A rather interesting approach among buyers to choosing a processor for creating a gaming platform is that many people prefer to bypass the Core I3-3240 crystal, considering it to be a representative of a budget class with an overvalued cost (10,000 rubles). And just two hardware cores somehow confuse lovers of productive and resource-intensive games. An overview of this processor, its technical specifications and owner reviews will dispel all the myths that the crystal has managed to grow. And the potential buyer is recommended to listen not only to the reviews, but also to pay attention to the test results in games, because it is these indicators that determine the performance of processors.
Market positioning
Intel’s Core I3-3240 processor is just in the gaming segment, guaranteeing the buyer that the device can work with fast data processing, including graphic textures. There can be no question of any budget segment - the company's pricing policy simply does not allow this. Do not forget that the platform used to create the crystal is proudly called Ivy Bridge, which means that the logic and technology of the corporate segment processors with high performance are used.
The integrated graphics core in the Intel HD Graphics 2500 chip is an analogue of budget video cards, which makes it possible for undemanding users to create a simple gaming platform based on a workstation. And when it comes to performance, do not forget about the clock frequency of the working cores, because 3400 MHz is a worthy indicator.
Technical Specifications of Core I3-3240 Crystal
Chasing the frequencies of the processor bus (this is especially popular among fans of AMD products), many do not pay attention to the amount of data transferred between the chip and the motherboard bus. For Intel Core processors, this parameter is directly indicated in the marking - 5 GT / s (for each thread). The Intel Core TM I3-3240 product has 2 streams for each core, which means that the total data transfer is approximately 40 gigabytes per second (one way).
Yes, there are questions about the built-in cache - 128 kilobytes (versus 256 KB for the same AMD) looks poor. However, the cache in the second level has 512 KB, and the third is limited to three megabytes. Such indicators are sufficient not only for gaming applications, but also for demanding video processing programs and 3D-modeling.
About technology
The Intel Core I3-3240 OEM processor , as noted earlier, is built on the Ivy Bridge platform, which means that the crystal supports 64-bit systems, has hardware protection against malicious code and provides the functionality of the Intel Virtualization virtual environment. Standard support for dual channel 1600 MHz DDR3 memory is present in this case. The only complaints are the work with the maximum amount of data - it is limited to 32 gigabytes (for senior representatives of the Intel Core I5 / I7 line, the limit is increased to 64 GB).
Owners also respond positively to the heat dissipation of the crystal - only 55 watts for such a processor is a low indicator. Accordingly, buyers do not need to worry about overheating when operating the entire system under maximum load. It is quite possible to put a passive cooling system and enjoy complete silence in the computer.
Game processor testing
If we compare the Core I-3240 gaming chip with the representatives of the older Core I5 / I7 models, we will see a pattern - in synthetic tests, the performance boost will be proportional to the cost of all devices. That is, the I3 processor is 30% weaker than the representative of the Core I5 line (the price is the same) and two times slower than the Core I7 (the cost is also different). This is the manufacturer’s policy, and nobody can even change it by overclocking.
Quite a different matter in gaming applications. As the comparison shows, in resource-intensive productive toys, it does not matter which figure is in the marking of the Core I line - 3.5 or 7. It all depends on the video adapter, RAM and hard drive. The processor has potential, and it’s unrealistic to reveal all of it in games.
Platform change must be justified
Many owners of gaming computers based on the LGA-775 platform believe that replacing systems with four cores (we are talking about the Intel Core Quad) is irrational. After all, following the basics of mathematics, 4 is more than 2, and if you put a powerful processor, then it should have more hardware cores. This is a false argument. Any crystal (and even server Xeon) built on the basis of the platform of the previous generation is inferior in performance to the new technology, including the Intel Core I3-3240 processor. Frequency characteristics may be similar, but technology and speed differ dramatically.
To make sure that the platform of the previous generation has outlived its ability to fully work with gaming applications, you can conduct testing. To do this, you will have to use an expensive video adapter, which should make the processor work to the limit of its capabilities (NVIDIA Quadro will do this task perfectly). The testing will surprise many users - the vaunted representatives of the LGA-775 with 4 cores (by the way, AMD processors with 6-8 cores too) work at maximum, but are not able to increase the number of FPS higher than Intel Core I3 demonstrates.
Resource-intensive professional programs
Only the video coding and 3D modeling applications can fail the performance exam. Such programs are clearly not for the Core I3-3240 processor. The characteristics of the on-chip cache are clearly not ideal. Neither overclocking, nor the installation of more productive computer elements will help the processor show a decent result.
This does not mean that the crystal is not at all capable of doing conventional video encoding in Sony Vegas or Nero Video. Everything will work, but for a very long time. For testing office applications, processing graphic raster images and complex mathematical calculations, there were no questions during testing. The processor quickly coped with all the tasks.
The last argument of the kings
Everyone was interested to see how in one price category the unreasonably expensive Core I3-3240 loses to a monster with 6 cores. And this is quite real in synthetic tests. Without exception, all testing programs will show a clear superiority of the same FX-6300 crystal - in working with RAM, in terms of overall system performance, core clock speed and overclocking potential, hardware encryption, etc. But for some reason, a similar comparison is not carried out in gaming applications and working with video editors.
Any resource-intensive game (Rezident Evel 5, DIRT or FarCry 3) will immediately show the potential buyer who is the king on the processor market. The owners of 6-8-nuclear systems will be able to escape from censure only after dispersing the crystals. Here, the economical Core I3 processor will have to give up positions in some games (which are designed for platforms with a large number of cores). A synthetic test coding video in HD format (x264 Benchmark HD) will help decapitate an AMD representative in testing. Overclocking is powerless here - an Intel representative will break ahead by a huge margin.
Owner reviews
For most potential buyers, reviews play a major role in choosing products in the computer market. Core I3-3240 is not as popular on the processor market as the manufacturer would like. Stops many users the cost of goods. The representative of Core I3 has only two cores, but its price is higher than that of any analog of the competitor AMD with 4 cores. Therefore, it turns out that with a large budget, buyers prefer the 5th model of the Intel processor, and those who want to save money look towards the competitor.
Today, most likely, it will not be possible to change the situation in the domestic market, because Intel is not going to lower the price of its products, and there is no one to write positive reviews about the powerful dual-core processor. There is all hope for test laboratories that conduct a comparative review and publish the results in the media.
Finally
The result is predictable: in terms of price and quality, the inexpensive representative of Core I3-3240 has practically no competitors in the market of computer processors. It is a pity that few potential buyers are aware of this. Once again, chasing high frequencies and the number of cores, users forget about technology and data transfer speed.
It was, is and will be, we can recall at least the AMD Athlon 5200+ processors, when the seller told customers about the mythical frequencies of 5200 MHz. Any advertisement is a sale, especially when it comes to computer hardware. You need to compare, look for reviews, conduct testing and listen to reviews. Only in this way will it be possible to acquire a truly productive device.