Expanding its processor lineup, Intel launched its 10th generation Core “Comet Lake” processors early this year. Within the line-up is the entry-level Core i3 which offers several new features to the table including improved thermal performance, boosted clock speeds as well as improved overclocking support.
In today’s review, we will take a closer look at the Intel i3-10100 and see if this quad-core processor can perform well in gaming and video editing at its highly affordable PHP6,000 price point.
Intel Core i3-10100 Specifications
- 4 Cores / 8 Threads
- Socket Type LGA 1200
- Up to 4.3 GHz
- Compatible with Intel 400 series chipset based motherboards
- Intel Optane Memory Support
- Cooler Included
- Price: PHP 6,000
Intel Core i3-10100 Benchmarks
Note: For our test bench, we used a ROG STRIX B460F motherboard with 16GB DDR4 2400mhz memory and a GTX 1650 Super graphics card. All of our games are inside a 500GB 2.5in SATA SSD. Lastly, these are all out of the box benchmarks, we did not overclock/undervolt.
Temperature
Let’s start first with the thermal performance of this processor.
This processor with a TDP of 65watts has a maximum temperature of 71°C and 36°C on idle.
Synthetic Benchmarks
For Cinebench R23, we got 5511 for multi core and 1093 on single core. You can see here that our multi core score is close to an i7-7700k. While the single core result shows that this processor is ranked higher than a Ryzen 7 1700x by AMD.
Our Geekbench 5 on compute test shows that both processors are on par on performance when it comes to single core results. However, Ryzen 3 3100 is higher with regards to the multi core result.
For the Blender Render test, the Core i3-10100 and Ryzen 3 3100 results are not too far from each other with a difference of only 3 seconds.
Now for video editing and rendering, we used Adobe Premiere Pro and Media Encoder. For this, we edited a 1-minute video in 4K timeline with effects and transitions. The end result is that we had no issues and scrubbing through the timeline was very smooth given that the program monitor resolution is set to ¼.
For the render time to YouTube 4K Preset, we got 2 minutes and 45 seconds for a 1-minute 4K video.
Gaming Benchmarks
Note: All of our gaming benchmarks were tested on 1080p and CPU Usage were monitored and included for your reference.
Dota 2 – DP: V.Prodigy Vs Team Secret
For Dota 2, which is a CPU and GPU dependent game, on Best Looking preset we got 100fps on average. The CPU Usage is 55%.
Resident Evil 3: Remake
For Resident Evil 3: Remake Graphics Priority Preset, we got a score of 152fps and CPU Usage of 40%.
Cyberpunk 2077
Lastly, in Cyberpunk 2077 Low Preset, we got 73.9fps and the CPU Usage is at 85% although sometimes it spikes up to 95%.
Conclusion
Based on our benchmark results, the i3-10100 can be used for slight video editing up to 4K timelines, though it performs really well if you only limit your editing up to 1080p.
As for the games that we tested, this processor showed that it can run even Triple A games as long as it’s configured to low settings. Though it also depends on the GPU that you will pair for this chipset.
Speaking of GPU, we recommend that you partner this chipset with GTX 1650 Super or RX5500. Anything higher than these (e.g. RTX 2060) might have a bottleneck especially on CPU intensive games like the Cyberpunk 2077. This is one factor that you should consider on your upgrade path on this particular CPU.
To conclude, we highly recommend the Intel Core i3-10100 for first time desktop builders or to those who want to have their very own budget gaming PC. But for those who really have a tight budget, you may want to consider the i3-10100F— the counterpart of this chipset that has no integrated GPU— if you are willing to buy a GPU to partner up with this processor.
Intel’s Holiday Promo
Intel is adding more cheers with their Holiday Promo! When you buy Intel Core i3 and i5 processors to power your desktop PC, Php100k and other great prizes are up for grabs. For mechanics and guidelines, visit Intel’s Facebook page or check out the image below:
PROMO PERIOD
November 27 to December 25, 2020 extended until February 28, 2021!!!
PARTICIPATING PRODUCTS:
Intel Core i3 10100 and 10100F, Intel Core i5 10400, 10400F, Intel Core i5 10500, and Intel Core i5 10600, 10600KF, 10600KA
PRIZES
- 15 winners of Php 3,000 worth of Sodexo Vouchers
- 10 winners of Hyperx Gaming Headset
- 10 winners of Intel Core i5 NUC Mini-PC
- 5 winners of 512GB Intel M.2 SSD
- Grand Prize: Php 100,000 worth of PayMaya credits
