Core i3-2105 vs. Phenom II 970 X4 – the Importance of Hyper-Threading in Gaming
Test Configuration
Test Configuration – Hardware
- Intel Core i3-2105 (engineering sample, reference 3.1GHz, HyperThreading is also tested on versus off as disabled or enabled in the BIOS), supplied by Intel.
- AMD Phenom II 980BE underclocked to 3.5GHz to give Phenom II 970 performance (17.5X multiplier) supplied by AMD
- ASRock Extreme3 Generation3 motherboard (Intel z68 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0/3.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x)
- ASUS CrossHair V AM3+ RoG motherboard (PCIe 3.0 Specifications; CrossFire/SLI 16x+16x), supplied by ASUS/AMD
- 4 GB DDR3 PC1600 Kingston RAM (2×2 GB, at PC1600 speeds for Intel’s dual-channel; supplied by Kingston)
- 4 GB DDR3 PC1600 Kingston RAM (2×2 GB, at PC1600 speeds; RAM supplied by Kingston)
- Nvidia GTX 580 (1.5GB reference clocks) supplied by Nvidia
- Two identical 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 hard drives configured and set up identically from drive image; one partition for Intel drivers and one for AMD drivers
- 2 x Thermaltake ToughPower 775 W power supply units supplied by Thermaltake
- Thermaltake Element G Case supplied by Thermaltake for the Intel platform
- Cooler Master Elite 430 Case, supplied by Coolermaster for the AMD platform
- Cooler Master CPU cooler (for Intel CPU), supplied by Cooler Master
- Thermalright UltraExtreme120 CPU cooler (for AMD platform)
- Philips DVD SATA writer/Sony DVD SATA writer
- HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD.
Test Configuration – Software
- GeForce WHQL 285.62 drivers used for the GTX 580; latest Intel drivers for HD 3000 Graphics and Chipset from Intel website.
- Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
- DirectX July/November 2010
- All games are patched to their latest versions.
- vsync is forced off in the control panel.
- Varying AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied if possible; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
- All results show average rates as noted.
- Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
- Windows 7 64, all DX9 titles were run under DX9 render paths, DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths and DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.
The Benchmarks
The Synthetic and Real World Tests
- Super Pi
- Fritz Chess
- SANDRA 2012
- PCMark Vantage
- Custom PC
- Cinebench
- x264
The Game benchmarks
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Serious Sam, Second Encounter HD (2010)
- Wolfenstein
- Left 4 Dead
- Mafia II
- Crysis
- World in Conflict
- Far Cry 2
- Just Cause 2
- Resident Evil 5
- Alien vs. Predator
- Battleforge
- STALKER, Call of Pripyat
- F1 2010
- Metro 2033
- Lost Planet 2
- H.A.W.X. 2
- Civilization 5
- Total War: Shogun II
- Dirt 3
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Synthetic Gaming Benchmarks
- Heaven 2
- Vantage
- 3DMark11
We have got an interesting project going. First we look at synthetic and real world benches before we head for gaming results.
The scope of this article is excellent. Thank you for uncovering so much ground here!
I see that PhII is a far better value, especially for overclockers. It pretty much trumps the Core i3 in most multi-threaded applications, while dominating in 4 games and being equal in the rest.
A note about HD 3000 and gaming.. low settings are FUGLY, aren’t they? Really, really, really ugly, right? 😛
Thank-you!
Actually, some games look fairly good on low settings. Some games scale the visuals much better than others. Some DX10 games on minimum look way better than many DX7 and some DX8 games on maximum settings, for example.
Very nice article. I recently bought a 2105 for an htpc and my gaming computer has a PhII. The 2105 is a much better choice for htpc because at this price point, I’m saving $40 with built-in graphics. The chip also runs much cooler and the whole system is therefore far quieter, costs less in electricity, etc.
For gaming, PhII at this price is the way to go because I need a dedicated card anyway, and overclocking. Of course, a 2500k for $100 more is also a good option.
My only criticism of the article would be a breakdown of the 3dmark11 scores. Theres so much info in there, and scrolling between images is cumbersome. I particularly like that test’s “productivity” breakdown (windows startup, etc).
Thank-you. You conclusion agrees with mine almost exactly.
The easiest way to compare the PCMark Vantage details between the Phenom II and the Core i3, is to open each chart in a separate window in your web browser and place them side by side. They will then line up and are very easy to compare.
However, for next time, I will try to make a chart for the important comparisons like was done for Sandra 2012.
Just curious which one had the lowest low min fps?
Minimums varied by game.
In essence it looks like more and more games are supporting >2 cores. Finally. And the PhII architecture is basically adequate today but Intel’s superior IPC is rapidly pulling ahead (when a 2/4 core can match a true 4 core chip in games that utilize 4 cores…well, it’s not looking good for AMD).
Looking forward to seeing a comparison of 2600K HT/HT off to see if this scales beyond 4 cores.
Hi, i must tell you that it’s hard to find your posts in google, i found this one on 12 spot, you should build some quality backlinks to increase your website ranking in google and drive a lot more visitors to your articles, it means more audience and more sales for you. For more details search in google for – Raitt SEO advices