The $60 CPU Question: AMD Athlon 200GE or Intel Pentium Gold G5400? A Review
by Ian Cutress on January 14, 2019 8:00 AM ESTGaming: Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
The latest instalment of the Tomb Raider franchise does less rising and lurks more in the shadows with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. As expected this action-adventure follows Lara Croft which is the main protagonist of the franchise as she muscles through the Mesoamerican and South American regions looking to stop a Mayan apocalyptic she herself unleashed. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the direct sequel to the previous Rise of the Tomb Raider and was developed by Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics and was published by Square Enix which hit shelves across multiple platforms in September 2018. This title effectively closes the Lara Croft Origins story and has received critical acclaims upon its release.
The integrated Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark is similar to that of the previous game Rise of the Tomb Raider, which we have used in our previous benchmarking suite. The newer Shadow of the Tomb Raider uses DirectX 11 and 12, with this particular title being touted as having one of the best implementations of DirectX 12 of any game released so far.
| AnandTech CPU Gaming 2019 Game List | ||||||||
| Game | Genre | Release Date | API | IGP | Low | Med | High | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | Action | Sep 2018 |
DX12 | 720p Low |
1080p Medium |
1440p High |
4K Highest |
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All of our benchmark results can also be found in our benchmark engine, Bench.
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | IGP | Low | Medium | High |
| Average FPS |  |
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| 95th Percentile |  |
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The comparison between the two CPUs is consistent through to our our medium settings: the G5400 has a comfortable win.
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brakdoo - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
The reason why I bought the 200GE last month: The 5400 is 75€+ and was above 80 when I bought my parts in my country. The Intel shortage makes it easy to decide but I that it'll be over soon.BTW: Does graphics performance have an influence on WebGL stuff like google maps or isn't that challenging enough?
blu42 - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
Shouldn't 'measured under heavy load' suggest a heavy load for the entire package, not the CPU cores alone?Robotire - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
This. I’m surprised a pure CPU (I think?) load was used. I would be interesting to know power usage while gaming.Also I’m more likely to buy a component that uses less power… but I guess some SUV owners might prefer it the other way.
Otherwise it’s a very interesting article, thanks! I don’t care at all about overpriced products, but reviews like this one are useful.
SaturnusDK - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
It's important to note that even if you could get a G5400 at the $64 MSRP, it would be 16% more expensive than the $55 Athlon. However, you can't get the G5400 for $64. The lowest price I have ever seen it retail at is $80 which makes the choice for a absolutely bottom bin bargain buyer easy.If you're still even contemplating the G5400 at it's actual $80 price tag then it would be wise to consider if you can go the extra $20 and get the vastly superior 2200G instead.
Drumsticks - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
As of right now, the Pentium G5400 is $129.99 on Newegg (??????) and $101 on Amazon from an alternate seller. OTOH, the Athlon 200GE is readily available from both for $60. That's a pretty stark difference.ikjadoon - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
The pricing is out of whack at Newegg: G5400 for $129, G5500 (3.8GHz w/ UHD630) for $114, and G5600 (3.9GHz w/ UDH630) for $113.You save $16...while buying a higher-end part.
B&H Photo has it for slightly-less absurd 24% markup over MSRP ($80): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1393125-REG...
khanikun - Tuesday, January 15, 2019 - link
Ya, the G5400 makes no sense with it's pricing. An i3 8100 is a quad core 3.6 ghz proc with UHD630 for $119. Unless power usage is a main concern, I wouldn't bother with any of those G procs currently. Until prices drops, doesn't make much sense to buy them.Zim - Saturday, January 19, 2019 - link
$65 at Fry's https://www.frys.com/product/9499961StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, January 15, 2019 - link
Even in Australia... The G5400 is $129. - Doesn't make sense to grab that when you can get the Ryzen 3 2200G for $155... You could probably find a motherboard that reduces that $26 pricing gap.Otherwise the 200GE is $79... $50 cheaper.
The G4920 is more inline with the 200GE's price at $89 currently... And at that point, the 200GE is still the decided victor.
PVG - Monday, January 14, 2019 - link
I think TDP has to cover simultaneous heavy usage of both the CPU and IGP. POV-Ray only really stresses the CPU side.I see how one can disregard the IGP contribution on higher end chips, but on models like this, where there's a big chance the IGP will actually be put to use, I fell it should be taken into account, on the power measuring front.