeon HD 7850 1GB GDDR5 HDCP PCI-E Video Card for a low $99.99 Free Shipping rebate and Coupon Code: "AFFW85VGA" (Exp SOon). Tax in CA, NJ, TN. This is $30 less than elsewhere and the lowest price we've seen. [Compare Prices]"

Price activation from techbargains.com

There are almost always deals of this nature around, 7770s for $75-80, 7850s for $100-$110, etc.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

My oldest game i play occasionally is UT99,sometimes a little Q3A and BF1942 and these games really have no 16:10 support out of the box so using my 24'' u2412m is sorta funky with these games so i hook up my 17'' 1280x1024 occasionally.

Might look into some sort of multi monitor configuration where if possible i can play certain games by choice on the 17'' and the newer ones on my 24''.

What? Don't you have an option on 2412 to keep the aspect ratio. So that if you run a game in 4:3 it will display black bars left and right. I could swear I have seen it on the 2412, but then again it might have been a different monitor... :hmm:

Everything works just fine here, even in 4:3.

 

[NTMBK]

Yup, the 750k is stupidly good value. I always used to recommend the 5800k, but the 750k totally blows it out of the water. It's a CPU that can go toe to toe with the i3, at Pentium prices.

(BTW, the 5800k is better value than the 6800k.)

 

[Arkaign]

Yup, the 750k is stupidly good value. I always used to recommend the 5800k, but the 750k totally blows it out of the water. It's a CPU that can go toe to toe with the i3, at Pentium prices.

(BTW, the 5800k is better value than the 6800k.)

Heck yeah.

For an HTPC non-gaming, the lower tier APUs make sense to me.

For anyone wanting to play games on a desktop beyond candy crush saga, I can't understand them. 750k + any discrete GPU better than a 6670DDR3 card = better. And once you get into 7750/7770/7850 land, you're talking the difference between bleh 1366x768 and nice 1080p gaming.

 

[Durp]

Yeah when you do the math and realize just how much faster a 7850 is when compared to the 6800K's IGP it just looks like a foolish product for gamers which is what this product is marketed towards. You didn't even need to go to another company either.... AMD's own dedicated gpu is making their apu look stupid.

But to be fair, AMD's current dedicated gpu prices are just insanely good and that is making their apus value look worse than normal. Seeing a $200 7950 and $100 7850 for new cards from newegg is nuts.

 

[AtenRa]

The only way the 6800K edges past the DDR3 6670 (a horrendously slow card to begin with), is with the DDR3-2133 memory.

It's just a horrendous value. I'll give an example.

These are the cheapest prices possible from newegg at the moment.

For an ITX A10-6800K build with case/psu/mobo/2133 ram, the total is $344.96

For a mATX A10-6800k build with case/psu/mobo/2133 ram, the total is $286.96

For a mATX X4-750K build with case/psu/mobo/1600 ram, the total is $315.95 (THIS PRICE INCLUDES A 1GB 7850!!!!!)

The X4 + 7850 will utterly destroy the A10-6800K in gaming. Absolutely demolish it to such a degree that it's almost inconceivable.

After all :

A10-6800K is roughly equal to a DDR3-6670 discrete card in GPU prowess. Slightly slower with 1866 ram, slightly faster with 2133 ram. And a 6670 DDR3 is REALLY BAD for gaming. Only paired with a 1366x768 display does it make any sense at all.

Now prices in the UK might be less ideal. But the fact remains that in the US, the 6800K is just awful value. No gamer with any amount of sanity would choose A10 vs. well, almost anything with a 7850.

Even IF you whine about the X4 + 7850 being slightly more expensive than the A10 mATX build, you could drop the 7850 to a 7750 DDR5 card and come in CHEAPER than the A10 mATX build, while still being hugely faster.

As for MiniITX, at the prices they want, it's a bit ludicrous.

I dont know how you managed to make the setup with the HD7850 but from what i see on newegg there is no way to have the HD7850 with Athlon 750K at the same price (or even lower ???) as A10-6800K (keeping the same Case, PSU and Mobo)

From Newegg,

Case Mini ATX Cougar + Silverstone 500W 80plus + ASUS F2A85M + 8GB DDR3 2133MHz + A10-5800K

Total = $374,95

Case Mini ATX Cougar + Silverstone 500W 80plus + ASUS F2A85M + 8GB DDR3 2133MHz + A10-6800K

Total = $394,95

Case Mini ATX Cougar + Silverstone 500W 80plus + ASUS F2A85M + 8GB DDR3 1333MHz + Athlon 750K + HD7730

Total = $396,94

Case Mini ATX Cougar + Silverstone 500W 80plus + ASUS F2A85M + 8GB DDR3 1333MHz + Athlon 750K + HD7750

Total = $411,94

A10-5800K to Athlon 750K + HD7750 = + $36,99

It may seem little to you and me, but for a person on a budget its HUGE amount.

 

[Arkaign]

Yes, because the gap in price between the 6800 and 750 is $65, and a memory price difference of $15 (use this ram instead : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313377, makes no difference as a single stick when not using IGP), you have a gap of $80 to work with.

$80 will buy a 7750, or $100 will buy a 7850 1GB using the link I posted above. Here they are again :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102969

^^ $79 7750 on newegg

Newegg has the PowerColor AX7850 1GBD5-DH AMD Radeon HD 7850 1GB GDDR5 HDCP PCI-E Video Card for a low $99.99 Free Shipping rebate and Coupon Code: "AFFW85VGA" (Exp SOon). Tax in CA, NJ, TN. This is $30 less than elsewhere and the lowest price we've seen. [Compare Prices]

^^ $99 7850 on newegg via techbargains.com coupon

If a gamer can't spare $20 to get 2-3x better gaming capability, I don't know what to say. Even at the same price with ZERO extra $$, the 750k + 7750 is just flat out a better gaming setup period. And those are not loud at all, you can barely hear them running even with your ear to the case.

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah when you do the math and realize just how much faster a 7850 is when compared to the 6800K's IGP it just looks like a foolish product for gamers which is what this product is marketed towards. You didn't even need to go to another company either.... AMD's own dedicated gpu is making their apu look stupid.

But to be fair, AMD's current dedicated gpu prices are just insanely good and that is making their apus value look worse than normal. Seeing a $200 7950 and $100 7850 for new cards from newegg is nuts.

totally. I'm not anti-AMD by any stretch, at this level and in many many cases they simply have the best $/perf and very well done products.

But APU on a desktop for a gamer is a non-starter right now. For budget laptop, yes. For budget HTPC, yes. For budget desktop gaming? Horrible value, horrible performance.

 

[SiliconWars]

This happens all the time with the APU's - they go through stages of being more and less worth the cost. It all depends on how cheaply you can pick up graphics cards - clearly now that AMD is about to launch their new cards, they are getting rid of their old ones cheaply.

Right now is not the best time to buy an APU in terms of fps for value. They aren't normally the best for value anyway (if you check the price/perf of low end GPU's you will see this is quite normal as there is a base limit to how cheap they are). Compare a 5800K to an i3 and GT 630/640 and it's phenomenal value though.

Note it also depends on what you play. Looking through my list of Steam games, the hardest on hardware is probably Witcher 2...which I haven't even installed. Most of the games are older stuff or indie stuff that would run fine on any APU, and I actually think that the average game these days is easier on hardware than ever - it's only the really cutting edge stuff that runs somewhat poorly on an APU.

 

[Madpacket]

The last 5 or 6 computers I've built for F&F have been APU's. I think you guys are missing the point of them comparing to them to 750K's + discreet video cards. APU's are not meant to compete with discreet graphics cards, they're meant for people who use their computers for media playback, light encoding, surfing, Netflix, Skype etc.

APU's simply offer the added bonus of being able to play the odd game of WoW, Skyrim or the ever increasing flood of Indy games once in a while. Older games work great as well.

These comparisons are silly. If you're spending more than 10-15% of your computer time to play demanding video games, get a quad core or i3 w/hyperthreading and add an adequate discreet card (7750 or above).

The main reason I usually end up building APU systems is they are cheap, they use less power so they're a good fit in mini ITX or low profile Micro ATX cases. Also having a video card in a system means yet another component that can fail. Reliability is important.

 

[Arkaign]

Mad, that's exactly the point I was trying to make Thank you!

In this case, the OP has mentioned in several posts gaming being a concern. He noted Skyrim, and also Far Cry 3 as a pack-in that excites him. I think we can safely say he is a gamer, and one that would like to be able to play AAA titles at reasonable performance levels and details, without breaking the bank.

For the uses you describe, APUs are wonderful. In fact, they're an amazing value for the lower tier models that match up with purposes that don't include 1080p gaming/etc. Even an A4 will do 1080p bluray/MKV/Netflix/Hulu/etc nicely, and for that it's a much more elegant solution than dealing with a discrete card that would simply be wasted anyway.