With the launch of AMD’s 3rd Gen Ryzen 3 CPUs and the 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake processors, the budget CPU market once again has ample options. You can buy a capable gaming CPU for as low as $120. That’s quite remarkable as you’re getting around 90% of the performance of a Core i5-10600K ($300) for a third of the price. In this post, we compare the Core i3-10100F (priced at $158) against AMD’s Ryzen 3 3300X ($180+) and decide which is the best budget CPU in the sub-$150 segment.
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X vs Intel Core i3-10100F: Specifications
| CPU | Cores/Threads | Base Clock | Boost | L3 Cache | TDP | Launch/Present Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i3-10100F | 4/8 | 3.6GHz | 4.3GHz | 6MB | 65W | $115/$158 |
| Ryzen 3 3300X | 4/8 | 3.8GHz | 4.3GHz | 18MB | 65W | $129/$189 |
Test Bench
- Motherboard: X570 Taichi|ROG Maximus XII
- Memory (Dual-channel): 3600MHz CL16 (1:1)|2666MHz CL14
- GPU: Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP
- SSD: WD Black 500GB (NVMe)
1080p Gaming Tests
In gaming workloads, the Ryzen 3 3300X is slightly faster than the Core i3-10100F (tested with 2400MHz CL14 memory). Although the deltas are marginal at best, the core issue here pertains to the limited options that Intel’s lower-end B and H series platforms come with. Memory support tops out at 2666MHz, overclocking is restricted and future upgrade paths are all but uncertain. These additional features of AMD’s B450 and B550 chipsets are really the deciding factors here and give the Ryzen 3 3300X several noteworthy advantages.
Content Creation
In content creation workloads like rendering and ray-tracing, as expected AMD is well ahead of Intel’s 10th Gen offering. As you can see, it appears that the Core i3-10100F seems like a rival for the Ryzen 3 3100, rather than the 3300X. However, the pricing puts it right next to the latter which is why we compared them as such.
Conclusion
In terms of gaming performance, the deltas between the Core i3-10100F and the Ryzen 3 3300X are hardly noticeable. In multi-threaded content creation workloads, that’s where the latter really sets itself apart. However, as already mentioned, AMD’s extended platform support and overclocking ability for even the lower-end B series motherboards are what really seal this win for the 3300X.
