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What are your thoughts on the Intel Pentium G3220?
I'm not going to be buying it or anything, however it's really cheap and it's 3.0 Ghz (which isn't all that bad really). It's also "only" dual-core compared to the quad-core of an i3 with hyper-threading. So I wanted to know just how good a processor it is for the low end segment. Browsing the internet, playing music, watching TV, using Word/Outlook, low end gaming.
I've heard Celeron aren't that great so screw that. Also I know that AMD might also have some pretty good processors for the low end market but I'm more interested in seeing what Intel has to offer. It's not bias, don't worry. I'm just particularly interested in the Pentium.
Edit: I'm also interested in know why the i5 is such a good "gaming" CPU. I thought that most games (excluding Crysis 3 and BF4) don't take advantage of having more than one core so why is getting a quad-core i5 a good idea for gaming? Wouldn't a i3 4130 run most games as well as an i5 4670?
Hell, I decided to start looking at some of the computers offered in supermarkets just to compare and I see a €500 computer with an i5 3350P and a GT620. Isn't that kind of fucking stupid? lol
Edit 2: What's with recommending a Crucial SSD btw? Are they good? I thought getting the 840 EVO series was the best thing to do at the moment.
Edit 3: Haha wtf edits. I have another question. When building a gaming rig it's recommended to get 8 Gb of RAM. Why? Wouldn't 4 Gb of RAM be enough? Not for high-end gaming with perhaps streaming obviously, but if we're only going to play SC2/LoL/Dota2 and maybe some AAA titles on medium settings, wouldn't 4 Gb of RAM be enough?
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
Hell, I decided to start looking at some of the computers offered in supermarkets just to compare and I see a €500 computer with an i5 3350P and a GT620. Isn't that kind of fucking stupid?
What's with recommending a Crucial SSD btw? Are they good? I thought getting the 840 EVO series was the best thing to do at the moment.
They're pretty good, reliable and sometimes cheaper
Edit 3: Haha wtf edits. I have another question. When building a gaming rig it's recommended to get 8 Gb of RAM. Why? Wouldn't 4 Gb of RAM be enough? Not for high-end gaming with perhaps streaming obviously, but if we're only going to play SC2/LoL/Dota2 and maybe some AAA titles on medium settings, wouldn't 4 Gb of RAM be enough?
Some games like sc2, arguably yes, Belial used to do that (funny system, 5ghz 3770k, hundreds of hours RAM overclocking with 2x2gb) but even for sc2, the game will use 2gb before it starts unloading stuff (afaik) and w7 uses ~1gb but more after some uptime, you can be close to hitting 4gb RAM without much else at all open. Games like Battlefield 4 on max settings i hear can use big amounts of RAM (pushing people to 5-6gb used) but i didn't check numbers myself there. Basically anything using more than 32 bit limit 2gb RAM for a process (iirc thats it?) will push you towards max RAM on a 4gb RAM system. Makes some sense on budget, but if you're getting i5 and a midrange GPU, 8gb really helps
In regards to dual core vs more; a lot of games are taking more advantage of more cores. Crysis 3 can load an 8-thread CPU to reading 100% load (seen from a couple sources; 3770k's at 4949 and 5000mhz at max load, holding back performance of 2-way sli system a lot) and bf4 too*, some games are heavily graphically bound, in which case cpu doesn't matter that much, but almost all games being released that are CPU bound will scale to additional cores now. It's not like sc2, which will see 12 cores, load one to max, load another to 40% and then leave the other ten idle. Step to i5, even locked, just makes a lot of sense for the midrange system tier, because dual core can cripple you in a lot of applications, games or not
*I realize i'm just listing the 2 games that you already said, but damn, most CPU bound stuff scales past 2 cores :0
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So that's why a dual-core i3 with hyperthreading is better than a dual-core Pentium with similar clock rates? Aside from gaming, a computer which has a lot of different programs open (without necessarily being demanding programs, say Word, Chrome and WMP open) would run better with an i3 than with a dual core Pentium?
Edit: Well obviously it would however i3 4130 costs roughly twice as much as a Pentium.
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
i3 has integrated graphics which is a relevant thing with Haswell, pentium doesn't. If you wanted to play sc2 with good performance on low settings on a budget, a Haswell i3 without a GPU would be your go-to, i think
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Hey guys, I'd like some help with a new build. I'll be using it mostly for gaming/media consumption, as well as some video editing on the side with stuff like after effects, vegas and the like. My budget is around 700-750 euro. I don't know the resolution yet as I have not chosen a monitor, but at least 1080p I think.
The games I want to play are mostly newer titles. I'm gonna be buying parts here in Lithuania probably, since I want the warranty and all that, tho if there is european site that provides that I'm all ears, since I don't know much about vendors or computer stuff in general. I'm also planing on overclocking it, maybe not the moment i get it but sooner or later, it's a performance increase for little effort from what I gathered so far. So here is somewhat of an outline I was thinking of having read some stuff online bout newer builds and doing little research. If there is anything wrong with it please point it out.
CPU: FX 8350 or i5 4670k
GPU: GTX760
Motherboard: ATX/990FX EXTREME3 ASROCK for FX 8350 and I'm not sure about motherboard for i5
RAM: Not sure, but I'm thinking 8gb should be more then enough
Cooler: Xigmatek Gaia
PSU:Corsair CX 600W (I'm not sure if 600w is enough if I want to do any overclocking)
Storage: Probably just1tb hdd, not sure if I really need an ssd
Case: Really don't know much about them
So thats that, about SLI I think i don't need it, maybe waaay later after few years if i need to upgrade something and 760 is cheap then i could combine em, but not anytime soon. Thanks in advance!
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular?
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On October 17 2013 19:20 Cyro wrote:
i3 has integrated graphics which is a relevant thing with Haswell, pentium doesn't. If you wanted to play sc2 with good performance on low settings on a budget, a Haswell i3 without a GPU would be your go-to, i think
Are you sure the pentium doesn't have integrated graphics? I thought it did, just that i3 had much better integrated graphics:
http://ark.intel.com/products/series/77772
http://ark.intel.com/products/family/75025/4th-Generation-Intel-Core-i3-Processors/desktop
Intel HD Graphics for Pentium vs Intel HD Graphics 4400 for i3.
Most of the feedback/review on Newegg seems to say the Pentium is a pretty good processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116950
This is the idea: imagine having a low end computer with a Pentium in it. The computer would be more than capable of doing everyday tasks for the average person, which is basically browsing the internet, using programs like Openoffice/Word, playing music and watching series. With a Pentium you could probably do all 4 of those tasks at once. Throw in an SSD and 4 Gb of RAM and you have a computer which is way better than anything you can get in a supermarket (with their weird part picks, wtf?) at a lesser cost. If you want to start playing games, buy a decent graphics card and just pop it in. Most people don't really play games, they'd probably rather have something with a lot of storage and a responsive system all around.
@Defaced:
Overclocking adds to overall cost. If you're going for a not too expensive system then I would probably recommend not overclocking and saving money. Assuming you're not going to overclock: an i5 4670 is a good CPU, GTX760 a good GPU. For the motherboard I would recommend a B85 or H81 chipset. Since you're not going to overclock you don't need an aftermarket cooler (money saving!). A great case that's pretty cheap (yet still great) is the Fractal Design Core 1000. Corsair Carbide 200R isn't a bad choice either. For PSU, you could probably use a Corsair CX430 instead of a CX600. Oh and yeah, 8Gb of RAM is recommended and more than sufficient for a good gaming rig.
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Pentium/Celeron have integrated graphics, yeah. On previous generations it just had slightly lower clocks and a few stripped features compared to the typical Core i3/i5/i7 integrated graphics, but it looks like here the Pentiums are carrying GT1 parts (10 execution units) compared to the GT2 parts on the majority of the desktop processors (20 execution units).
Where the Pentiums fall short of the Core i3s are the clock speeds and then Hyperthreading. It's easier to keep two cores busy than four cores, so for more workloads there's a bigger advantage between 2 cores no HT (Pentium) -> 2 cores HT (Core i3), than there is between 4 cores no HT (Core i5) -> 4 cores HT (Core i7).
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
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^^ you're still loved cyro, thank you both for the detailed answers anyhow
anyway, why the hell is windows so ridiculously expensive? €98 is the cheapest I could find lol. it basically adds €100 to any possible computer build
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@Incognoto - there's a very complex answer to your question, but I'll give you the simplest one: capitalism. Basically people, including the owners of Microsoft, like power (meaning money).
Regarding RAM, I have a computer with 2x2gb of RAM. (Due to a misclick, no less. TT). There's no problem with that amount of RAM for gaming per se. But it's irritating as hell when you alt-tab to do something else and you have to wait while your hard drive whirrs and the stuff being stored in RAM is replaced by stuff in your cache file. 8gb of RAM will reduce that kind of problem. It's kind of like getting an SSD vs a hard drive (I imagine, no personal experience there). You don't need it for strictly gaming performance, but it sure is worth it.
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On October 17 2013 19:30 Cyro wrote:
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular?
Sorry for late replay, was at school. I'm a big witcher fan, so upcoming witcher 3, also battlefield 4 and gta 5 from more current ones. I'm open for any suggestion since I'm not very into pc building, just did some quick research to come up with that.
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On October 18 2013 00:44 Defaced wrote:Show nested quote +On October 17 2013 19:30 Cyro wrote:
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular? Sorry for late replay, was at school. I'm a big witcher fan, so upcoming witcher 3, also battlefield 4 and gta 5 from more current ones. I'm open for any suggestion since I'm not very into pc building, just did some quick research to come up with that.
Can you share a link to the website of a local shop to see what the prices are where you are from?
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On October 18 2013 00:54 Ropid wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2013 00:44 Defaced wrote:On October 17 2013 19:30 Cyro wrote:
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular? Sorry for late replay, was at school. I'm a big witcher fan, so upcoming witcher 3, also battlefield 4 and gta 5 from more current ones. I'm open for any suggestion since I'm not very into pc building, just did some quick research to come up with that. Can you share a link to the website of a local shop to see what the prices are where you are from?
This is a site I managed to find in english http://www.electronics.balticmart.eu/
1euro is 3.45Ltl.
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On October 17 2013 21:25 Incognoto wrote:
^^ you're still loved cyro, thank you both for the detailed answers anyhow
anyway, why the hell is windows so ridiculously expensive? €98 is the cheapest I could find lol. it basically adds €100 to any possible computer build
You could figure out whether you can get OEM versions somewhere. I got my Win7 64bit Pro for 30€ but that might be a Germany-only thing. :3
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On October 18 2013 01:11 Defaced wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2013 00:54 Ropid wrote:On October 18 2013 00:44 Defaced wrote:On October 17 2013 19:30 Cyro wrote:
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular? Sorry for late replay, was at school. I'm a big witcher fan, so upcoming witcher 3, also battlefield 4 and gta 5 from more current ones. I'm open for any suggestion since I'm not very into pc building, just did some quick research to come up with that. Can you share a link to the website of a local shop to see what the prices are where you are from? This is a site I managed to find in english http://www.electronics.balticmart.eu/ 1euro is 3.45Ltl.
If you want cheap, you should choose the CM Hyper 212 EVO over the Xigmatek Gaia judging from the prices on that site.
I think that Scythe Mine 2 for 130 Lt might be a super good deal.
I don't feel good recommending one of the pricier models on that site as I feel confused about the prices. The Scythe Mugen 4 is good but uses 120mm fan size. The Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A is good and quiet while strong, but I feel might be a bit too expensive on that site. The Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B is priced well and a strong cooler, but it comes without fan (I think), and is built for 120mm fans instead of 140mm.
EDIT: There are a whole bunch of other interesting old coolers that might be priced very well in that list, but I don't know how they work on current CPUs and if they come with working mounting kit. The Coolink Corator DS might be interesting. The Cogage Arrow is probably still a great cooler, might be a very good choice if the mounting kit works, though the fan that it ships with seems a little suspicious (it looks a bit ridiculously small mounted on the very large cooler).
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+ Show Spoiler +On October 18 2013 01:49 Ropid wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2013 01:11 Defaced wrote:On October 18 2013 00:54 Ropid wrote:On October 18 2013 00:44 Defaced wrote:On October 17 2013 19:30 Cyro wrote:
OC is a little tricky and you're better off with a better cooler than the gaia for haswell or 8-core piledriver, in the end OC is a little awkward and quite notable added costs, so might not be worth to you. What games in particular? Sorry for late replay, was at school. I'm a big witcher fan, so upcoming witcher 3, also battlefield 4 and gta 5 from more current ones. I'm open for any suggestion since I'm not very into pc building, just did some quick research to come up with that. Can you share a link to the website of a local shop to see what the prices are where you are from? This is a site I managed to find in english http://www.electronics.balticmart.eu/ 1euro is 3.45Ltl. If you want cheap, you should choose the CM Hyper 212 EVO over the Xigmatek Gaia judging from the prices on that site. I think that Scythe Mine 2 for 130 Lt might be a super good deal. I don't feel good recommending one of the pricier models on that site as I feel confused about the prices. The Scythe Mugen 4 is good but uses 120mm fan size. The Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A is good and quiet while strong, but I feel might be a bit too expensive on that site. The Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B is priced well and a strong cooler, but it comes without fan (I think), and is built for 120mm fans instead of 140mm. EDIT: There are a whole bunch of other interesting old coolers that might be priced very well in that list, but I don't know how they work on current CPUs and if they come with working mounting kit. The Coolink Corator DS might be interesting. The Cogage Arrow is probably still a great cooler, might be a very good choice if the mounting kit works, though the fan that it ships with seems a little suspicious (it looks a bit ridiculously small mounted on the very large cooler).
I see, thanks a lot for that, but now some people recommended not even looking into OCing and just getting locked cpu with no additional cooler to stay in reasonable budget. You reckon OCing is worth it for the extra 20% performance or however much I can achieve with it? Thanks again!
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First time building a computer. How cheap can I go if all I care about is being able to use it for internet, SC BW, and cheap indie games from steam? I also want a monitor that isn't tiny.
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I think that I'm gonna request a build  . Happy that this thread is here, makes things very easy.
+ Show Spoiler +What is your budget?: Low as I can go What is your monitor's native resolution?: I don't have on I'm used to laptops! What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?: SC:BW and very low demand indie games What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?: Probably just the internet. Do you intend to overclock?: Not sure, does it make sense based on my goals? Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?: Not sure also if it makes sense based on my goals. Do you need an operating system?: Yes  Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?: Just monitor I believe. I have no computer parts except external speakers, mouse, and keyboard. If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify: No What country will you be buying your parts in?: USA If you have any retailer preferences, please specify: Whoever cheapest?
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EPT
