Post by mikkh on May 10, 2022 19:57:41 GMT
I bought a cheap CPU (Pentium Gold G6405) to test whether one of my auction bargains was actually a bargain!
The answer is no, I suspect it's the PSU, which is a non standard HP one on a non standard motherboard.
The cost of replacing both if I'm wrong (as if) didn't seem like a desirable or cheap way out, but even I make mistakes sometimes and figured I'd do the sensible thing and buy a standard motherboard.
I managed to source an open box one cheap and set about building a PC. (I already had the other parts required)
Everything went smoothly with little or no swearing and having already thought ahead and installed Linux on a spare m.2 SSD, I was soon ready to give it a test.
The CPU is running at a very acceptable 25 degrees C, in fact not just acceptable, it's quite remarkable as I usually expect to see 30-35 as a sort of ball park figure on a new build.
I'd already done my homework and wouldn't have even considered buying it if the benchmark figures hadn't revealed it was more than fast enough for a modern PC and capable of even running Windows 11!
Sure enough (no doubt helped by the SSD) there was no noticeable lag or signs of it struggling at all as I installed a few extra programs and did a bit of general surfing.
I have the same version of Linux on my main PC (an i3 and theoretically 3 times as fast) so I was able to do some benchmark tests which are a bit geeky even for me and throw up pretty meaningless numbers.
What's worse it compares the numbers to ancient hardware you'd be very annoyed if you didn't beat by a long way - a throwback to when the original program was written no doubt.
But with two modern machines, the numbers should be more relevant at least. Going through all the tests, I was surprised the £50 CPU was not only almost holding it's own, but actually beating the i3 on several tests. That was quite a surprise considering the i3 was at least 3 times £50 when it was new a couple of years ago.
So to answer my own question, a £50 CPU can be surprisingly good. Gamer's won't be rushing out to base their next rig on it, but for a basic everyday PC, it's more than good enough.
The answer is no, I suspect it's the PSU, which is a non standard HP one on a non standard motherboard.
The cost of replacing both if I'm wrong (as if) didn't seem like a desirable or cheap way out, but even I make mistakes sometimes and figured I'd do the sensible thing and buy a standard motherboard.
I managed to source an open box one cheap and set about building a PC. (I already had the other parts required)
Everything went smoothly with little or no swearing and having already thought ahead and installed Linux on a spare m.2 SSD, I was soon ready to give it a test.
The CPU is running at a very acceptable 25 degrees C, in fact not just acceptable, it's quite remarkable as I usually expect to see 30-35 as a sort of ball park figure on a new build.
I'd already done my homework and wouldn't have even considered buying it if the benchmark figures hadn't revealed it was more than fast enough for a modern PC and capable of even running Windows 11!
Sure enough (no doubt helped by the SSD) there was no noticeable lag or signs of it struggling at all as I installed a few extra programs and did a bit of general surfing.
I have the same version of Linux on my main PC (an i3 and theoretically 3 times as fast) so I was able to do some benchmark tests which are a bit geeky even for me and throw up pretty meaningless numbers.
What's worse it compares the numbers to ancient hardware you'd be very annoyed if you didn't beat by a long way - a throwback to when the original program was written no doubt.
But with two modern machines, the numbers should be more relevant at least. Going through all the tests, I was surprised the £50 CPU was not only almost holding it's own, but actually beating the i3 on several tests. That was quite a surprise considering the i3 was at least 3 times £50 when it was new a couple of years ago.
So to answer my own question, a £50 CPU can be surprisingly good. Gamer's won't be rushing out to base their next rig on it, but for a basic everyday PC, it's more than good enough.
