Haswell i3-4340 review

[USER8000]

Thanks guys, the thing about the poor price range (too close to i5, not that much better than Pentium) really struck me. I was gonna get an i3-4340 to build a non-gaming rig for one of my relatives, but now I figure the i5-4430 is a better choice, since it's just $30 extra for two more physical cores.

I would just get an A8 5600K or an A8 5500. The CPU is more than good enough for normal tasks,and for any GPU acceleration of normal tasks,the IGP is more than good enough.

Put the money saved into an SSD.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

The funny thing is that the 4430 will be significantly slower than the 4340 in the kind of lightly threaded tasks that relatives usually do. But it probably won't be noticed. You could probably disable two of the quad's cores and never have it be noticed, either.

That depends on the relatives. The thing is that you can pretty much expect an awful amount of background tasks, open tabs, sometimes crap AV and general bloat on such a system. People also do multitasking much more then you think. Quad core+SSD takes care of them...

If you got "disciplined" relatives, then a G1610 is more then enough. For something a little more fancy, the AMD APUs are pretty good value. At least in my country.

 

[StrangerGuy]

That depends on the relatives. The thing is that you can pretty much expect an awful amount of background tasks, open tabs, sometimes crap AV and general bloat on such a system. People also do multitasking much more then you think. Quad core+SSD takes care of them...

If you got "disciplined" relatives, then a G1610 is more then enough. For something a little more fancy, the AMD APUs are pretty good value. At least in my country.

Again those are dependent on RAM, RAM, and more RAM, and I/O. Any SB or later dual core won't be a bottleneck.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Again those are dependent on RAM, RAM, and more RAM, and I/O. Any SB or later dual core won't be a bottleneck.

...and plenty of RAM. I should have thought that obvious. When I build for the FF segment, the minimum assumed lifetime is 5 years. Sometimes 10 years, some people can't afford/don't want to upgrade, and that build will be specced accordingly.

Like it or not but duals are only really viable for value/entry level. With the premium Intel is charging for the i3's, I see little reason to bother with them over Pentiums/AMD APUs at the low end or i5s at the high end.

 

[crashtech]

I shall call this orthodoxy the Proquadstean bed.

 

[z28dreams]

People here seem to only be comparing the i3-4330 and up.

What about the i3-4130? It's only $129. I agree that once you hit $150-$160 you might as well just go with an i5 and get 2 more cores.

Also, if you have a microcenter nearby, the i3-4340 works out to about the same price with the motherboard combo.

How would you compare those? (4130 or an equivalent priced 4340) to an FX-6300 for overall performance?

I'm having trouble finding any benchmarks on these new haswell i3's yet, particularly single threaded ones.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

What about the i3-4130? It's only $129. I agree that once you hit $150-$160 you might as well just go with an i5 and get 2 more cores.

The problem is that you can get 80% of the performance for ~50% of the cost with a Haswell Pentium. Though you do sacrifice some of the more advanced features.

 

[StrangerGuy]

The problem is that you can get 80% of the performance for ~50% of the cost with a Haswell Pentium. Though you do sacrifice some of the more advanced features.

Exactly. Even if you talking about building a cheapo Dota 2 box you will still be much better off with a Pentium + HD7750 for about the same cost.

 

[know of fence]

According to that french review an 11% increase in average app perfomance between the 3.4 GHz clocked Ivy and Haswell and a 200 MHz (6%) bump in frequency actually sounds kind of nice for the i3, worse efficiency and sizzling thermals not withstanding.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/77480,65690,77771

I only wish we had power supplies that could provide the 3.6 W at idle withouth somehow turning to 40W at the wall outlet.

 

[Radeon962]

Microcenter has the 4340 for $139 and it qualifies for the $30 mobo bundle. The i5-4670k has the same $30 mobo bundle but is $199. The i5-4570 for $159 but no bundle price. The i3-4130 is $119 but again no mobo bundle.

So is the 4670k worth the extra $60 for general use system with no gaming? Secondary home machine primarily used by teenage kids for Internet, Office apps, Facebook and iTunes and Windows Media Center playback.

Would be using the HD 4600 integrated graphics on the chip rather than a discrete video card.

 

[AtenRa]

Microcenter + your usage = A10-6800K + Asrock FM2A75M-itx Rev2.0 bundle at $179,98 ftw.
You will have way lower idle than Core i3 + ATX motherboard, way better iGPU for Video playback, steady Video and higher OpenCL performance for every current and future application.

http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx

 

[crashtech]

@ Radeon962, I think the new i3 is a stellar chip for the above application. There's no love for it on the Anandtech forum, because it supposedly doesn't do well in the price/performance calculation. But an i5 is overkill for a general use system. The i3 is a premium chip for that app, which most would say might be better served by a Pentium or Celeron.

EDIT: At $169 MC price, the i3 bundle is less money while totally outclassing the A10 in single thread, which means it will be snappier measurably faster during light/medium tasks. The only thing the A10 has going for it is 3D graphics, which don't figure in the above intended use.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Any overclocked reviews, or can't it (iGPU)?

 

[crashtech]

Are any of the other non-K Haswell iGPUs overclockable?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Are they?

 

[crashtech]

Are they?

C'mon, you are the Haswell evangelist around here. Converted me, anyway.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I have no idea /\

Edit:

It's the only way the i3 could be a compelling choice for a iGPU based solution, otherwise it's AMD no question IMO.

HD4600 just isn't fast enough at stock but it has stupid amounts of OC headroom which actually causes it to easily outpace the A10 at stock.

I would even say OC VS OC the HD4600 has a slight advantage, in gaming and in typical OpenCL programs.

 

[Shivansps]

Are any of the other non-K Haswell iGPUs overclockable?

Well, you could overclock any Sandy and Ivy CPU if the mb had support, and i far i know, even H61 could do it, i guess its the same on Haswell.

Its strange that there is no Windows tool that allows you to do that.


Any idea of the cut downs on Haswell GT1? on Ivy and Sandy it was the same as the GT2, only features cut down.

 

[ehume]

I have no idea /\

Edit:

It's the only way the i3 could be a compelling choice for a iGPU based solution, otherwise it's AMD no question IMO.

HD4600 just isn't fast enough at stock but it has stupid amounts of OC headroom which actually causes it to easily outpace the A10 at stock.

I would even say OC VS OC the HD4600 has a slight advantage, in gaming and in typical OpenCL programs.

How far can one push the HD4600 on average?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I've pushed mine up to 50% OC, that's 1800MHz.

It's not really a common thing though so I can't site a lot of instances of anyone even overclocking it in the first place.

TPU hit 1700 or 1750 with it though.

 

[crashtech]

It's the only way the i3 could be a compelling choice for a iGPU based solution, otherwise it's AMD no question IMO.

HD4600 just isn't fast enough at stock but it has stupid amounts of OC headroom which actually causes it to easily outpace the A10 at stock.

I would even say OC VS OC the HD4600 has a slight advantage, in gaming and in typical OpenCL programs.

Post #85 mentions use in a machine that might see some Flash games and maybe Blu-Ray playback, how is the HD4600 not suited for that?

 

[ehume]

I've pushed mine up to 50% OC, that's 1800MHz.

It's not really a common thing though so I can't site a lot of instances of anyone even overclocking it in the first place.

TPU hit 1700 or 1750 with it though.

Thanks

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Post #85 mentions use in a machine that might see some Flash games and maybe Blu-Ray playback, how is the HD4600 not suited for that?

I wasn't addressing any specific person or question, only a general comment on the performance of Intel vs AMD.

I think the i3 is a better CPU than the A10, but the stock iGPU isn't fast enough. My comment was that if you could overclock the iGPU on the i3's than they'd make compelling options over the AMD APUs.

Post #85 would probably be content with Bay Trail.

 

[USER8000]

Microcenter has the 4340 for $139 and it qualifies for the $30 mobo bundle. The i5-4670k has the same $30 mobo bundle but is $199. The i5-4570 for $159 but no bundle price. The i3-4130 is $119 but again no mobo bundle.

So is the 4670k worth the extra $60 for general use system with no gaming? Secondary home machine primarily used by teenage kids for Internet, Office apps, Facebook and iTunes and Windows Media Center playback.

Would be using the HD 4600 integrated graphics on the chip rather than a discrete video card.

You could always get an A8 6600K or an A10 6800K:

http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx

One of the deals with the A8 6600K,comes to $115(or $110 after rebate),which essentially makes the motherboard free.

 

[crashtech]

I wasn't addressing any specific person or question, only a general comment on the performance of Intel vs AMD.

I think the i3 is a better CPU than the A10, but the stock iGPU isn't fast enough. My comment was that if you could overclock the iGPU on the i3's than they'd make compelling options over the AMD APUs.

I agree. I was really hoping for a mini-ITX or even µATX board with a BGA Iris Pro. Lucky for the A10 it's not happening.