# Which of these two should I buy? (AMD A6 3620 2.2gHz; I3 3220 3.3gHz)  Read more: htt



## mitya (Jun 1, 2013)

Hi

I'm torn between two budget desktops:

- AMD A6 3620 2.2gHz (quad)
- Intel I3 3220 3.3gHz (dual)

The other specs (RAM, OS etc) are identical.

I am a web developer so the core of what I do is with text editors and browsers, with occasional Photoshop. I would like to do occasional gaming, but nothing cutting edge - GTA IV, as an example.

I know processor speed is not the only benchmark to look at, but it occurs to me that the AMD processor is over 1gHz slower than the Intel one. How much would this matter?

Any advice is welcome, though please note I'm not interested in building my own PC as some have suggested. Thanks in advance.


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## drdeathx (Jun 1, 2013)

Probably a crapshoot CPU wise but AMD's on die GPU is better for youtube, movies and gaming. Some games are choppy at best with Intels graphics on the 3220.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Jun 2, 2013)

The A6 has that covered imho unless you're looking to buy a gfx card


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## Ketxxx (Jun 2, 2013)

Considering your primary needs the i3 3220 would be the better option by some distance, but you won't be able to game worth a damn. Google really is your friend in this case, if you read some reviews you will find all of AMDs APUs are just good enough not to embarrass themselves but their performance is far from even being considered good.


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## shovenose (Jun 2, 2013)

Hello fellow web developer 

Definitely get the Intel CPU... the AMD would be better for games but both have integrated graphics  which won't provide good framerates in anything. But for productivity the Intel i3 CPU will wipe the floor with that AMD. Note that I'm not an Intel fanboy (my main desktop runs an AMD FX-8350) but for the low end, Intel is better. The Celeron G1610 would even be way better than that low end AMD.


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

Ketxxx said:


> Considering your primary needs the i3 3220 would be the better option by some distance, but you won't be able to game worth a damn. Google really is your friend in this case, if you read some reviews you will find all of AMDs APUs are just good enough not to embarrass themselves but their performance is far from even being considered good.



The 3220 is far from being good, so what is the point of bad rapping one when the other is the same..




shovenose said:


> Hello fellow web developer
> 
> Definitely get the Intel CPU... the AMD would be better for games but both have integrated graphics  which won't provide good framerates in anything. But for productivity the Intel i3 CPU will wipe the floor with that AMD. Note that I'm not an Intel fanboy (my main desktop runs an AMD FX-8350) but for the low end, Intel is better. The Celeron G1610 would even be way better than that low end AMD.




This is not correct.


AMD's trinity APU's will provide ample frame rates in gaming. Not hi res but will handle almost anygame with playable frame rates.... The 3220 will be choppy at best with most


I will say performance will be pretty equal with both but look into the A10-5800K or A8-5600K. It beats the 3220 in just about every category...... Plus both are overclockable. 3220 isn't


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## Mussels (Jun 2, 2013)

the i3 is the faster CPU, while the AMD has a faster in built GPU.


if you arent gaming, go the I3. if you choose to game later, add on a discrete video card.


GTA IV is well known as needing a LOT of CPU power on PC, since its been badly ported from console. the I3 would be the better choice there for sure (and neither in built GPU will really handle that game well)


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

First of all A6-3650 is Llano APU. It is an old APU, Trinity A10-5800K would be todays comparable APU to the 3220 and it beats the 3220 in almost every category and overclocked handily beats the 3220. OP, if your looking for apples to apples at the same price, Trinity is what you shopuld look for


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## newtekie1 (Jun 2, 2013)

Ketxxx said:


> if you read some reviews you will find all of AMDs APUs are just good enough not to embarrass themselves but their performance is far from even being considered good.



Not true at all, they keep up with Intels lower end offerings pretty nicely.  For example, my A8 would pretty much walk all over the 3220 in everything, and it absolutely destroys it in gaming with the iGPU.  GTA:IV is actually playable with pretty decent settings on my A8, the 3220 can't even run it at the lowest settings.


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## LightningJR (Jun 2, 2013)

Listen to mussels op, that intel cpu is the better choice, if you want to play gta 4 you will need discrete because even the superior gpu in the apu isn't worth it.

Unless gaming is THAT important to you.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Jun 2, 2013)

newtekie1 said:


> Not true at all, they keep up with Intels lower end offerings pretty nicely.  For example, my A8 would pretty much walk all over the 3220 in everything, and it absolutely destroys it in gaming with the iGPU.  GTA:IV is actually playable with pretty decent settings on my A8, the 3220 can't even run it at the lowest settings.



I too have actually tried lano and trinity systems and they game just fine low to medium settings and as far as day to day use I think they are also good.


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## Fourstaff (Jun 2, 2013)

If you are going to get discrete graphics, consider the 5800K instead. otherwise, get the 3620, its a tad slow but you will get to play some games at lowest settings instead of almost nothing with the 3220.


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## acerace (Jun 2, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> First of all A6-3650 is Llano APU. It is an old APU, Trinity A10-5800K would be todays comparable APU to the 3220 and it beats the 3220 in almost every category and overclocked handily beats the 3220. OP, if your looking for apples to apples at the same price, Trinity is what you shopuld look for



But 5800K is 45% expensive than the i3, at least in my country. So it *should* be better.

Edit: So, I looked up in Newegg, the A10 is priced same as the i3. Well, WTF is wrong with AMD in my place?


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## mitya (Jun 2, 2013)

WOW, guys, what can I say? I posted my question speculatively before I went to bed and I wake up to find a whole debate and loads of useful info - THANKS. Great community.

OK, so some good food for thought here. Can I just press you, though, on the difference in processor speed specifically. What is the thinking and significance behind that?

Like I said, I know processor speed is far from the only comparator, but nonetheless it's over a gig slower on the AMD. Is that somehow compensated for with the extra two cores, or something?

Perhaps the message here is that I need to spend a little more and future proof a little. I was thinking £330 tops - perhaps £400 is a wiser target.

@Ketxxx - believe me I did plenty of Googling. I came across discussions and benchmark tests. The former led to opinions on both sides, while the latter was somewhat baffling for me


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## Mussels (Jun 2, 2013)

mitya: you just asked the question was going to point out.

the AMD's are close in speed to the intels at the same clock speed, but in this case with over 1GHz difference its not as clear cut. the intel will kick the pants off the AMD in this situation since most games do NOT use more than 2 threads.


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## Ketxxx (Jun 2, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> The 3220 is far from being good, so what is the point of bad rapping one when the other is the same..



^^ ERROR 404 Critical failure of context warning. 

Out of the two options being considered, the i3 will be far better than the A6 APU, I never said the i3 in itself was good now did I?  I just said between the options being considered by mitya, the i3 is better. Somebody also really didn't do their homework before replying bit-tech A8 3850 review, bit-tech i3 3220 review. Hell, the first link alone tells the story, the A8 3850 in tasks mitya will likely do a lot of gets its pants beat off by a i3 2100, so a A6 has no chance.



newtekie1 said:


> Not true at all, they keep up with Intels lower end offerings pretty nicely.  For example, my A8 would pretty much walk all over the 3220 in everything, and it absolutely destroys it in gaming with the iGPU.  GTA:IV is actually playable with pretty decent settings on my A8, the 3220 can't even run it at the lowest settings.



I suggest you revise that statement by facts I link to above  Your A8 most certainly won't "walk all over" a i3 3220, your A8 has trouble walking over a i3 2100, in fact your A8 loses out in most tests lol. Your blanket statement is very inaccurate, the only area the APU does better is in gaming, but mitya primarily WON'T be gaming, so you consider primary use, not secondary.



mitya said:


> @Ketxxx - believe me I did plenty of Googling. I came across discussions and benchmark tests. The former led to opinions on both sides, while the latter was somewhat baffling for me



Links above are also relevant for you mitya


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## BiggieShady (Jun 2, 2013)

+1 for GTA4 being notorious CPU hog on PC.
When you start playing GTA4 you are thinking "The frame rates are on the low side but it's still kind of playable" and then you get in the police car chase and it becomes unplayable.
Been there with my core 2 quad.


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## Dent1 (Jun 2, 2013)

mitya said:


> WOW, guys, what can I say? I posted my question speculatively before I went to bed and I wake up to find a whole debate and loads of useful info - THANKS. Great community.
> 
> OK, so some good food for thought here. Can I just press you, though, on the difference in processor speed specifically. What is the thinking and significance behind that?
> 
> ...



Yes the two extra cores of the AMD would compensate.

General performance they are about the same, the i3 is faster but only on a superficial level, they trade blows and win/lose with one another inconsistently by small margin victories, this makes it difficult to say which is better. In gaming the AMD APU is significantly faster (although if you're serious about gaming I wouldn't recommend neither)

Here is a review a forum member did:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182099

Edit: I'm talking about the i3 3200 vs the Trinity A10 4-core.


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## Ketxxx (Jun 2, 2013)

^^ You should really read the links I posted above as well. In gaming, the APU is better obviously, in a lot of other tasks (including multi-tasking) the i3 is better by a noticeable amount. The A8 link in particular highlights these things (i3 2100 is very similar to the i3 3220)


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Jun 2, 2013)

I personally use and read reviews subjectively as many sites are biased , imho the amd chips are simply the one , regardless of ipc and cpu power upto a point. 
And that point is when a discrete gfx card is added ,at this point intel can compete. 
OP the amd chip can be ocd and has boost so its a good choice but you need to define how important games are going to be and maybe get a gfx card if they matter.


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## mitya (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks again, all. Really helpful. Ketxxx - I'll head off to read those links shortly.

@theoneandonlymrk - gaming isn't a big thing for me as I have a Wii U for gaming needs. I just figured that, since I was getting a PC (I'm coming back from Mac, after an ill-advised switch some years ago) I might see what was around in the PC gaming world these days. Like I say, nothing cutting edge - I'm aware you wouldn't buy a budget PC and expect to play Bioshock 2, say.

Interesting re: GTA IV - I thought with it being fairly old now that it would be a breeze for today's PCs, even budget ones.

So no, gaming's not a big thing. It's much more about browsers and text editors. At any one time I might have the following open:

- 3 or 4 browsers, with 10-20 tabs open in total (some with a lot of JavaScript going on)
- text editor / IDE
- VPN client
- local server (Apache)
- various explorer Windows
- Skype
- Windows Media Player
- XML editor


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## Mussels (Jun 2, 2013)

mitya said:


> Thanks again, all. Really helpful. Ketxxx - I'll head off to read those links shortly.
> 
> @theoneandonlymrk - gaming isn't a big thing for me as I have a Wii U for gaming needs. I just figured that, since I was getting a PC (I'm coming back from Mac, after an ill-advised switch some years ago) I might see what was around in the PC gaming world these days. Like I say, nothing cutting edge - I'm aware you wouldn't buy a budget PC and expect to play Bioshock 2, say.
> 
> ...




having that many programs open will be a breeze for anything modern, as long as you have enough ram.

only a few tasks will show up the weaker CPU in the AMD CPU, gaming being the big one (since many games only use one CPU core, especially console ports - the slower clock speeds really hurt)


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Jun 2, 2013)

mitya said:


> Thanks again, all. Really helpful. Ketxxx - I'll head off to read those links shortly.
> 
> @theoneandonlymrk - gaming isn't a big thing for me as I have a Wii U for gaming needs. I just figured that, since I was getting a PC (I'm coming back from Mac, after an ill-advised switch some years ago) I might see what was around in the PC gaming world these days. Like I say, nothing cutting edge - I'm aware you wouldn't buy a budget PC and expect to play Bioshock 2, say.
> 
> ...


As mussels says +1
Worth mentioning that GtaIV is a bit of a mare for almost any pc and stands apart as the worst coded and running game I own of many so it's not a good example of good pc gameing I got alan wake for quids off steam and it will run on an amd apu just fine  nudge jkxD


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

Ketxxx said:


> I suggest you revise that statement by facts I link to above  Your A8 most certainly won't "walk all over" a i3 3220, your A8 has trouble walking over a i3 2100, in fact your A8 loses out in most tests lol. Your blanket statement is very inaccurate, the only area the APU does better is in gaming, but mitya primarily WON'T be gaming, so you consider primary use, not secondary.



I suggest you revise your statement... I did a head to head A10 5800K vs 3220 here at TPU: Here is the results. A10:5800K handles the 3220 at stock pretty much of a push in benchmarks and overclocked beats the 3220 in just about every category. Seeing graphically it trounces the 3220, Trinity would be a better choice by far. Seeing the A10-5800K is a direct competitor of the 3220. And is a better APU, it will spank the 2100. In closing, I have both the A10-5800K and 3220 and using both, the 5800K is better. The 5800K is overclockable if the user wishes and the 3220 is not making a better case for the 5800K.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182099&highlight=a10+vs+3220+head+to+head


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## Boozad (Jun 2, 2013)

I have an A10-5800k in my secondary rig and if it's used alongside a decent GPU it's a pretty decent CPU. It's handled all I've thrown at it so far with games like Dead Island, Bioshock Infinite, DiRT 3 and more, but that is with an ASUS HD7850-DC2T installed. I can't say how it would hold up using the IGPU, but running alongside a discrete GPU it runs fine.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 2, 2013)

Ketxxx said:


> I suggest you revise that statement by facts I link to above  Your A8 most certainly won't "walk all over" a i3 3220, your A8 has trouble walking over a i3 2100, in fact your A8 loses out in most tests lol. Your blanket statement is very inaccurate, the only area the APU does better is in gaming, but mitya primarily WON'T be gaming, so you consider primary use, not secondary.



The facts you link to above are for a K10 based Llano processor.  Notice that isn't the processor I have, I've got a Piledriver based Trinity processor.  Those links help the OP because he is looking at the older generation APU, and the 3220 is the better choice between the two choices the OP has, but those links do not prove your grossly inaccurate blanket statement that all APUs performance is far from good.

It is YOUR blanket statement that is inaccurate, I wasn't making a blanket statement.  My statement was very specific.  _MY_ A8 will walk all over a 3220.  The stock 5800K is very close to matching the 3220 in real-world tests seen here.  And it easily beats the 3220 when pushed to 4.6GHz.  _MY_ A8-5600K is idential to the 5800K CPU wise, it just has a slightly weaker iGPU.  _MY_ A8 does 4.2GHz on the stock cooler, and will hit 5GHz in the right motherboard with a cheap DHT cooler.  So, yes, _MY_ overclocked to 5.0GHz will walk all over a 3220.



acerace said:


> But 5800K is 45% expensive than the i3, at least in my country. So it *should* be better.
> 
> Edit: So, I looked up in Newegg, the A10 is priced same as the i3. Well, WTF is wrong with AMD in my place?




Probably more middlemen between AMD and you.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

OP: get the Intel build. once you start gaming then get a discrete GPU. Anything embedded in a CPU is going to be pretty lousy in GTA. The i3 will also be better then AMd APu offerings on the CPU front, which will help in gta. Basically I agree with what Mussels is saying. go Intel then buy gpu later.


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## shovenose (Jun 2, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> OP: get the Intel build. once you start gaming then get a discrete GPU. Anything embedded in a CPU is going to be pretty lousy in GTA. The i3 will also be better then AMd APu offerings on the CPU front, which will help in gta. Basically I agree with what Mussels is saying. go Intel then buy gpu later.



This.


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

newtekie1 said:


> The facts you link to above are for a K10 based Llano processor.  Notice that isn't the processor I have, I've got a Piledriver based Trinity processor.  Those links help the OP because he is looking at the older generation APU, and the 3220 is the better choice between the two choices the OP has, but those links do not prove your grossly inaccurate blanket statement that all APUs performance is far from good.
> 
> It is YOUR blanket statement that is inaccurate, I wasn't making a blanket statement.  My statement was very specific.  _MY_ A8 will walk all over a 3220.  The stock 5800K is very close to matching the 3220 in real-world tests seen here.  And it easily beats the 3220 when pushed to 4.6GHz.  _MY_ A8-5600K is idential to the 5800K CPU wise, it just has a slightly weaker iGPU.  _MY_ A8 does 4.2GHz on the stock cooler, and will hit 5GHz in the right motherboard with a cheap DHT cooler.  So, yes, _MY_ overclocked to 5.0GHz will walk all over a 3220.
> 
> ...



Yes Newtekie.... Agreed 100%



MxPhenom 216 said:


> OP: get the Intel build. once you start gaming then get a discrete GPU. Anything embedded in a CPU is going to be pretty lousy in GTA. The i3 will also be better then AMd APu offerings on the CPU front, which will help in gta. Basically I agree with what Mussels is saying. go Intel then buy gpu later.



And how can you say that? Look at the benchmarks........ the i3 is NOT better on the CPU front if you look at the head to head I did.


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## mitya (Jun 2, 2013)

It looks like I've started a war


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> Yes Newtekie.... Agreed 100%
> 
> 
> 
> And how can you say that? Look at the benchmarks........ the i3 is NOT better on the CPU front if you look at the head to head I did.



For one. Look at the CPUs he is looking at. Not the 5600k 5800k and all that, because he's IS NOT comparing his options between those chips. Between the i3 and the A6 3620, the i3 is better in terms of CPU performance. Obviously GPU the A6 will be better, but not good enough to make it a very viable solution for any decent gaming, especially GTA. The fact of the matter is, the i3 will be better for the OPs primary usage, once he wants to start gaming, he can just throw in a discrete card, and that solution will be the best in the end.


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> For one. Look at the CPUs he is looking at. Not the 5600k 5800k and all that, because he's IS NOT comparing his options between those chips. Between the i3 and the A6 3620, the i3 is better in terms of CPU performance. Obviously GPU the A6 will be better, but not good enough to make it a very viable solution for any decent gaming, especially GTA. The fact of the matter is, the i3 will be better for the OPs primary usage, once he wants to start gaming, he can just throw in a discrete card, and that solution will be the best in the end.



We recommended the A10-5800K earlier in the thread and people were still saying 3220 was better. Stay current



mitya said:


> It looks like I've started a war



No No/ your comparing a $70 CPU to a $120 CPU. The price and comparable processor is the A10-5800K. The A6-3650 is a Llano processor that has Bulldozer cores. The A10-5800K is Trinity that features Piledriver cores and without question, is better than the i3 3220 at the same price for what you need. Llano is not being produced anymore since AMD released trinity. Any retail chips are left over stock/


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> We recommended the A10-5800K earlier in the thread and people were still saying 3220 was better. Stay current
> 
> 
> 
> No No/ your comparing a $70 CPU to a $120 CPU. The price and comparable processor is the A10-5800K



Yep, recommended a chip that he wasn't even asking about. Nice work!


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## drdeathx (Jun 2, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Yep, recommended a chip that he wasn't even asking about. Nice work!



The conversation changed if you paid attention. The 3650 is a $70 processor and the comparable APU is 5800K at the same price.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> The conversation changed if you paid attention. The 3650 is a $70 processor and the comparable APU is 5800K at the same price.



Not really.............

Right the *3620* is a $70, the i3 3220 is considerably more expensive. The OP is looking at pre built rigs, and from the sounds of it the price between them is very close or equal, look for a rig with a 5800k in it, and that price of the rig will be higher then both the 3620 and i3 3220. Obviously that blatant assumptions from information we have been given by the OP.

OP, could you provide links of the systems you are actually looking at from the retailer you are buying from?


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## erocker (Jun 2, 2013)

mitya said:


> It looks like I've started a war



And now it's over. Read the posts, look at the reviews, take the data and make an informed decision.


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