i3-3220 or intel quad core?

Solitude

Solitude

[H]ard|Gawd
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I am currently building a PC for my parents with one of my goals being efficiency (why im picking a platinum 80 plus PSU and intel CPU over AMD), I want something that my folks will not have to upgrade for about 5 years and still have a quality PC experience.

For them, that is just internet/e-mail/light gaming and media. (maybe flight sims for my dad)

I really want to slap in a good quad-core but if they can get by on a dual core I could spend the money elsewhere. (I really want to get them a nice monitor)

Would abandoning the efficiency goal going cheaper and less efficient route with AMD and a gold or bronze PSU have a large impact on power consumption? I don't want to run their bill up etc.
basically, amd or intel? quad or dual for parents good all-around PC. im not brand loyal or anything, just want reliable.

any input is welcomed and im thankful for.
 
An i3 would certainly outperform any Core Quad cpu. If it'll save you significant money, I'd just go with an i3. In most tasks (except certain games and video editing) I can't tell a difference between my i3 and my i7.
 
Regarding the PSU, you do NOT need Platinum 80 plus. The premiums for Platinum PSUs are extreme for very little gain:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/10/04/80_plus_irrelevant_to_you_when_buying_psu/

They will get by just fine with the dual-core i3-3220. Even if you get a video card such as the Nvidia GTX 650 or GTX 650 Ti, your energy use will be very efficient compared to previous generations of PCs. You will be using so little power that a Bronze PSU will not significantly change your power bill.
 
wow, evilsofa, thanks for the informative link. its something i never really got around to learning about.
 
For a computer for your parents, buy a pre-made oem box. They get the piece of mind of a brand name and a warranty, and you don't have to play tech support guy for ten years :)
 
artimusbill said:
For a computer for your parents, buy a pre-made oem box. They get the piece of mind of a brand name and a warranty, and you don't have to play tech support guy for ten years :)
Click to expand...

I want something upgradeable and a touch future-proof. i dont mind playing tech support :)
 
Get the I3 3225 (I think that is the model number) with HD 4000 onboard. This CPU will play Crysis at medium settings at full HD. Grab some Kingston green DDR3 1.35v RAM and a 120gb SSD. Your system should pull less than 150w from the wall under full load, but will handle any software out there.
 
I'm pretty sure I'd use a Pentium based Sandy Bridge CPU for that kind of setup, with a motherboard that has a single x16 slot for a discrete graphics card should it need one. However with Haswell right around the corner, I would wait to see what that brings to the table. Since it wont be using the 1155 socket anymore, you'll get the beginning of a new socket and thus "future" proof would be more future since it's the beginning. However, without knowing what it will bring, I can't really say but it wont hurt to wait and find out.

If you must buy now, I'd go Pentium Sandy Bridge, one of the Gxxx processors.
 
If your budget will allow I would go with the Intel® Core™ i5-3350 or step down to the Intel Core i3-3220. Both are good solid processors that should work well for your parents.
 
Get the i3... it has Hyperthreading, which can/may be an advantage over the Celeron/Pentium LGA1155 offerings, especially in the future if devs code their apps to take significant advantage of it.

For your parents day to day tasks, the system may even feel a bit more responsive, since Windows itself can utilize Hyperthreading.
 
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