Is it worth upgrading my CPU to go from dual to quad core?

Hi everyone

My teeny tiny alienware alpha PC currently has a 2.9GHz Intel Core i3 4130T processor in it. It looks like I can get a used Intel Core i5-4590T 2.00 GHz 6M Cache Quad Core Processor for $50 or less used.

Is it worth my time to get an upgrade like this? Will I get much (if any) benefit for moving to a quad core chip? I can't upgrade the GPU (GeForce 860M) as it's soldered in place. I've previously upgraded the RAM and I've moved from a HDD to a SSD about two years ago.

At that price, I'd say it's absolutely worth it. What sort of games are you running on it?

@banefirelord: Pretty much just Burnout Paradise, Halo PC (the old version not the MCC), Destiny 2, Civilization V, and Hitman 2.

It depends on what you want to do with this computer and it depends on what your expectations are.

That i3 does appear to have HT, so you do have 4 threads. Upgrading to the i5 is 4 cores, but no hyper threading, so you still have 4 threads, but multi-core performance is higher than the i3. The i5 is faster, but not by much and only really pulls away when actual multi-threaded performance is needed. If you're getting otherwise smooth frame rates with hitches, I'm thinking the i5 might just smooth it out here and there.

I think it boils down to how much you value $50 and how long you intend on using that computer. If I had an Alpha (I wanted one but never pulled the trigger.) it'd continue to see use as a Plex/Mame machine for the foreseeable future and would drop an i5 in it.

If this were my daily driver? You can get a rather nice 4core/8 thread CPU for under $100 nowadays. Save up and pair it with a cheap motherboard, ram, SSD, and an Edu version of Windows 10. iGPUs nowadays, at least from AMD are in the 860m range, and you'd have the option of plunking a much more capable GPU in.

@zelyre: I'm overall still fine with the performance of the i3, but I've noticed lately that Office 365, Outlook, a dozen or so chrome tabs, and teams running kind of start giving me some issues and I don't know if that's something that upgrading the CPU could "fix."

Game performance is also still fine enough on low settings. I'm not expecting to be wowed by a machine this old. Most of my gaming is on the Switch Lite and PS4 (soon to be PS5).

@ry_ry: I misread the speed of your i3; thought it was slower than it was. Looking at benchmarks comparing the i3 and the i5, I think it's probably only going to get a marginal performance increase (https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-4590T-vs-Intel-Core-i3-4130T/m12879vsm13080...I never know how trustworthy these things are, but +10% doesn't seem like it's worth it to take the thing apart). Socketing the money toward a future budget build like @zelyre suggests or something else probably makes more sense if you're just doing that level of light gaming on it and don't intend to diversify the usage.

@banefirelord& @zelyre thank you both. Looks like I'll keep it the same for now :)

Teams is a hog and I do end up only using that when I absolutely have to.

I am a little surprised you're not having decent performance on that machine. My work machine is a dual core, hyper threaded i5 ultra light with an SSD and 8GB of ram. I have multiple Chrome and FF tabs, Adobe Acrobat, Teams, Zoom, and multiple remote desktop sessions going and it's mostly fine.

With an older computer like that, I would suggest opening it up and blowing out the dust. I would also probably clean off the old thermal paste and plop some new stuff on, as it does get crusty after a few years. But at that point, with the case open, I'd probably ask why I didn't get an i5 to drop in there. It always seems like older stuff drops in price like a rock, then at some point it shoots up in price as demand outpaces supply.

If it's a machine you intend on keeping around for secondary uses... I dunno. I think I'd kick myself for not getting an i5 that works in there. But I'm real dumb with my money at times - I imported a plastic Disney Sea popcorn bucket. It's literally a bucket with an LED in it. And it was more than that i5, lol.

@zelyre: I was blowing the dust out of my machine last night which is what got me on this train of thought! I've really only had issues recently, as my boss wanted to try having a live teams video chat running all work day long. Today I moved it over to an iPad and things are pretty much back to normal.

Honestly, I would put that $50 towards a new computer even if it means buying that new computer 12-18 months from now.

I would just invest in a new machine. For $600 you could have a 3.8 GHz 6-core Ryzen computer with a $150 video card that woudl blow the door off anything you could cobble together with your current machine. I would save the $50 add as much as you can save in teh next 18 months to build a new machine.

As someone who ran an i5 2500k until earlier this year, a new cpu makes a huge difference. I'd recommend saving a little more money and investing into a more modern platform (b450 seems like the go to being it will be supported by the new ryzen cpus, and their lower end offerings always kill it).