Intel Core i3-3220 Pro Reviews

Intel’s Core i3 processors have always offered decent performance and good value. The latest Core i3 to hit our labs, the third- generation Core i3-3220, appears to follow in that tradition. It’s a dual-core Ivy Bridge CPU that runs at a maximum clock speed of 3.3GHz and has 3MB of Intel Smart Cache.

While Intel's x86 dominance is clear (you'd simply be a fool to buy an AMD chip if you'll mainly be image editing for example), AMD does have a real winner in the form of the A10-5800K when it comes to using the on-board graphics. Not only is it infinitely better than the Intel HD graphics included with the Intel Core i3-3220, but it's powerful enough to handle some games at 1,920 x 1,080 as well. However, those tech-savvy enough to understand exactly what's going on in our benchmarks will realise that an Intel Core i3-3220 coupled with a discreet GPU and cheap LGA1155 motherboard is only going to cost £50-100 more than an AMD A10-5800K setup, and will be far more potent in games plus you'll reap the rewards of having an Intel CPU for other tasks too. We're not saying the Core i3-3220 is an alternative to a Core i5, but it certainly gives AMD's best CPUs a run for their money and bloody noses on occasions. A lot will depend which CPU socket you currently own too as which route is the best value. At face value, the Intel Core i3-3220 is a fantastic buy, whether you're not into games and just need something with a little grunt to power through image editing or web browsing, or plan to drop in a low or mid-range graphics card at some point. It's also very power-frugal. It's a shame that there's no substantial overclocking to be had, but the Intel Core i3-3220 still gets our firm recommendation as an awesome sub-£100 CPU.

The new A10-5800K is a far better CPU than the A8-3870K, and it costs less than what the A8-3870K did when it was launched. Both processing performance and gaming performance were improved on the new processor. On gaming, the A10-5800K leaves its main competitor, the Core i3-3220, in the dust, as it is between two and three times faster. In fact, the A10-5800K is faster than a GeForce GT 440 for games, making it an outstanding solution for those willing to build an entry-level gaming system on a budget. You have to understand, however, that depending on the game, you won’t be able to achieve a good frame rate (i.e., a good gaming experience) even when lowering all image quality settings to their minimums. From the games we ran, we achieved a terrific frame rate on StarCraft II (almost 80 frames per second), a good frame rate on FarCry 2 (around 40 frames per second), and a playable frame rate on DiRT3 (36 frames per second). However, on Battlefield 3 and Borderlands 2 the frame rate was below 20. You would also face such limitations when using entry-level video cards, and, as mentioned, the A10-5800K was faster than our entry-level GeForce GT 440. Similarly to what we learned with the previous generation of AMD APUs, the A10-5800K lags behind its competitors in general processing performance. The Core i3-3220 is faster than the A10-5800K for day-to-day operations. Therefore, if you won’t play any games at all and want to build a powerful entry-level PC, we recommend the Core i3-3220 instead.