Tech

The Core i3-12100F beats the Ryzen 5 5500, it’s the best low-end processor available

A few weeks ago we saw that AMD was going to respond to the Core i3-12100F, and the rest of Intel’s low-end and mid-range processors, with new Ryzen processors. based on Zen 3 architectureand also with certain lower models that would be based on the Zen 2 architecture, such as the Ryzen 3 4100, for example.

The Ryzen 5 5500 was emerging as an interesting option, since it is a processor based on Zen 3 that has 6 cores and 12 threads. However, in this chip AMD has used a different design than the Ryzen 5 5600, since although it has the same number of cores and threads as that one, is limited to 16 MB of L3 cache, that is, it only has half the L3 cache. Obviously, this will affect its performance in applications that depend heavily on it, and among them are games.

In Spain, the Ryzen 5 5500 is priced at 193.60 euros, a figure that places it as a direct rival to the Intel Core i5-12400F, and that contrasts sharply with the Intel Core i3-12100F, a processor that only has four cores and eight threads, and that costs 118.95 euros. It’s gone up a bit in price since I last looked, but it still offers very good value for money, as we’ll see below.

Tom’s Hardware has published an analysis where put the Ryzen 5 5500 to the test, and pits it against other mid-range and low-end processors. The result is very interesting, since the Intel Core i3-12100F performs better in games than that processor, even though it has fewer cores and threads, and costs a lot less money.

Intel Core i3-12100F family

The Intel Core i3-12100F puts the Ryzen 5 5500 in evidence: AMD has to readjust prices

That a processor with four cores and eight threads such as the Core i3-12100F manages to outperform another with six cores and twelve threads tells us many things. The first is that video games are still not well optimized to take advantage of processors with a high core and thread count, the second is that they continue to prioritize the IPC, and the third is that AMD has not been able to adjust the price of its Ryzen processors well. 5000 after the arrival of Alder Lake-S.

If our intention is to play, it is much smarter to buy a Core i3-12100F and dedicate the almost 75 euros that we will save to mount a larger SSD, or to add a larger amount of RAM. We could also directly choose to mount a Core i5-12400F, which costs one euro less than the Ryzen 5 5500 and performs a little more than the Ryzen 5 5600X. The Core i3-12100F has proven that 4-core, 8-thread processors are not dead.

relative performance games

Relative gaming performance. Source: Tom’s Hardware.

I find it very curious to see what has happened since the arrival of Zen 3 in the general consumer market. AMD took advantage of its superiority to raise prices, and Intel knew how to take advantage of the panorama to show itself as a superior option in terms of price-performance ratio. Now, with the arrival of Alder Lake-S, it seems to me that AMD is trying to reduce prices as much as possible, and that they are launching new processors that they do not end up finding their place in the market.

I know that everyone will have their favorites in this regard, but the truth is that objective facts do not admit discussion. You cannot sell a product that performs less than another at a more expensive price, this does not make any sense, and it is precisely what we have been seeing for some time after the arrival of Alder Lake-S. Competition is good for everyone, but only when the big ones accept reality and decide to move prices to offer a more attractive value, and that is not being fulfilled with the Ryzen 5000.

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