Will it be worth it to buy a Skylake i3?

[Absolute0]

^Same thoughts, high clocks and low cost... great cheap gaming CPUs if on a budget, with the 1151/z170 platform it represents a good stepping stone for a CPU upgrade in 2+ years.

 

[Madpacket]

BS. They all overclock fine on the proper platform.

Please tell, what is a proper platform? A motherboard with a chipset that costs more than the CPU? And no, even folks with Z97 boards are having issues.

Wrong.

Actually do some research first before posting please.

"Some people have reported being able to install W10 if they are not overclocking, and in some cases disable one core of the G3258. My system is completely stock and still will not install."

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041761574

https://communities.intel.com/message/317692#317692

 

[ShintaiDK]

The update Microsoft pushed out was almost a year old. And already replaced a week after it was released.

Microsoft pushed out 0x1C microcode and the latest is 0x2A or so. Some motherboard vendors seems to have fixed this problem with updated microcode in new BIOS versions.

Also the Windows microcode update can be disabled.

 

[Madpacket]

The update Microsoft pushed out was almost a year old. And already replaced a week after it was released.

Microsoft pushed out 0x1C microcode and the latest is 0x2A or so. Some motherboard vendors seems to have fixed this problem with updated microcode in new BIOS versions.

Also the Windows microcode update can be disabled.

If you follow the Intel thread they are supposedly working on a Microcode update on this issue. The BIOS vendor updates that have been released as a workaround disable the ability to overclock the CPU (who buys a Pentium AE without overclocking it?).

There's just the McHack to get around the issue for now and who knows what else it breaks on the OS by changing it. Also, who knows if future patches will come along and re-enable it?

If this was truly a "mistake" by Intel they better fix it soon. Intel supplies the Microcode to Microsoft, this is on Intel. Wonder if Pentium AE sales cut into i3 sales a little more than expected.

Anyways, the back on topic. The Skylake i3 will most definitely be worth it if they allow for bclock overclocking on non Z170 series chipsets but I doubt Intel will do this as that could cut into other chip segments. Maybe motherboard vendors will figure a way around the artificial limitations if imposed like they did with the AE.

It's just silly to have to spend more money on a motherboard than a processor in order to get the most out it.

 

[jpiniero]

It's just silly to have to spend more money on a motherboard than a processor in order to get the most out it.

That was kind of the point... to get the Pentium AA buyers to buy the more expensive Z boards. I agree that it doesn't make sense but that was the point of the Pentium AA - it was intended to not make sense.

 

[DrMrLordX]

The i3-6320 is a 3.9GHz chip. What a mean little beast. With that much raw speed, combined with hyperthreading, you're going to be able to push 4 threads quite easily. That little chip will be faster than the vast majority of true quadcores in use today. The base model i3 is still 3.7GHz. This is plenty of power. Look at the base clocks on the cheapest skylake i5. I wouldnt be surprised if games actually ran worse on it.

Yep, it looks nice. At a MSRP of $157 I can see that people would be interested in it. It also supports VT-x and VT-d. And . . . drumroll please: AVX2

http://ark.intel.com/products/90733/Intel-Core-i3-6320-Processor-4M-Cache-3_40-GHz

The only "problem" I see with the AVX/AVX2 support is that any workload that stays in cache pretty well and makes full use of AVX2 will probably gain very little benefit from HT. But that's just a nitpick.

 

[Madpacket]

Unfortunately as expected, no overclocking supported on chipsets other than Z170 series.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-100-series-chipsets,29993.html

 

[Madpacket]

That was kind of the point... to get the Pentium AA buyers to buy the more expensive Z boards. I agree that it doesn't make sense but that was the point of the Pentium AA - it was intended to not make sense.

I get that and understood that was Intel's intention but as you know it's an artificial limitation which motherboard manufacturers quickly figured out. Given Intel's lack of response to the situation of G3258's being paired up with cheap H81 boards (up until now) it appeared they were cool with it. They could have released a microcode update anytime they wanted rendering overclocking on Windows 7 or 8.1 useless unless you had a Z series board but they didn't.

So now when looking at the total system cost of a new computer the i3's, even if overclockable in a Z series won't look like such a great deal if priced within 50-75 dollars of an i5.

Makes sense from a business perspective but still irks me. We need better competition.

 

[TeknoBug]

I'll be buying a Skylake i3.

 

[SPBHM]

considering the maximum clock is probably around the same as Sandy Bridge, but the stock clock is much higher, OC is not as great of a loss here...

 

[Shivansps]

It all depends if you can BCLK oc them whiout a Z motherboard, if we can do that, its worth it.

 

[Unico]

Im asking your opinions on the matter. I want to upgrade to skylake relatively cheaply and get the most performance bang for the buck. But I cant for the life of me justify buying a dual core cpu in 2015 for over lets say over $85 bucks, which is what AMD offers in the 860k be it a much slower cpu but with 4 cores. So this is the conundrum. Why dosent intel release i3's with Tri-core to make it worthwhile for consumers, and name the dual cores i2's or something wouldnt that make more sense business wise? Im not gonna pay over $125 for a dual core cpu in 2015 doesn't make sense, unless it were unlocked maybe.

As for just lighting up the MB with a cheap processor, you can consider the inexpensive Skylake Pentiums.
G4400 - 3.30 GHz - HD Graphics 510 - retail box $64
G4500 - 3.50 GHz - HD Graphics 530 - retail box $82
G4520 - 3.60 GHz - HD Graphics 530 - retail box $93

http://ark.intel.com/compare/90732,90730,88179

All provide dual cores at the rated speed, 64 GB max RAM, 47 watt package, VT-x and VT-d virtualization, and AES-NI. They do lack hyper threading and AVX2.

However probably not the best choice if you intend to game and host several VMs. The minimum system for BF4 is a Core 2 Duo at 2.4 GHz, but they recommended a quad core.

Personally I'd go with the i3-6300 at 3.8 GHz (retail box $147). Still pretty cheap for a processor.

 

[TeknoBug]

http://ark.intel.com/products/90729/Intel-Core-i3-6100-Processor-3M-Cache-3_70-GHz

It's in the ARK database.

 

[Unico]

http://ark.intel.com/products/90729/Intel-Core-i3-6100-Processor-3M-Cache-3_70-GHz

It's in the ARK database.

There does not appear to be a recommended price for the i3-6100 boxed processor. Presumably a little less than the $147 for the i3-6300.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The i3 6100 will be same as the i3 6100T. So expect 117$.

 

[extide]

With regarding the thread title, if:

$150 i3 locked = Meh
$150 i3-K = Still meh
$110 i3, 3.8+ GHz stock = Not bad
$110 i3, BCLK OC enabled on Z170 mobo = Sweet
$110 i3, BCLK OC enabled on H110 mobo = GG AMD

Exactly. I am fairly certain that i3's will be overclockable via BCLK on the Z170 platform ... BUT if they don't totally lock it down on the cheaper chipsets ... it could be a new era of overclocking the cheap stuff again!

 

[Phynaz]

Please tell, what is a proper platform? A motherboard with a chipset that costs more than the CPU? And no, even folks with Z97 boards are having issues.



Actually do some research first before posting please.

Yes.

H81 was never made to be an overclocking platform. Intel didn't deliberately disable CPUs.

You should follow your own advice about research.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z87-H87-H81-Q87-Q85-B85---What-is-the-difference-473/

 

[Phynaz]

Unfortunately as expected, no overclocking supported on chipsets other than Z170 series.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-100-series-chipsets,29993.html

Newsflash, enthusiast features are only contained in enthusiast platforms.

 

[SPBHM]

Personally I'd go with the i3-6300 at 3.8 GHz (retail box $147). Still pretty cheap for a processor.

the 6100 is $30 less, for basically the same thing

 

[Unico]

the 6100 is $30 less, for basically the same thing

Agreed that the i3-6100 and i3-6300 are basically the same - the 0.1 GHz processor speed difference is not material. For most users, the i3-6100 will be a better value. Hopefully its price comes in at the expected $117.

 

[jpiniero]

The 6100 does have 3 MB L3 versus 4 MB L3 on the 6300.

 

[SPBHM]

The 6100 does have 3 MB L3 versus 4 MB L3 on the 6300.

that's a very small difference in practice...

it's like Haswell 4130 vs 4330 (3.4GHz 3MB, 3.5GHz 4MB)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_4.html#sect1

but eve less important since both are clocked even higher now...

I don't think it's worth 20% price increase or whatever it is, the 6100 seems to be the i3 to go for.

 

[Madpacket]

Yes.

H81 was never made to be an overclocking platform. Intel didn't deliberately disable CPUs.

You should follow your own advice about research.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z87-H87-H81-Q87-Q85-B85---What-is-the-difference-473/

Hmm that's funny. You must be a very literal person. Everyone knows you can overclock just fine on H81 boards. In fact manufacturers advertise it as a feature.

Note the features listed of the following non overclockinng H81 chipset board currently overclocking my AE chip at 4.2Ghz.

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=13-130-735

That link is redirecting to some sale. Just search for "MSI H81I LGA 1150".

The verdict is still out weather they disabled them on purpose. If Intel releass a microcode update that restores the non Z chipset overocking in Windows 10 you will be correct. AFAIK they've had a month to fix it since reported. Still no patch...

 

[Madpacket]

Newsflash, enthusiast features are only contained in enthusiast platforms.

We shall see. You are wrong about H81 chipsets. Let's hope motherboard manufacturers give Intel the middle finger and allow us plebians to not have to over spend on superfluous features the Z series carry.

Here's a thread containing all non Z series boards that support overclocking.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389948

 

[Phynaz]

We shall see. You are wrong about H81 chipsets.

"With H87 we lose CPU multiplier overclocking and multiple GPU configurations from the PEG lanes on the CPU. H81 takes it a little further, restricting displays, limiting the PCIe to Gen 2, and removing features such as RST, SRT and Flex IO."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6989/...h-haswell-gigabyte-msi-asrock-and-asus-at-200

Overclocking was never supported on H81. How many different sources do I need to post before you stand corrected?