Intel Pentium G2120 vs. AMD Athlon X4 750K

[USER8000]

The Athlon II X4 760K is around the same speed as the A10 5800K. This means it is faster than even the Phenom II X4 850 which is a 3.3GHZ Athlon II X4:

http://techreport.com/review/23662/amd-a10-5800k-and-a8-5600k-trinity-apus-reviewed/8
http://techreport.com/review/24954/amd-a10-6800k-and-a10-6700-richland-apus-reviewed/6

In Skyrim the G2120 is faster than an A10 5800K,is around the dsame speed in Batman:Arkham City and slower in Crysis3 and BF3.

This well known German review site compiled an average for several games:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2013/08/Perf_Gaming_-pcgh.png

Half the games were strategy games which are poorly threaded and the G2120 is slower than the Athlon II X4 750K and the A10 5800K.

 

[cbn]

http://techreport.com/review/23662/amd-a10-5800k-and-a8-5600k-trinity-apus-reviewed/8

In Skyrim the G2120 is faster than an A10 5800K,is around the dsame speed in Batman:Arkham City and slower in Crysis3 and BF3.

I couldn't find Crysis 3 results in the first link (above). I did find results comparing Pentium G2120 and A10-5800K/A8-5600K (Trinity CPUs, like the Athlon x4 750K, but with faster base clocks):

Average Frame per second (Higher is better)

G2120: 78
A10-5800K: 66
a8-5600K: 64

Win Pentium!

99th percentile frame time (Lower is better)

G2120: 23.2
A10-5800K: 30.7
a8-5600K: 32.2

Win Pentium!

Time spent beyond 16.7 ms (aka time spend below 60 FPS) (Lower is better)

G2120: 2654
A10-5800K: 8592
a8-5600K: 9736

Win Pentium!

Average Frame per second (Higher is better)

G2120: 62
A10-5800K: 59
a8-5600K: 56

Win Pentium!

99th percentile frame time (Lower is better)

G2120: 30.0
A10-5800K: 30.1
A8-5600K: 31.4

Pentium just barely wins.

Time spent beyond 50 ms-- (aka time spend below 20 FPS) (Lower is better)

G2120: 95
A10-5800K: 128
a8-5600K:175

Win Pentium!

Average Frame per second (Higher is better)

G2120: 81
A10-5800K: 84
A8-5600K: 82

Minor Win Trinity CPU.

99th percentile frame time (Lower is better)

G2120: 36.0
A10-5800K: 18.5
a8-5600K: 20.1

Major Win Trinity CPUs!

Time spent beyond 16.7 ms (aka time spend below 60 FPS) (Lower is better)

G2120: 3001
A10-5800K: 156
a8-5600K: 164

Major Win Trinity CPUs!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

G2120 takes the first two games (although in the second game the result is much closer).

In the last game (Battlefield 3), the Trinity CPUs win in average frame rates by a few percent.

When comparing "99th percentile frame time" and "time spent beyond 16.7 ms" (for Battlefield 3" we see a much bigger difference.

"Time spent beyond 16.7 ms" is the total time frame rate dropped below 60 FPS. (1000 milliseconds (ie, 1 second) /60 frames = 16.7 milliseconds). Pentium G2120 certainly spends much more time below 60 FPS than the Trinity quad core cpus!

The score of 36.0 milliseconds for G2120 on "99th percentile frame time" test means 1% of the time the frame rate on the Pentium is 28 FPS or slower (1000 ms/36.0 ms per frame= 28 FPS). With that mentioned, I wonder how slow the minimum frame rates got in an absolute sense. Were there any significant outliers in the form of extreme dips? Extreme dips could make or break the game play experience more than "time spent below 60 FPS".

One more thing, according to this page, fourth paragraph down, BF3 was tested in single player mode.

My question: How would Pentium G2120 have compared to Trinity (or Richland) Quad core CPUs in Battelfield 3 64 multi-player?

 

[cbn]

http://techreport.com/review/24954/amd-a10-6800k-and-a10-6700-richland-apus-reviewed/6

In the second link you provided (above), I do see Crysis 3 results but no G2120, only Core i3-3225 vs. a10-6800K/A10-6700/A10-5800K.

 

[cbn]

This well known German review site compiled an average for several games:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2013/08/Perf_Gaming_-pcgh.png

Half the games were strategy games which are poorly threaded and the G2120 is slower than the Athlon II X4 750K and the A10 5800K.

Link is broken.

 

[cbn]

It wins in alot of games but I would still base a budget system on amd quad over any intel dual core at the moment. Everything points to games being more multi threaded and I would just stay away from duals if you can.

Yes, games will become more multi-threaded, but by that time the person with the Pentium G2120 could always upgrade to a used LGA 1155 Intel quad core.

Unfortunately the person buying socket FM2 has much more limited upgrade options.

 

[sm625]

I would go with the athlon, just for the novelty of being able to maybe hit 4GHz on stock cooling. Note that even the very fastest FX-9XXX series cpu cannot beat the G2120 in that single threaded benchmark. Seriously. (But it does get within 1% so meh) Also, if you want to record/stream and game and play videos / mp3s in the background, then you will definitely want 4 cores.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Yes, games will become more multi-threaded, but by that time the person with the Pentium G2120 could always upgrade to a used LGA 1155 Intel quad core.

Unfortunately the person buying socket FM2 has much more limited upgrade options.

In my experience, by the time, people get around to upgrading their gear, it's better to buy a new platform (some used Intel CPUs can even gain in value over time).

Certainly, not everybody is like that ^, but I thought, I'd mention that. For them, slightly worse but more complete/balanced "today", is definitely better. I'd prefer to offer a quad APU over dual Ivy any day for general use. That, and motherboard costs on the way down, it's no longer a big deal. And besides, who would want to upgrade that box, in the wake of mobile computing revolution. If you need computing power today, you are going to buy it today. Extra 20-40% will mean nothing by the time, we have 100-200% improvements.

 

[cbn]

Just for the heck of it, I decided to spec out a custom build for the AMD. (This, partly as an attempt to compare it to some of the Intel powered pre-built desktops I have looked at in the past from a large OEMs like HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc.)

Budget AMD rig for overclocking:

CPU: Athlon II x4 750K ($79.99 plus free shipping on Newegg) --> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O412AU/...xtension-kb-20
CPU cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo ($33.24 plus free shipping) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...R&tag=at055-20
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M ($74.99 plus $5.39 shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687
RAM: Team Elite 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) 1333 ($56.99 with free shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313086
GPU: MSI HD7770 with free game ($69.99 AR with free shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB ($55.06 with free shipping) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00461G3MS/?tag=pcpapi-20
Optical drive: LG DVD burner ($14.99 with free shipping after newegg promo code) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136259
Case: NXZT source 210 ($29.99 with $6.99 shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146075
PSU: Corsair CX 430M ($22.49 AR with free shipping after Newegg promo code) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139049
OS: Windows 8 64 bit System Builder ($88.90 with free shipping) http://www.amazon.com/Windows-System.../dp/B0094NY3R0

Total: $539.01 (including shipping) AR and Promo codes.

Possible downgrades:

1. Swap 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) 1333 kit (56.99 with free shipping) for a single 4 GB 1600 stick ---> Kingston Hyper X 1600 4GB DIMM ($31.99 with free shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104384

This would reduce price by $25.

2. Removing the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo would reduce price by $33.24.

3. Swapping ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M ($74.99 with $5.39 shipping) for one of the $49.99 with free shipping motherboards on Newegg ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130708 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130708.

(Not sure if the two budget mobos above are the best in the ultra budget class.I just picked them out of thin air for the sake of argument )

Using either of those two motherboards would drop price $30.39

Use all three downgrade options above and the total price of the system drops to $450.38 (including shipping) AR and promo codes.

 

[USER8000]

Yes, games will become more multi-threaded, but by that time the person with the Pentium G2120 could always upgrade to a used LGA 1155 Intel quad core.

Unfortunately the person buying socket FM2 has much more limited upgrade options.

BTW,Skyrim Online was demoed with a multi-threaded engine(used in one of the Star Wars games).

If you look at the main next generation multi-platform engines such as idTech5,Frostbite 2 and 3 and Cry Engine 3 they all use between 4 to 8 threads. UE3 already uses upto 4 threads,and UE4 will likely use upto 8 threads too,as it will form the basis of many multiplatform games.

The FM2 Athlon II X4 especially with its overclockability too will simply be more relevant as a gaming CPU longer than a Pentium dual core for a longer time. The Pentium dual core will hit issues quicker than the Athlon II X4 and in the end upgrading the CPU will be just throwing more money at the problem.

In the end you might as well go with an FX6300 or a Core i5 in the first place if you need to ditch the G2120 within a short time for a more expensive CPU.

Anyway,here is that German article:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/CPU-H...ssoren-Test-Bestenliste-AMD-und-Intel-675663/

Another one:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Core-i5-4570T-CPU-257403/Tests/Core-i5-4570T-Test-1077362/

Plenty of games NOW and in the next six months take advantage of quad cores. This argument was covered years ago with the Q6600 vs E8400 one. In the end the Q6600 despite having lower single threaded performance(even when both CPUs were overclocked to easily attainable clockspeeds),has simply lasted much longer.

Regarding BF3 and Crysis3 MP having played both on a Core i3 and a Core i5,they use 4 cores quite heavily,and I would expect the Athlon II X4 to be faster than a G2120 for such games. In MP mode they tend to push the CPU more and hence ths SP results are only exacerbated.

 

[cbn]

Anyway,here is that German article:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/CPU-H...ssoren-Test-Bestenliste-AMD-und-Intel-675663/

Another one:

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Core-i5-4570T-CPU-257403/Tests/Core-i5-4570T-Test-1077362/

From the second link (which has the individual tests found in the "Overall Index" bar graph in the first link):

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 32.7
A10-5800K: 27.8
Athlon II x4 750K: 25.4
Pentium G2120: 21.6

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 26
A10-5800K: 21
Athlon II x4 750K: 19
Pentium G2120: 15

In Anno 2070, the Athlon II x4 750K beats the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is slower than Core i3-3320.

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 64.6
A10-5800K: 68.1
Athlon II x4 750K: 63.2
Pentium G2120:45.0

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 55
A10-5800K: 60
Athlon II x4 750K: 53
Pentium G2120: 40

In Battlefield 3, the Athlon II x4 750K beats the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is faster than Core i3-3320.

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 34.6
A10-5800K:36.1
Athlon II x4 750K: 31.6
Pentium G2120: 22.1

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 27
A10-5800K: 30
Athlon II x4 750K: 23
Pentium G2120: 14

In Crysis 3, the Athlon II x4 750K beats the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is faster than Core i3-3320.

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 83.1
A10-5800K: 73.8
Athlon II x4 750K: 71.0
Pentium G2120: 41.9

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 59
A10-5800K: 55
Athlon II x4 750K: 50
Pentium G2120: 32

In Dirt Showdown, the Athlon II x4 750K beats the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is slower than Core i3-3320.

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 19.0
A10-5800K: 12.0
Athlon II x4 750K: 10.5
Pentium G2120: 18.0

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 8
A10-5800K: 7
Athlon II x4 750K: 6
Pentium G2120: 8

In Starcraft 2, the Athlon II x4 750K loses to the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is slower than Core i3-3320.

Average frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 68.8
A10-5800K: 58.1
Athlon II x4 750K: 54.1
Pentium G2120: 57.9

Minimum frame per second (Higher is better):

Core i3-3220: 52
A10-5800K: 38
Athlon II x4 750K: 33
Pentium G2120: 45

In TES 5: Skyrim, the Athlon II x4 750K loses to the Pentium G2120 in both average frames and minimum frames. The A10-5800K (which I included to possibly simulate a mildly overclocked Athlon II x4 750K) is slower than Core i3-3320.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the above tests Athlon II x4 750K beats Pentium G2120 4 out 6 times.

The A10-5800K (trinity based quad core @ 3.8 Ghz with 4.2 Ghz turbo) wins 2 out 6 of the games compared to the Core i3-3220.

 

[cbn]

The FM2 Athlon II X4 especially with its overclockability too will simply be more relevant as a gaming CPU longer than a Pentium dual core for a longer time.

I think the overclocking comparison is definitely an interesting one when we consider how closely priced equivalent set-ups are. The Athlon II x4 750K is essentially the same price as the Intel G2120 Pentium set-up when both are standardized for native USB 3.0 motherboards.

1. Pentium G2120 (3.1 Ghz dual core) $66.99 and free shipping http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093H8K1C/...xtension-kb-20
Asrock B75M-DGS ($54.99 with $4.99 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157362
Total= $126.97

2. AMD Athlon II x4 750K (Trinity based quad core, 3.4 Ghz base frequency with 4.0 Ghz turbo) $79.99 and free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O412AU/...xtension-kb-20
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33 ($49.99 plus free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130708
Total= $129.98

Here is a Core i3 (using the same Asrock mainboard) and more upscale FM2 overclocking set-up (with tower cooler) for comparison:

3. Intel Core i3-3220 (3.3 Ghz dual core with HT) 109.99 with free shipping http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093H8HXS/...xtension-kb-20
Asrock B75M-DGS ($54.99 with $4.99 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157362
Total= $169.97

AMD Athlon II x4 750K (Trinity based quad core, 3.4 Ghz base frequency with 4.0 Ghz turbo) $79.99 and free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O412AU/...xtension-kb-20
ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M FM2 ($74.99 plus $5.39 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157334
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo ($33.24 and free shipping)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...I?tag=at055-20
Total= $193.61.


NOTE: The Asrock B75M-DGS (for LGA 1155) and MSI A75MA-P33 (for FM2) were the cheapest boards I could find with native USB 3.0 and SATA III. YMMV.

 

[cbn]

Deleted.

 

[USER8000]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/piledriver-k10-cpu-overclocking,3584.html

Even with the 7% clockspeed increase of the G2120,the X4 750K is generally faster.

Moreover,regarding overclocking,you could probably do a mild overclock on stock voltage anyway,and the thing is though even socket AM2 coolers will work on FM2 motherboards. The stock 125W TDP AMD AM3+ cooler works fine on socket FM2(I know someone who has one cooling an Athlon II X4 760K),and you could probably get around Athlon II X4 760K clockspeeds IMHO.

 

[iiiankiii]

If we trust the recent review from Tom's Hardware, we can see that the 750k is overall faster than the g2120. When you add in the ability to overclock the 750k (even with the stock cooler and weak motherboard), the 750k has the ability to extend its overall lead over the g2120 for free (well, at the cost of power consumption and heat).

 

[inf64]

I use AM2+ cooler on my FM2 board . It's OCZ Vendetta2, works great as I managed 4.3Ghz on 750K. Zero added cost as I had that cooler from my AM2 Phenom days .

 

[mohit9206]

So in essence we can conclude the following points from this great thread
1.For budget gaming pc its better to go for amd 750k/760k and pair it with a cheap discrete card like 7750/7770 for best price/performance.
2.Amd APU's are only meant for those who want to build an cheap htpc with only occasional light gaming.
3.Cheap Pentiums when paired with discrete cards like 7750/7770 do make for a good budget gaming pc for now but are not viable in the long term(i fall in this category)
4.Cheap pentiums and celerons also make for a good budget htpc due to low power consumption.
5.Core i3's with discrete cards are good for gaming for now but again its better to go for amd quad or hexa if long term viability is a concern.

 

[frozentundra123456]

So in essence we can conclude the following points from this great thread
1.For budget gaming pc its better to go for amd 750k/760k and pair it with a cheap discrete card like 7750/7770 for best price/performance.
2.Amd APU's are only meant for those who want to build an cheap htpc with only occasional light gaming.
3.Cheap Pentiums when paired with discrete cards like 7750/7770 do make for a good budget gaming pc for now but are not viable in the long term(i fall in this category)
4.Cheap pentiums and celerons also make for a good budget htpc due to low power consumption.
5.Core i3's with discrete cards are good for gaming for now but again its better to go for amd quad or hexa if long term viability is a concern.

I would pretty much agree with everything except part of #5. I would not count on an amd quad being better long term than an i3. If I were looking for long term viability from amd, I would get an fx6300 or above.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So in essence we can conclude the following points from this great thread
1.For budget gaming pc its better to go for amd 750k/760k and pair it with a cheap discrete card like 7750/7770 for best price/performance.
2.Amd APU's are only meant for those who want to build an cheap htpc with only occasional light gaming.
3.Cheap Pentiums when paired with discrete cards like 7750/7770 do make for a good budget gaming pc for now but are not viable in the long term(i fall in this category)
4.Cheap pentiums and celerons also make for a good budget htpc due to low power consumption.
5.Core i3's with discrete cards are good for gaming for now but again its better to go for amd quad or hexa if long term viability is a concern.

That sums it up nicely.

I do have a little to add about point 4 and 5.

Pentium/Celerons are good enough for BASIC HTPC duty. They can playback anything, but the second you start any sort of image enhancement they quickly bog down and skip frames. They also lack Clearvideo HD, so they can't do image enhancing on blurays.

Core i3's are a bit iffy for gaming, but it comes down to specific titles. We're at the end of duals being viable for gaming.