Looking to "upgrade" from overclocked g3258....

[ZL580]

So I currently run a overclocked g3258 at 4.4 which I love for dolphin, zero complaints does a great job.  Problem is recently I have been PC gaming and getting into borderlands tps and tomb raider and other games that seem to like more cores.  I have notice my poor little dual core getting maxed out in these games especially borderlands.  So I don't want to break the bank and have noticed that recently dolphin has become less demanding (I see less utilization) which is awesome.  

I am considering a switch to a i3 4370, is is a 2 core hyper threaded 3.8ghz part.  I think this can be a happy medium for me?  Do you guys agree or do you think I'm making a big mistake.  The i3 is only 140 at microcenter, I'm not interested in spending 200+ tax for the 4690k.  I'm also slowly growing out of this hobby and don't want to invest much more but would like better PC game performance.

I use a asus 960 for GPU btw, when I play borderlands with vsync on I see 50% GPU and like 90% cup.

Thanks guys.

[shreduhsoreus]

I'm not sure if that i3 would provide enough performance boost to justify spending $140 on. I only spent a few minutes comparing benchmarks between the two so I can't really make an accurate assessment, I'd have to dig a little deeper.

What's funny is when I saw the thread title I was thinking "4690K, duh" haha, but it seems like you're not interested in spending that much(though it's totally worth it).



Edit: So after spending a little bit more time, it almost seems that the upgrade to that i3 would be double edged. On one hand, you would see a performance gain in applications that use 3/4 threads, but you will take a performance hit when it comes to single and dual threaded applications(assuming you're taking advantage of the Pentium's overclocking ability).

Seems that even if you go with an i5 4460, 4570 or 4590(those are the only locked i5 I looked at so far) you would still run into the same issue above. It seems like the only way to see improved performance across the board(or at least improved multi threaded performance without taking a hit to single and dual performance) is to go with a 4690k.

[ZL580]

Yeah thats exactly what i have gathered. I just think that now that dolphin seems lighter on our systems that the "upgrade" may sustain 60fps in mario galaxy and allow me see a bump in multitasking and threaded gaming.

I ran a 4670k @ 4.5 and sli 660 last summer but sold off that system as i thought it was overkill.... Wups. I may just end up being a guinea pig for us all and pull the trigger.

I looked at all the locked i5s too but the i3 is the fastest non turbo you can get behind a 4790k

[shreduhsoreus]

There's no such thing as overkill unless you're using a workstation class rig to play games


In the end though, how much of a performance hit you see in single and dual threaded applications will depend on what you have your Pentium clocked at. If you can afford it, I would spend the extra 60 bucks or so and get the 4690k. It's much more worth it in the long run, but that's just my thoughts on the matter.

[ZL580]

I wish i knew more about the broadwell chips, id gladly wait for a i3 @ 3.9 or 4.0 with iris or 6000 series graphics if i had more than just rumors to go by. Eventually id like to build a super miniature computer with an external power supply, if i could use that for both types of systems that would be great

[IceStrike256]

I'd wait for skylake personally. Even if you end up not being interested in it, it could mean a price drop on haswell.

[ExtremeDude2]

Intel isn't known for dropping prices much.

[IceStrike256]

I suppose so lol.

[ZL580]

Skylake is over a year away right? F waiting for that, i assume ill have a kid by then and no time for games.

Im gonna get the i3

[IceStrike256]

Its later this year.