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Hardware Intel Core i3-2100 Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 1 Jul 2011.

  1. arcticstoat

    arcticstoat Minimodder

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  2. kaiser

    kaiser What's a Dremel?

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    Hmmm this seems to bode well for the Sandy-bridge based Pentium G6xx and G8xx's... and badly for AMD.
     
  3. sandys

    sandys Multimodder

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    gmost US sites put this up against llano as it's in the same price ballpark and the AMD betters it generally. Sure mostly due to the gpu, but low end chips like that will generally rely on the gpu.
     
  4. do_it_anyway

    do_it_anyway Minimodder

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    I hate the lack of overclocking, and would struggle to recommend it to someone who is self building.
    For just £20 more you can have a CPU that has at least turbo-boost that can be tweaked to get more performance out of it.
     
  5. Aracos

    Aracos What's a Dremel?

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    I was hoping to see a comparison to the Phenom II X4 955, it's direct competitor in terms of price since they're exactly the same price on scan right now.
     
  6. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

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    We included the Phenom II X4 980 BE which is a superior CPU - I think the results speak for themselves...
     
  7. enikmaster

    enikmaster What's a Dremel?

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    so, yesterday I've read your review about the new A8-3850 and you guys compare it to this i3 processor. Why didn't you use the same games on both reviews? Why don't show that this i3 is a lot worse in some other games? you could say that this one performed well in Crysis but awfully in Leaf4Dead. on the other side I would like to know who did the AMD CPU performed in Crysis and X3: Terran Conflit, just to compare...
    You're better than this... ;)
     
  8. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    lol another Intel review and the AMD fanbois are out crying foul.
     
  9. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

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    We didn't use the same games because we used a P67 board to test the Core i3-2100 here, as we do with all Sandy Bridge CPUs. As such we weren't able to access its integrated processor graphics unit so we used our normal suit of games and test kit. The A8-3850 is first and foremost an APU so we use a different test suit which includes less demanding games.

    The 3850 is never going to outperform a quad-core Phenom, or run Arma II at reasonable settings at playable frame rates though. As such the 2100, which did manage to outpace a Phenom II X4 980 BE in several tests, is more interesting when paired with a discrete GPU. After all, we already know that the 2100's graphics chip isn't up to much.
     
  10. fingerbob69

    fingerbob69 Minimodder

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    It's not crying foul ...yesterday the A8 got compared to this; up in some tests down in others.

    Today, this i3 gets a free ride without a llano in sight.

    "Something rotten in the state of Denmark?"
     
  11. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    "Foul! Foul!" I hear them say
     
  12. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

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    TBH, Llano's main selling point is it's integrated processor graphics unit, which is clearly far superior to the one included with the i3-2100 - AMD should be applauded for this. However, using a discrete graphics card, the i3-2100 was faster than a 3.7GHz Phenom II X4 in all our game tests - significantly so - which in turn is a superior CPU to the A8-3850. The A8-3850 simply isn't able to compete in a discrete graphics environment - even AMD told use they expect few users to pair Llano CPUs with discrete graphics cards.
     
  13. S1W1

    S1W1 Minimodder

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    The £89 entry level dual core beats the AMD X6 1090T hexacore I bought 7 months ago for £180 :( I knew I should have waited the extra month for Sandy Bridge :D
     
  14. sandys

    sandys Multimodder

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    Indeed, I'm looking to upgrade my x4 9950 and was just going to pop an x6 in thinking it was a cheap an worthwhile option, now i am wondering whether to switch platforms even though it does mean all new memory....whats the cheapest Intel SLi board I wonder?
     
  15. Acanuck

    Acanuck What's a Dremel?

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    Reading through the comments, I can't find a single AMD "fanboi" comment, Snips.
    The only times you seem to make an appearence on the comments is to start arguments between "fanbois". It's just not necessary if you ask me.
     
  16. D B

    D B What's a Dremel?

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    Just wondering what this CPU is targeted at ?
    I would think small laptop/netbooks with no dedicated GPU , and I wish that the tests would have included one with on chip graphics
     
  17. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    Don't feed the trolls mate. It's best to ignore them.
     
  18. Acanuck

    Acanuck What's a Dremel?

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    You're absolutely right. It's what I usually do.
     
  19. azazel1024

    azazel1024 What's a Dremel?

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    The i3-2100? Deffinitely not netbooks and laptops. It is a desktop part, not a LV let alone CULV part. This is targeted at entry level desktop buyers who would be looking at an Intel desktop.

    At around $120-130 US, plus a motherboard, case, low end discrete GPU, etc you have a system probably running in the $450-600 price range with monitor (again, an entry level probably 20" monitor) that performs pretty well, but not spectacularly. Think Llano competitor, but maybe $50-100 more and more powerful at that. Llano really seems to be targeted at the entry level buyer and maybe HTPC, which TBH it seems to be able to do pretty well (and also low end and even in to the midgrade laptop range). Bulldozer looks to be targeted at the midrange of the buyer market, though I think AMD would claim the high end. (the architecture revisions just don't look like it'll do that and AMD seems to be claiming its higher end bulldozer parts, octocore are going to be able to take on SB 2500k and maybe even 2600k...Intels stated midrange champions...that doesn't include any upcoming Intel SB-E parts, like their Hexacore and possible future octocore parts, which means it takes nearly or even twice as many cores for the same multithreaded performance).

    So AMD deffinitely had a place in the right machine, and a lot of computers ship in the entry level market, just like dSLR cameras, more people by entry level dSLRs (or for that matter point and shoots) than they do prosumer or pro dSLRs...however margines are much smaller in the very entry level of the market, the mid level of the market is the real king in most industries.
     
  20. TaRkA DaHl

    TaRkA DaHl Modder

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    Did anyone check the PPD in F@H by chance?
     
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