[Solved] Gaming AND Video editing: AMD Phenom II 960T vs i3 2120

If I'm going to be doing both on the comp I'm planning to build, what would be better. I know the i3 out games the 960T slightly, but would the 4 (hopefully unlock to 6) cores make a significant enough difference when editing to make the switch?

Termhn

Add a reply

well the 960t will be a lot faster in video editing.

------------------------------ sllaw eht no nettirw gnihtemos saw ecno ereht
Reply to esrever

I thought so because of the higher number of cores. Hmmm. Now to decide

Reply to termhn

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/80?vs=289

the 960t should be about the same performance as the 940, just ignore all the sysmark stuff.

If you are into OC, it can be done with the 960t rather easily.

------------------------------ sllaw eht no nettirw gnihtemos saw ecno ereht
Reply to esrever

Huh, pretty interesting, the i3 does better in some areas that I would expect a quad to do much better in. Thanks for the link

Reply to termhn

Best answer

Pros of i3:
Sandy bridge architecture (less clocks for a task)
intel hd graphics (i believe intel quick sync is good for video editiing i could be wrong)
better for gaming

Cons of i3:
already said in thread

Pros of phenom:
More cores
Cons of phenom
Energy consumption
outdated architecture

I would go for the i3, and the benchmark he gave you ("link" ) is for the 2100 which is .2 ghz slower than the 2120 so the i3 will be faster thanks to better architecture

Message edited by bestlink101 on 02-15-2012 at 05:27:38 AM

Reply to bestlink101

Honestly, this is probably a pick-em for you that depends on 2 things:

1) Are you willing to OC the phenom?
2) Do you care about having an upgrade path on your CPU?

If you aren't willing to OC the phenom, I'd say get the i3 easily.

Also, if you care much about having a drop-in upgrade path, then definitely get the i3.

If you don't care much about an upgrade path, however, and are willing to buy an aftermarket heatsink & overclock, I'd say get the 960T.

Message quoted 1 times

BigMack70 wrote :

Honestly, this is probably a pick-em for you that depends on 2 things:

1) Are you willing to OC the phenom?
2) Do you care about having an upgrade path on your CPU?

If you aren't willing to OC the phenom, I'd say get the i3 easily.

Also, if you care much about having a drop-in upgrade path, then definitely get the i3.

If you don't care much about an upgrade path, however, and are willing to buy an aftermarket heatsink & overclock, I'd say get the 960T.

if he buy a aftermarket heatsink with the 960t than why doesnt he just buy a i5-2400

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to bestlink101

bestlink101 wrote :

if he buy a aftermarket heatsink with the 960t than why doesnt he just buy a i5-2400

the 960 is still cheaper and has a good chance to unlock but yea the i5 is an amazing cpu if he can buy it.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ sllaw eht no nettirw gnihtemos saw ecno ereht
Reply to esrever

^ +1 yeah, I think I'll go for the i3. Sounds like the best option for my budget.

Reply to termhn

It is back to a question of cores, sure the 960T has more but the time it takes to grind its way through the work in comparison to the i3 will mean the game is not that great. The 960T can overclock, which I advise you against doing but is a nice enthusiast feature. Then you get the "unlock 2 cores" myth, there was a reason it was sold as a 960T and not a X6.

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to sarinaide

sarinaide wrote :

It is back to a question of cores, sure the 960T has more but the time it takes to grind its way through the work in comparison to the i3 will mean the game is not that great. The 960T can overclock, which I advise you against doing but is a nice enthusiast feature. Then you get the "unlock 2 cores" myth, there was a reason it was sold as a 960T and not a X6.

Myth? Mine unlocked and I'm reasonably sure its now a 6 core not a figment of my imagination.

------------------------------

http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/2321060.png

Reply to wr6133

sarinaide wrote :

It is back to a question of cores, sure the 960T has more but the time it takes to grind its way through the work in comparison to the i3 will mean the game is not that great. The 960T can overclock, which I advise you against doing but is a nice enthusiast feature. Then you get the "unlock 2 cores" myth, there was a reason it was sold as a 960T and not a X6.

My unlocked fine.

Reply to atari 2600

+1 my 960T unlocked just fine... there seems to be about a 50% success rate on it, which puts it far from the realm of myth.

Also, there is no reason to advise against overclocking an unlocked CPU at all. There might be reason to advise against pushing a high overclock on an unlocked CPU for someone who doesn't know what they're doing, but there is never a reason not to bump it up at least a bit.

My phenom ii x3 720 unlocked fine, and even overclocked to 3.5. Never had a glitch, hangup, or problem. 24+ hour prime stable. From what i understand, some are locked down to meet demand or get rid of stock, some just have a core or 2 that need a bit more voltage but otherwise are 100% fine. There are one's with bad cores that won't unlock at all, but the odd's are in your favor and it's a bonus if you get it, not a guarantee.

esrever wrote :

the 960 is still cheaper and has a good chance to unlock but yea the i5 is an amazing cpu if he can buy it.

just newegged
amd phenom 124.99
highest rated fan on newegg (cooler master hyper 212 plus) 29.99
best rating thermal paste 12.98
total 169.99
intel i5 2300
179.99
the i5 would make more sense to buy cause of future upgrades

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to bestlink101

bestlink101 wrote :

just newegged
amd phenom 124.99
highest rated fan on newegg (cooler master hyper 212 plus) 29.99
best rating thermal paste 12.98
total 169.99
intel i5 2300
179.99
the i5 would make more sense to buy cause of future upgrades

you don't need the thermal paste...

The mobo + i5 is generally $30-40 more than the phenom + mobo + fan for a comparable featured motherboard.

------------------------------ sllaw eht no nettirw gnihtemos saw ecno ereht
Reply to esrever

If you can get an i5 quad you will be pretty happy with it's performance but a phenom 2 x4/6 is a better choice over an i3 dual core. Why would I say that is for mainly two reasons, one is total performance for the whole cpu is noticeably greater than what the i3 can achieve on stock let alone the almost nonexistent overclocking. Overclocking and unlocking is in favor of AMD but in situations when it is performance per thread per clock per watt it is Intel hands down. An i3 will only manage around 20-30Gflop while a p2 x4 can reach over 50Gflop when overclocked. A little over 70Gflop for a overclocked p2 x6. I don't remember for the total number for BD though but an i5 on up easily passes this all by with plenty to spare.

Reply to nforce4max

Best answer selected by termhn.

Reply to termhn

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs [Solved] Gaming AND Video editing: AMD Phenom II 960T vs i3 2120

Follow Tom's Guide

Tom's Guide around the World