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New CPU needed

Soarin

Soarin

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
2,489
Thinking of snagging a g3258 or g4400 and mobo.. i have a phenom II x4 955 BE currently. The problem I am having is single core performance. Wanted a new cpu, even if a low end one.., temporarily until I can afford a better i5.. which microcenter has an i5 4590 for 150.

My cpu is holding my games back I can tell. I been playing a lot of Fallout 4 modded and I am noticing, and my roommate too is noticing my problems. A friend of mine suggested the g3258 as a cheap upgrade for now, and also said the g4400 if I wanted skylake. Later on I would be getting an i5-4590 or 6500. I was thinking more of the haswell based chip because then I could get away with not having to buy new ram.

My question to you folks, do I do what my friend is saying, spend 100 for a cheap upgrade for now and get a better cpu later, or do I do what my roommate is telling me to do, wait and see what Zen will be like?
 
I say if you can't afford an i5 then you may have to wait at least till Q1 2017 before Zen delivers a low enough performing CPU for it to cost less than an i5. The first Zen processor is supposed to be an 8 core / 16 threaded CPU (which I believe will cost $350 US or more because it will compete with a 6 core / 12 threaded i7). With that said they may have some other Zen processors available in Q4 with disabled cores. A 4 core / 8 threaded Zen CPU (made by disabling 1/2 the cores of the 8 core die) could be sold at a lower price than an i5.
 
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I can afford one in a few months, just not right today. Which is why my friend said to go the pentium route for now, since I found a good deal on it and mobo. As the temp upgrade since its single core issues I am having. ANd by the way, my rig also has a r9 270 oc, which I plan on getting a rx 480
 
Thinking of snagging a g3258 or g4400 and mobo
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These are reasonable choices especially if you have a Micro center nearby. If not you may want to check the FS/FT section.
 
I don't but Bestbuy and staples will price match and I can get them fairly quick that way.

I guess my thing, is it worth it or no?
 
Hmm, I might just do it as a temp upgrade then, probably the haswell since I can reuse my ram. Thnks for the replies!
 
why not used? The FS section has people offloading i5's of older generations. You may get lucky.
 
Soarin said:
Hmm, I might just do it as a temp upgrade then, probably the haswell since I can reuse my ram. Thnks for the replies!
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Just a note, that although single thread performance will go up, depending on the workload - 4 thread performance could go down slightly - hard to find a good comparison between the two.

Are you already overclocked? Is your 955 a C2 or C3 stepping? If C3 is it the 125W or 95W version?

I'd overclock the snot out of it first. C3 stepping should be able to go to 3.5 easy, maybe 3.7 with a little voltage.

I'd at least try for the free performance upgrade before spending money. If it's still not good enough you can still go for the pentium.
 
The Core i3 6100 is the cheapest Intel CPU I'd recommend for gaming. For games that are lightly mufti-threaded (like Fallout 4), you'll see some clunky minimum frame rates with only two threads. You really need those extra threads. Otherwise your processor spends too much time with context switches, and not enough time running the game engine.

Fast single-core performance isn't all you need in some games. You need those extra threads to handle some of these more complex game engines smoothly.

Luckily, Microcenter sells the 6100 for $100, and you can get one with a motherboard for around $150.
 
Track Drew said:
Just a note, that although single thread performance will go up, depending on the workload - 4 thread performance could go down slightly - hard to find a good comparison between the two.

Are you already overclocked? Is your 955 a C2 or C3 stepping? If C3 is it the 125W or 95W version?

I'd overclock the snot out of it first. C3 stepping should be able to go to 3.5 easy, maybe 3.7 with a little voltage.

I'd at least try for the free performance upgrade before spending money. If it's still not good enough you can still go for the pentium.
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I second this. Overclock first and see if that will hold you over until you can afford to get a worthy upgrade.
 
I think it is the c3 because it is 125w, Sorry yes it is the Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition.

ANd I have been browsing the FS section for a couple weeks now, and nothing is being posted. That was the first thing I thought of, look in the FS. Not spending 150-170 on a used i5, when I can get a new one for 150
 
Just overclocked it, 202mhz fsb, x19 multiplier, 1.475v core. Getting 3.857ghz with the hyper 212+. System seems to be stable.
 
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Well, my roommate came through. After talking to the other roommates here, they let me take the i5-2500k and mobo out of the server, and swap it for mine. SYstem is running so much better now.
 
Very cool, that's the same speed as a Core i3 6100 at stock. And it can be overclocked to much higher speed.
 
Soarin said:
Thinking of snagging a g3258 or g4400 and mobo.. i have a phenom II x4 955 BE currently. The problem I am having is single core performance. Wanted a new cpu, even if a low end one.., temporarily until I can afford a better i5.. which microcenter has an i5 4590 for 150.

My cpu is holding my games back I can tell. I been playing a lot of Fallout 4 modded and I am noticing, and my roommate too is noticing my problems. A friend of mine suggested the g3258 as a cheap upgrade for now, and also said the g4400 if I wanted skylake. Later on I would be getting an i5-4590 or 6500. I was thinking more of the haswell based chip because then I could get away with not having to buy new ram.

My question to you folks, do I do what my friend is saying, spend 100 for a cheap upgrade for now and get a better cpu later, or do I do what my roommate is telling me to do, wait and see what Zen will be like?
Click to expand...

I went G3258 for precisely that reason; I called it a placeholder processor. The shock is that I haven't felt the pressure to move forward yet - despite coming FROM Q6600.

At stock (which is how I'm running my '58), it lacks some features from the stablemate i3 of the same socket (LGA1150); however, how many of those features are actually used in your everyday apps and games?

Also, there's a lot in common with the pair of Gs and the i3 - while there's no HTT, the Gs retain the Intel HD4400 iGPU - which actually supports DX12. (No - I'm not kidding; the D3D API - as reported by Windows 10's own DXDIAG, confirms it.) If you ever have the iGPU as the default, Windows 10 games that support DX12, such as the free Forza 6: Apex, will ALSO pick that up. It won't actually RUN on it, though (not enough graphical oomph); however, if you have - or are looking to add - a DX12-supporting discrete GPU, you can download the game (the cost is none) when you're ready.

If you're a developer (and especially a mobile developer) and you use Visual Studio Community (and why wouldn't you - after all, it's basically Visual Studio Professional for the masses at a cost of none), you get another feature which is carryover from the i-series - Hyper-V. Unless you actually NEED vmWare or Oracle VirtualBox (for niche uses - such as OS X or macOS-based VMs), Hyper-V has better performance and is mostly easier to use - and if you run Genymotion-based Android VMs, there is exactly ZERO migration from Genymotion to Visual Studio Emulator for Android (a free option for Visual Studio Community)); you even add Google Play to VMs the same way - literally.

Lastly, there IS that "drop and swap" upgrade curve - upgrade your CPU w2hen you both need to and can afford it - it's a straight swap.

As I said in another thread (about the selfsame '58) it's a placeholder; however, it's a scarily-capable placeholder.
 
Im actually rocking a i5 2500k right now. My roommate let me swap out our server mobo and cpu for my old gear.
 
i5 2500K is a solid CPU still. Can't say to much negative about it and it's quite an Overclocking beast. Intel is always superior route to go with and much more fluid IMO. My experiences with AMD Are quite nill from the Athlon XP days, but with the issues I experienced years ago back then I would never trade Intel for AMD.
 
You can't play F4 on a 2 thread cpu you need at least 4. So an i3 6100 should be in order. I am upgrading my system from an i3 530 to a G4500 but my games are not so severely impacted by a 2 thread cpu. I am going with the 4500 because the integrated gpu is 530 just like on the i3/i5/i7. G4400 and lower have the 510.
 
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