DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

i3 2100 or phenom ii x4 965be for budget gaming rig

28 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/i3-2100-or-phenom-ii-x4-965be-for-budget-gaming-rig.158339/

U
Utkarsh Sharma Original post #1
Jun 10, 2012 at 2:03 PM
Hi friends I am going to buy a gaming rig within 31k.
I will use it to game at 1600x900, surfing the net and excel and programming.
1.Processor: Intel Core i3 2100
2.Motherboard: ASRock H61M-HVGS
3.RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
4.HDD: 500GB
5.Graphics Card: MSI R6850 PM2D1GD5
6.Monitor: Acer P206HV
7.Cabinet: Zebronics Bijli
8.DVD Writer
9.PSU: FSP Saga II 500w
I am confused between this processor and the Phenom II X4 965 BE and please suggest any better configuration at the same price point.
Thanks:razz:
Sainatarajan
Jun 10, 2012 at 5:20 PM
You can go with the Phenom 2 X4 965 BE . It has 4 Cores . But if you have any upgrade plans in 2 years , then get the I3 2120 .
Cilus
Cilus #3
Jun 10, 2012 at 7:18 PM
1st of all, PHenom II X4 965 isn't available anywhere and you can get Phenom II X4 960T at 7K price. If the main purpose is gaming then go with I3 2120.
theserpent
Jun 10, 2012 at 8:07 PM
But its better to go for a Quad Core right?These days many games ask for a quad core(EG:BF3)
Sainatarajan
Jun 10, 2012 at 8:45 PM
And OP can also OC it.
dashing.sujay
Jun 10, 2012 at 9:34 PM
i3 beats hand down x4 965 : AnandTech - Bench - CPU
Cilus
Cilus #7
Jun 11, 2012 at 12:15 AM
That is the reason I've recommended i3 over Phenom II X4. If you are in other multi-threaded tasks like Video Encoding, Photoshop etc apart from gaming then 960T or 970 is a good buy but if the main reason is gaming then i3 2100 or the other versions beat all the Phenom quad cores. Sometimes the Pentium Dual cores do that also.
Another thing is i3 does have Hyperthreading and can process 4 threads simultaneously, although not as effectively as a true quad core but it can. Now due to the advanced architecture and high IPC (Instruction level parallelism) performance, SB i3 is a better choice for gaming.
Sainatarajan
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:05 AM
Thanx For Giving Such Valuable Reason .
U
Jun 11, 2012 at 10:24 PM
Thanx friends. Very much.:-D
d6bmg
d6bmg #10
Jun 12, 2012 at 12:09 AM
You should fill this up: *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-compon...answer-these-questions-first.html#post1542847

to get best guidance & config.
truegenius
Jun 22, 2012 at 10:13 AM
Hi friends I am going to buy a gaming rig within 31k.
I will use it to game at 1600x900, surfing the net and excel and programming.
1.Processor: Intel Core i3 2100
2.Motherboard: ASRock H61M-HVGS
3.RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
4.HDD: 500GB
5.Graphics Card: MSI R6850 PM2D1GD5
6.Monitor: Acer P206HV
7.Cabinet: Zebronics Bijli
8.DVD Writer
9.PSU: FSP Saga II 500w
I am confused between this processor and the Phenom II X4 965 BE and please suggest any better configuration at the same price point.
Thanks:razz:

1.Processor: fx4100 (6.4k)

2.Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P (2.25k) GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P/3.1 (2.6k)

3.RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz (1K)

4.HDD: 500GB (~4k)

5.Graphics Card: at least MSI R7750-PMD1GD5/OC (6.85k)
or GIGABYTE GV-R777OC-1GD (8.9k)

6.Monitor: Acer P206HV (5.1K)

7.Cabinet: (1k)

8.DVD Writer (1k)

9.PSU: Corsair 430w (2.5K)


total ~30.5-32.5K
T
Tech_Wiz #12
Jun 22, 2012 at 10:50 AM
AMD true strength of Path of Up-gradation Easier has been taken away from it as 1155 Socket accommodates everything from i3 2100 to i7 3xxx.

And in Gaming i3 kicks all Phenoms. Also in Future OP may opt for a i5 if need arises without changing anything else.

@ True Genius. FX4100 is cr@p. i3 kicks him further down.
Its a shame to see the Latest AMD quad getting its ass kicked from an Intel Dual Core :(
J
Jripper #13
Jun 22, 2012 at 10:56 AM
FX 4100 is a bad choice. the i3 beats its pants down in without breaking a sweat.

@Tech_wiz agreed.
truegenius
Jun 22, 2012 at 10:58 AM
i know that bulldozer core is weak and sandy bridge core got almost 50% extra performance per GHz (IPC), fx core @3.6GHz is slower than a core of g620 in single threaded tasks
but to keep it in budget fx4 fits in. and provides required performance and saves money so as to introduce a good graphics card in this budget
M
Minion #15
Jun 22, 2012 at 11:28 AM
i3 beats hand down x4 965 : AnandTech - Bench - CPU

I don't believe these reviewers honestly can somebody tell me when is the last time they praise AMD.Even if they are providing innovative products like APUs,64bit computing,hyperthreading is even developed by AMD which intels processor are using now.Cilus himself is using AMD system n me too is using amd phenom x4 945 quite satisfied with it.

1st of all, PHenom II X4 965 isn't available anywhere and you can get Phenom II X4 960T at 7K price. If the main purpose is gaming then go with I3 2120.

AMD phenom 970 is available in flipkart or get AMD 3 GHz AM3 Phenom II 1075T Processor around same price.
J
Jripper #16
Jun 22, 2012 at 1:40 PM
@truegenius but the fx 4100 costs almost the same as an i3 2120.
truegenius
Jun 22, 2012 at 1:55 PM
@truegenius but the fx 4100 costs almost the same as an i3 2120.
:yeahright:
yes almost same

cheapest i found
fx4+board=9k
i3-2120+board=~9.5K
only ~0.5k price difference

thus by expanding budget or cutting in psu (by using CM-350w) or in other parts (but not in gpu :| ), op can have a cpu with too much better per core performance and slightly better/equal multithreaded performance cpu.
J
Jripper #18
Jun 22, 2012 at 2:26 PM
^ In case you got too busy "yeah right"-ing me and didn't notice, i said the "fx 4100" costs almost the same as the i3 2120. not the cpu+mobo

And about both the cpu and mobo,actually the i3 2120 is at rs.6250 to be exact,add to that the gigabyte h61-d2h/asus p8h61 the price is ~9.1/9k(a hundred bucks not withstanding).Add too that the fx 4100 consumes more power. It is better than the i3 in multithreaded apps,but in gaming it is hardly going to make too much of a difference(yet) and windows 7 can't use the bulldozer effectively so lets not talk about single threaded apps.

P.S:- I don't hate amd btw if thats what you are thinking. I am using an amd based config myself.
joe
joe #19
Jun 22, 2012 at 2:36 PM
AMD 965BE is unavailable now. Go for FX-8150 or intel I3, I5.
truegenius
Jun 22, 2012 at 2:53 PM
^ In case you got too busy "yeah right"-ing me and didn't notice, i said the "fx 4100" costs almost the same as the i3 2120. not the cpu+mobo

And about both the cpu and mobo,actually the i3 2120 is at rs.6250 to be exact,add to that the gigabyte h61-d2h/asus p8h61 the price is ~9.1/9k(a hundred bucks not withstanding).Add too that the fx 4100 consumes more power. It is better than the i3 in multithreaded apps,but in gaming it is hardly going to make too much of a difference(yet) and windows 7 can't use the bulldozer effectively so lets not talk about single threaded apps.

P.S:- I don't hate amd btw if thats what you are thinking. I am using an amd based config myself.

^ In case you got too busy "yeah right"-ing me and didn't notice, i said the "fx 4100" costs almost the same as the i3 2120. not the cpu+mobo
i know that, as we can use other parts in both amd and intel setup but we can't use a am3+ board with lga1155 cpu, thus i included motherboard too to calculate total cost for intel and amd setup :wink:

the i3 2120 is at rs.6250
:shock:
is it available in delhi at that price :hyper:

I am using an amd based config myself.
are you using a bulldozer chip, because i want to test its performance loss in multithreaded tasks due to modular approach :| :reading:

P.S:- I don't hate amd btw if thats what you are thinking
well i am a performance per Rupee fan :wink: :mrgreen:

AMD 965BE is unavailable now. Go for FX-8150 or intel I3, I5.
it will exceed the budget :|
J
Jripper #21
Jun 22, 2012 at 3:03 PM
i know that, as we can use other parts in both amd and intel setup but we can't use a am3+ board with lga1155 cpu, thus i included motherboard too to calculate total cost for intel and amd setup :wink:


:shock:
is it available in delhi at that price :hyper:


are you using a bulldozer chip, because i want to test its performance loss in multithreaded tasks due to modular approach :| :reading:


well i am a performance per Rupee fan :wink: :mrgreen:


it will exceed the budget :|


1.> Hence the cpu + mobo prices as well. worst case it will cost a 100 bucks more.

2.> I don't stay in delhi :p

3.> My siggy says I use an athlon II X3 435 ;) not a bulldozer :p
V
vjain #22
Jun 22, 2012 at 6:29 PM
Hello,i know this is not the right thread to post.I have both the systems you are looking for and looking to get rid of both of them as i am looking for a upgrade.Let me know if you are interested so we can work out something.

Thanks
Cilus
Cilus #23
Jun 22, 2012 at 6:37 PM
vjain, continue your selling related discussion through PM, not here.
sumonpathak
Jun 22, 2012 at 6:44 PM
are you using a bulldozer chip, because i want to test its performance loss in multithreaded tasks due to modular approach :| :reading:

What u wanna know?
at same price point in stuffs like video encoding(multi threaded) tasks it kicks the ass of 2500K...
winner in my books...
*note to self*
have to steal cilus's CPU.
truegenius
Jun 22, 2012 at 6:48 PM
Hello,i know this is not the right thread to post.I have both the systems you are looking for and looking to get rid of both of them as i am looking for a upgrade.Let me know if you are interested so we can work out something.

Thanks
which one is better :hyper: