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INTEL i3 vs i5 vs i7 for sc2 - Page 2

Forum Index > Tech Support
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mmx
Profile Joined October 2010
41 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 03:18:37
October 28 2010 03:15 GMT
#21
ok so for sc2 my BEST options are i3 because its duel core which is better for sc2 or amd phenom x4 955 at an 800 budget

with the i3 being better for sc2 and the amd being better for future games i may get being a physical quad core
Prophecy3
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada223 Posts
October 28 2010 03:18 GMT
#22
On October 28 2010 11:49 skyR wrote:
A physical core is always better than hyperthreading. It's been proven in benchmarks that hyperthreading can actually decrease performance in games and increase core temp.

With a $800 budget, it's best to get an AMD Phenom II X4 955 as previously suggested.



I'm def going to keep that in mind when I upgrade in the spring. Quad core for sure!
Ignorance is Bliss? Indifferance is Atrocity.
Silentness
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States2821 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 03:53:43
October 28 2010 03:52 GMT
#23
just get a AMD Phenom II X4 955/965.

SC2 utilitzes 2 cores, but I'm sure you don't use your desktop for just Starcraft 2 soley. Quad cores will work for future games and non gaming uses.
GL HF... YOLO..lololollol.
Vz0
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada378 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 04:17:45
October 28 2010 04:17 GMT
#24
i3 + mid level gfx card = sc2 @ ultra @ 1080p

(for 1v1, in 2v2 large scale wil bring u downt o 20 fps)
Traveler
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States451 Posts
October 28 2010 04:54 GMT
#25
I have an i7 and am loving it, of course it does get fairly hot, since the clock adjusts itself to the needs, it works absolutely fine for games, and allows me to multitask like crazy.
Can you ever argue in favor of something without first proving it?
theBlues
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
El Salvador638 Posts
October 28 2010 05:39 GMT
#26
wait for intel sandy bridge coming out january 2011, according to benchmarks that are out on the web the mid range processor core i5 2xxx beats the crap out of a corei7 extreme processor, so you can make a much better purchase if you wait a bit...
Change a vote, and change the world
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
October 28 2010 05:45 GMT
#27
On October 28 2010 14:39 TheBlueMeaner wrote:
wait for intel sandy bridge coming out january 2011, according to benchmarks that are out on the web the mid range processor core i5 2xxx beats the crap out of a corei7 extreme processor, so you can make a much better purchase if you wait a bit...


$800 can't even afford a p55 / core i5 750 build unless he finds some amazing deals. What makes you think a p67 / core i5 2400 will be doable with a $800 budget?
mmx
Profile Joined October 2010
41 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 05:54:58
October 28 2010 05:54 GMT
#28
yeh 800 bucks can get a nvidia geforce gtx 450 and amd phenom 2 955 or i5 proc which should run sc2 pretty solid i think

this really is looking to be as low budget as possible pure sc2 comp that runs shit well for SC2
Zerokaiser
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada885 Posts
October 28 2010 06:15 GMT
#29
On October 28 2010 12:08 Chairman Ray wrote:
If you want to save money, get phenom x4 955. If you really want an intel, go for the i3. i5 will do nothing more than the i3 if you are using your computer for sc2. i7 is pretty much out of the question for gamers.



I don't understand, are you saying the i7 is too powerful to be necessary to gamers?
Lanaia is love.
CortoMontez
Profile Joined October 2010
Australia608 Posts
October 28 2010 06:15 GMT
#30
For a balance between value and speed I would go for the i5 750, but if you really want to go all out, try and find one of the prototype i9s with 12 (6+6) cores!
"Creator was doing a really good job trying to win without storm but it was like eating spaghetti with a screwdriver." -Severian
yourwhiteshadow
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States442 Posts
October 28 2010 07:02 GMT
#31
quad core if you plan on EVER streaming. it won't even be a possibility with a dual core. hopefully the expansions get more multithreaded support.
Technical Director, Si Media Production, simediapro.com
writer22816
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States5775 Posts
October 28 2010 07:11 GMT
#32
On October 28 2010 15:15 Zerokaiser wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 28 2010 12:08 Chairman Ray wrote:
If you want to save money, get phenom x4 955. If you really want an intel, go for the i3. i5 will do nothing more than the i3 if you are using your computer for sc2. i7 is pretty much out of the question for gamers.



I don't understand, are you saying the i7 is too powerful to be necessary to gamers?


most games are GPU-intensive, not CPU intensive. I would only get an i7 if i did a lot of video encoding and other CPU-intensive tasks.
8/4/12 never forget, never forgive.
nalgene
Profile Joined October 2010
Canada2153 Posts
October 28 2010 07:12 GMT
#33
If you like editing BD/DVD or making your own encodes, extra cores always good.
Year 2500 Greater Israel ( Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen )
Cyber_Cheese
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Australia3615 Posts
October 28 2010 07:31 GMT
#34
On October 28 2010 14:45 skyR wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 28 2010 14:39 TheBlueMeaner wrote:
wait for intel sandy bridge coming out january 2011, according to benchmarks that are out on the web the mid range processor core i5 2xxx beats the crap out of a corei7 extreme processor, so you can make a much better purchase if you wait a bit...


$800 can't even afford a p55 / core i5 750 build unless he finds some amazing deals. What makes you think a p67 / core i5 2400 will be doable with a $800 budget?


the new range makes the old one outdated and therefore cheaper
The moment you lose confidence in yourself, is the moment the world loses it's confidence in you.
Winters
Profile Joined September 2010
Spain53 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 07:37:11
October 28 2010 07:31 GMT
#35
On October 28 2010 07:15 obiwong wrote:
Starcraft II is optimized for dual cores

Show nested quote +
On June 30 2010 21:33 Zarhym wrote:
Q. After the beta has commenced, how many CPU cores will StarCraft II be optimized for upon final release?
A. For launch, StarCraft II will be optimized for dual-core only. In the future we will definitely be looking into other optimizations to support additional cores, but do not have specific dates yet.


http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=133320

the difference between i3, i5 and i7

Show nested quote +
The Core i3 500 series products are dual cores and they do have hyper-threading and support virtualization, but they do not have Turbo Boost. The performance of the Core i3 500 series products is roughly on par with the performance of the lower end Core 2 Quad products like the Q6600.

The Core i5 600 series products are dual cores which have hyperthreading, Turbo Boost, virtualization, and the AES instruction set. The performance of the Core i5 600 series processors is roughly on par with mid-range Core 2 Quads and high-end Phenom II processors.

The Core i5 700 series processors are quad core processors. They do not have hyperthreading but they do have Turbo Boost and they do support virtualization. Their performance is roughly on par or somewhat better than high end Core 2 Quad and Phenom II processors.


http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/65861.aspx

"hyperthreading" is like virtual cores
so i3 has 2 physical cores and 0 virtual cores (2 cores total)
i5 has 2 physical cores and 2 virtual cores (4 cores total)
i7 has 4 physical cores and 4 virtual cores (8 cores total)
more cores are not necessarily better, as currently not many games a designed to take advantage of multiple cores (applications like CAD and video encoding are)

don't worry about what chipset is best
generally it won't make any difference to you. just pick a motherboard that supports the CPU that you want
chipset will just determine what RAM (DDR2, DDR3) or what socket CPU you'll have (LGA 775, LGA 1156, LGA 1366)

although i've been out of the loop for a while
i don't think much has changed in terms gaming and multiple cores, i've looked at benchmarks when the i7 stuff came out and 2 core vs 4 core makes almost no difference for the price you'd be paying
money is best spent on a graphics card, that will make the most difference for gaming

a couple of my friends have built AMD Phenom II systems for gaming, they're very good for gaming and cheap as well



You are wrong.

i7 has 4 core plus 4 virtual cores, either socket 1156 or 1366
i5 has 4 cores plus none virtual cores
i3 has 2 cores plus 2 virtual cores

new i9 will have 6 cores

Just take a look on CPU-Z images.

________________________________________

For SC2 with just a Quad Core Q94XX+ will be very fine with a decent graphic card like a Ati 6850 or nvidia 460gtx, well with much less will run satisfily.

Go for this, i5 750/760, Asus motherboard round 100€, 460GTX or Ati 6850 and 4GB ram DDR3
For The Swarm!
IKenshinI
Profile Joined April 2010
United States132 Posts
October 28 2010 07:42 GMT
#36
i3 has integrated graphics. stay away -_-

i5 for budget, i7 for doing streaming/compressing videos etc. (for sc2 of course )
A cat is fine too
haduken
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
Australia8267 Posts
October 28 2010 08:01 GMT
#37
I'm an AMD fanboi but really what ever you buy at the moment will be out of date come next year.

So I would probably just get a dual core and be done with it and upgrade to something decent later.

Don't spend your money on things that you think you might need later. Buy according to what you need NOW and spend as much as your budget allows. Do it this way and you will be so much happier.
Rillanon.au
Zootre
Profile Joined September 2010
Denmark180 Posts
October 28 2010 08:14 GMT
#38
The Core i3 500 series products are dual cores and they do have hyper-threading and support virtualization, but they do not have Turbo Boost. The performance of the Core i3 500 series products is roughly on par with the performance of the lower end Core 2 Quad products like the Q6600.


I have q6600 and i can play lag free at maxed settings 1080p with a 5770 gfx card.. so you should only need that i3 it seems. maybe at 200/200 battles it will lag i dont know :p
Semtext
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany287 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 09:01:25
October 28 2010 08:54 GMT
#39
I got an i5 650 Dualcore at 3,2 GHz, 6 GB RAM (667 MHz Bus), Geforce GT330 (with 2 GB graphics memory, which I honestly don't believe, i guess there's some virtual RAM going on there) for 799 Euro, which is at the current rate, 1104 US$, at the beginning of August. If you plan on spending 800 $, better go for an AMD CPU, as it will give you more "bang for the buck", as someone cleverly put it a few posts before me.

I have to note that I didnt put this system together myself, i bought it at some Target-like huge department store cause i was lazy and i wanted my computer right there and then. So you could get something like that cheaper on the net for sure. But as I said, I was lazy. nI didnt wanna wait for shipping. The game does not recognize the graphics card, though, but everything works fine on ultra settings in 1v1 and 2v2, als long as there are no 200 zerglings + 200 marines on the map, it holds at approx. 25-50 FPS, and drops below 25 only if aforementioned unit-spammage is in order.

To not get distracted too much, I recommend putting it on the second highest settings with texture details on the highest setting. That does it for me.
http://de.twitch.tv/semtext | FBH, Socke, WhiteRa, GoOdy, TLO
Firkraag8
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden1006 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 08:59:43
October 28 2010 08:58 GMT
#40
@ $800 this is what i came up with for you. This will get you a great gaming machine for your budget!
[image loading]

(click for bigger image)
Too weird to live, too rare to die.
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