Question 1

Does the heat sink have thermal paste already on it, or do you have to add your own?

Accepted Answer

It does contain thermal paste. It seems like a thin layer but I decided to just keep it that way and so far so good. No overheating, not even alarm from the motherboard heat sensor.

it is up to you though, if you feel safer cleaning the included one and adding your own then go for it.

Question 2

Will this go into an HP pavillion A6360T desktop PC
currently running vista?

Accepted Answer

It is not the same socket,  it looks like the pavilion has a 775 socket, ant this chip needs a 1155 socket.  Look to the hp support site for specifications, particularly motherboard specifications.  I'd sent the link but They don't work here but I can tell you that hp's support site for your pc lists the specifications. If you go to hp support and search for your computer you will find product specifications.  It looks to me like the board will support core 2 duos and quads. Another approach might be to get the motherboard model and google processor support for it.  Hp tends to only offer a few different options in their products, when the product will support more.  I would use the hp site as the guide.  I have had the same problem with a hp all-in-one recently and I went with the top end supported processor, and couldn't be happier.

Question 3

I have a IPISB-CU (Carmel2) motherboard thats LGA 1155 socket, would this work with my current motherboard?

Accepted Answer

It depends if the manufacturer (HP I'm guessing) has released a BIOS update to support the Ivy Bridge processors on the H61 platform on your motherboard.  Depending on what you are planning to do I would just buy another motherboard.  Either that or stick to Sandy Bridge CPU's for upgrading.

Question 4

Is this processor at least 4th generation???

Accepted Answer

No. The first digit after the "i3-", in this case "3", is the generation number. This is a third generation CPU.

Question 5

i have inspiron 660s will this fit in my motherboard? because i want to change my proccesor i have intel celeron i whant to upgraded to this proccesor the intel core i3 ?

Accepted Answer

I believe you are asking about a laptop.  This is a desktop CPU so it wont work.  You will need to find the mobile version, but even then I would verify compatibility.  Laptops can be very limiting when it comes to replacement parts.  For example, is your CPU even removable?  If so, what socket does it use?

Question 6

Is this compatible with Asus Z87-Pro?

Accepted Answer

NO this processor is NOT compatible with a Z87 motherboard. This is an Ivy Bridge socket 1155 cpu/processor. All Z87 chipsets are socket 1150 and need a Haswell family processor.

Question 7

I am building a PLEX media server, this will hold 3 multi-terabyte drives and an SSD for host OS. Should I drop down to a Pentium Dual Core or go with this model since I am going to be transcoding on this machine as well?

Accepted Answer

You should go with this model. Pentiums have slightly slower clock speed vs. Core i3 models. While both have two physical cores, the Core i3 also has hyper-threading which can increase performance by ~ 20%. Core i3 models also have Quick Sync technology for quickly encoding/decoding HD video.

Question 8

Nathan R: Are you saying i cant o/c by raising the base clock?

Accepted Answer

You can a little, but it is definitely not recommended.  The base clock is linked to the PCI slots base clock, so you will have to overclock those at the same time if you choose to go this route, and they tend not to be very stable so the improvements are quite limited.  The multiplier is really all you should be using.

Question 9

Im in the process of upgrading my desktop p/c from AMD to INTEL and would like to know if i will be able to overclock this processor? The motherboard I'm looking at is N82E16813131832 Asus P8Z77M 1155. Ill be using a gtx 580. Thank you.

My current setup is an oem motherboard with an athlon quad core 3.1ghz. no overclocing on this board.

Accepted Answer

As far as I know i3 CPUs don't overclock. They have been locked and while some people were able to raise the clock a little bit, it didn't make a huge difference in it. If you want to overclock while using intel then go for the i5 with the K at the end of the model number. If you're on a budget and want to overclock, stick with amd. That's not to say this CPU is bad, quiet the contrary, is pretty good. I do my gaming on it and it is good for what I paid.

Question 10

Im building a custom PC for gaming for the first time and i wanted to stay in the 700-800 dollar range so i am wondering if this is something to look at for gaming until i upgrade?

Accepted Answer

The I3 is the bottom of the line processor of the I3/I5/I7 processors. If you wish to stick w/ Intel and use it for gaming, go w/ an I5 or I7 CPU.  The dual-core I3-3240 3.4GHz CPU does have a much lower power usage (thus will run cooler) than most the AMD's.

I'd go w/ a Quad-Core or better FM2  A-8 or A-10 Series AMD. 
Search : 
AMD
Series: A-Series APU Series
Multi-Core:  4, 6, or 8 core
Make sure a Heatsink and Fan are included.

Select 5 CPU's and compare. I'd go w/ an A8-XXXX or A10-XXXX. processor depending on budget. They both will work in the same motherboard, so you can upgrade later. Use the charts on Toms Hardware for performance rankings if you're tossed between 2 cpu's.

Be sure to pay attention to Power requirements. Add in the power requirement for your video card(s) at max power consumption and get a PSU that can cover the sum by at least 50W (+100W better).

Questions & Answers