New Build - i3-3225 vs i5-3570k

[morocco31477]

OK so I decided to build a new PC. Currently I have:

Asus M3A78-EM Motherboard (ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics)

AMD Phenom II X4 920 (2.8GHz)

4GB DDR2

Western Digital WD Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA as boot drive

I ordered:

$40 (Newegg) - Rosewill LINE-M Micro-ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Dual USB 3.0, come with Dual Fans, Support up to 4 Fans, 12.5" card

$19 (Newegg) - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

$95 (Amazon) - MSI Z77MA-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

$136.65 (Amazon) - Intel Core i3-3225 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33225

$235.55 (Amazon) - Samsung 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive MZ-7PD256BW

$30 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

My main goal was to speed up my system and have USB 3.0. I do not play PC games. However I do a lot of emulation, and some Adobe Photoshop stuff. Don't do any video editing but that is a possibility in the future. I know the Samsung SSD will help a lot with speed (that will be my boot/C drive). The dual-core i3-3225 I chose has HD 4000 graphics and hyper threading. The i5-3570k also has HD 4000 graphics, no hyper threading but it quad-core. There is an $87 price difference between the two. My main focus is a quiet system/low power consumption and speed. Let's say I have an emulator running, MS word open, Excel, music playing (winamp), all at the same time. I want everything to be snappy. Is the i3 good for this? I can do all that now with my Athlon keep in mind.

Thanks in advance for any opinions/advice!

[Phaenius]

$19 (Newegg) - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Only 19 ? I have the same and the cheapest in Romania is 64 $.

[jaclaz]

$19 (Newegg) - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Only 19 ? I have the same and the cheapest in Romania is 64 $.

And US $44.99 on Newegg (with a five bucks discount):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=corsair%20430

A typo 19 for 49?

jaclaz

Edited February 3, 2013 by jaclaz

[allen2]

For running VMs (if that what you meant with emulator), i would choose without a doubt the i5 (or better an i7). Hyperthreading isn't a feature that provide more power (it access twice the memory each normal cpu cycle so it "emulate" two core with one), it allow smoother multitasking with low cpu needing applications than with it disabled that's all.

[morocco31477]

The power supply was on sale on Newegg, but it's a $20 mail-in rebate. So I paid $39 for it, have to wait to get the rebate.

As far as emulation, I meant video game emulation

[pointertovoid]

Hyperthreading puts two sequencers, register sets and tasks on a core, so that one task uses the parts of a core that the other doesn't, at any time. That's how it gains ~20% measured performance on multi-task work, with little added hardware.

[pointertovoid]

You should check if Photoshop and the video edition software can make computations on the video card, which would be rather normal nowadays. Then Intel's integrated video is a very serious drawback.

Same: Photoshop and the video edition software must be heavily multitasked, so a quad-core would improvea lot over a dual-core, even hyperthreaded.