is the i3-8100 or R3 1200 a minimum spec for new builds?

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
9,990
126
Just wondering what your opinion is of the minimum spec for a build, from late Oct. 2017, onwards.

G4560 is in short supply, but now Intel is re-branding it "Pentium Gold", so possibly the supply may be increasing?

But is a 2C/4T CPU too weak these days? Especially considering that the recent-released Coffee Lake i3-8100 is a fine 4C/4T CPU, for $120 list, that matches up pretty-much with a previous-gen i5-7500 / 7600 CPU, which used to cost over $200.

If there were availability of cheaper / lower-end chipset motherboards, for this locked CPU, then I think that it would become the de-facto standard for new generic everyday builds. It would even be decent if not great for the basis for a budget gaming build.
 

BSim500

Golden Member
Jun 5, 2013
1,480
216
106
But is a 2C/4T CPU too weak these days?
Too weak for what? AAA gaming? A 4C pretty much is the new minimum. As a web / office / media box, it's fine. As mentioned previously, it's an "enthusiast goalpost moving thing" to pigeon-hole low-requirement users into next tier's up after personally upgrading to the latest CPU, regardless of the users actual requirements which quite often for non-AAA gamers, are relatively static. Personally, I would get an i3-8100 + H310 / B360 over a Pentium G4560 for a few extra bucks, but given how most PC's sold are laptops with 15w 2.0-3.0GHz 2C/4T CPU's that run day to day stuff just fine (after an SSD upgrade), it's all down to the user's needs.
 
Last edited:

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
9,990
126
But, I don't think any gamer should purchase a dual core hyperthreaded CPU today - I think it will become obsolete too fast. Even if you can play games with it today, it will become obsolete too quickly.

With quad cores becoming a lot cheaper now thanks to Ryzen 3 and Coffee Lake, I think the minimum number of cores a gamer should buy is 4. Absolute minimum.
.
 

LostPassword

Member
Dec 2, 2007
197
1
81
8100 if you're going apu route (don't overclock route). those motherboards are still too high though. i just abought an asrock ab350m pro4 board for $53 after rebate. cheapest z370 board is $110, thats almost a $60 price difference. you can use that $60 to get a ryzen 1400. gotta wait till 2018 to see those cheap coffee lake boards.
 

nathanddrews

Graphics Cards, CPU Moderator
Aug 9, 2016
965
534
136
www.youtube.com
I don't think that the i3-8100 can't be considered as being in the same league, price-wise, as the 1200. With a $60-70 price difference between what you can buy right now (assuming the i3-8100 was MSRP and not marked up $40), that's a lot of GPU you can buy for gaming. That's a quality NVME SSD vs budget SATA SSD. That's a game or two or a decent headset.
 

mohit9206

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2013
1,381
511
136
I don't think that the i3-8100 can't be considered as being in the same league, price-wise, as the 1200. With a $60-70 price difference between what you can buy right now (assuming the i3-8100 was MSRP and not marked up $40), that's a lot of GPU you can buy for gaming. That's a quality NVME SSD vs budget SATA SSD. That's a game or two or a decent headset.
You mean due to the difference in Motherboard price? That's true i3-8100 is a bad buy until those H series boards come out for under $80.
Am planning for ryzen 1200 +B350 +1050Ti build soon as my Sandy Bridge pc is coughing up blood.
H series boards won't be out for another 4-6 months so its not feasible to build an i3 - 8100 build.
But the worst problem is the ram prices. I feel ram prices are being artificially being inflated for increased profit margins. Building a budget pc has become much more expensive due to ram price gouging.
 

SPBHM

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2012
5,056
409
126
you can buy the 1200+A320 board + a GT 1030 for the same money as the 8100 + z370
the problem is the motherboard is very limited and if you are not gaming I don't think the card really adds much compared to the IGP, but for gaming that's a big win.
 

Ancalagon44

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2010
3,274
202
106
you can buy the 1200+A320 board + a GT 1030 for the same money as the 8100 + z370
the problem is the motherboard is very limited and if you are not gaming I don't think the card really adds much compared to the IGP, but for gaming that's a big win.

A320 boards can't overclock which I think means you lose the best ability of the R3 1200 - to a budget gamer.

What I mean is that, a budget gamer can gain a substantial amount of performance by overclocking, and this is not possible with an A320 board.
 

XavierMace

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2013
4,307
450
126
A320 boards can't overclock which I think means you lose the best ability of the R3 1200 - to a budget gamer.

What I mean is that, a budget gamer can gain a substantial amount of performance by overclocking, and this is not possible with an A320 board.

I think people drastically overestimate how many people overclock these days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: whm1974 and Zstream

epsilon84

Golden Member
Aug 29, 2010
1,142
927
136
Look I don't overclock, I'm just saying that, if I were a budget gamer, I think I would like the ability.
The low clockspeed of the R3 1200 makes it somewhat of a liability in a gaming build if you don't overclock, it wouldn't be much faster (maybe even slower depending on the game) than a Pentium G4600 or whatever Intel calls them these days.
 

SPBHM

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2012
5,056
409
126
The low clockspeed of the R3 1200 makes it somewhat of a liability in a gaming build if you don't overclock, it wouldn't be much faster (maybe even slower depending on the game) than a Pentium G4600 or whatever Intel calls them these days.

in the context of gaming with a GT1030 it doesn't really change anything, but yes, it's certainly worth paying the extra for B350 if you can gain 20-25% clock easily
 

nathanddrews

Graphics Cards, CPU Moderator
Aug 9, 2016
965
534
136
www.youtube.com
You mean due to the difference in Motherboard price? That's true i3-8100 is a bad buy until those H series boards come out for under $80.
Yes, the B350 boards are so cheap right now. I mean, you can get a R3-1200 and B350 combo from Microcenter for $149 (before tax). That's rather incredible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scannall

epsilon84

Golden Member
Aug 29, 2010
1,142
927
136
in the context of gaming with a GT1030 it doesn't really change anything, but yes, it's certainly worth paying the extra for B350 if you can gain 20-25% clock easily

That is true, though I feel for anyone gaming on a GT1030 class card at 1080P. Still way better than IGP gaming but that ain't saying much... Honestly I think the super low end GPUs don't do PC gaming justice, you need to lower details drastically or run at 720P to get playable framerates in most AAA titles.

You're probably better off getting a used Radeon 7970 class card, they sell for about $70 these days and can still handle most games at 1080P with medium/high settings.
 

mohit9206

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2013
1,381
511
136
Yes, the B350 boards are so cheap right now. I mean, you can get a R3-1200 and B350 combo from Microcenter for $149 (before tax). That's rather incredible.
Yes it is. Will overclock to 3.5 easy on stock cooler as well. Now if only ram prices got cheaper ...
 
Apr 20, 2008
10,161
984
126
I believe the R3 1200 will be hitting $70 before the year is up, and moving to a sub $85 price point.
 

mohit9206

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2013
1,381
511
136
I believe the R3 1200 will be hitting $70 before the year is up, and moving to a sub $85 price point.
No it won't other than places like microcenter and the world is not micro center. We pay 20% tax over the $110 so around $135. I'd be more than happy if it reaches $120 by early next year but it won't. Ram prices are the major roadblock in build a budget pc for now.
 
Apr 20, 2008
10,161
984
126
No it won't other than places like microcenter and the world is not micro center. We pay 20% tax over the $110 so around $135. I'd be more than happy if it reaches $120 by early next year but it won't. Ram prices are the major roadblock in build a budget pc for now.
Not basing off any MC deals, as none is remotely near me. No tax state here though. Once either PR or RR nears, the 1200 demand will sharply drop. AMD isn't one to let CPUs sit like Intel. This was evident in their reseller rebates to sell BD/PD super cheap. PR is inbound in February, with a full launch in March. There's going to be a whole hell of a lot of chips to dump before January.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VirtualLarry