YouTube channel Testing Games compared ten games, pitting each between the recently released Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD’s (almost) three-year-old Ryzen 5 3600 CPUs at 1080p resolution. As you can tell by the title of this article, you will see how far Intel has come in the last several years to be a formidable opponent to AMD as far as affordable but surprisingly powerful processor technology.
Ten game tests compare the $97 US Intel Core i3-1200F 4-Core and $200 US AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core CPUs with surprising results
First, let’s walk through the system components being used. The test setup used by Testing Games is running Microsoft’s previous Windows 10 operating system, ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-A D4 motherboard utilizing the Intel Core i3 12100F processor, the ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero motherboard for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 test, and then uses the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU cooler, two Samsung 970 EVO M.2 2280 1 TB SSD memory, CORSAIR’s RM850i 850W PSU, and an unknown DDR4 memory.
The reason for not listing the specific brand of DDR4 memory is odd. The linked memory, however, is the G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4-3600 (PC4 28800) Intel XMP 2.0 desktop memory. Not specifically listing this in the components used for the test does raise questions as to why it was not revealed initially. However, the final result would essentially offer similar results to the tests.
The games tested are:
- Forza Horizon 5
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Hitman 3
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Death Stranding
- PUBG (Players Unknown Battle Ground)
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Mafia Definitive Edition
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Here is the video to witness the tests in action:
The results of the test prove that Intel’s newer Golden Cove cores easily outperform AMD’s somewhat older Zen 2 technology. Where the AMD R5 3600 CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, offers lower frame rates per second than the newer Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, offers a slightly higher frame rate with similar results.
Let’s break down the total results. We have included screenshots of each game during the test and tried to find peak times that both systems were running at full power.
When first looking at the Forza Horizon 5 test, tested with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 chip, averaged 175 FPS compared to Intel’s result of 188 FPS—Intel receiving a small improvement (only 13 FPS better; not much more than a 1% improvement)—however, Intel’s test was drawing more power from the GPU than AMD (around 30-40W between the two tests). For processing power, even though Intel was processing higher with an average of around 65% with a very minimal difference in the MHz, the temperature and power consumption was lower for Intel compared to AMD.
And, going through the remainder of the games listed, the results were extremely similar. Graphically, it is very hard to distinguish large differences in visuals between the two chips. I saw only a few skips in images during Hitman 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn. Users would have to look meticulously for minor differences between the two companies. Temperatures can definitely affect performance, but even then, with Intel running slightly higher than AMD, it was nowhere near dangerously high levels produced by either company.
As far as the final outcome, it seems beneficial to save up to $100 between the two CPUs, especially with just slightly better performance while gaming from Intel, compared to the older AMD chipset. The 6 cores from AMD might come in handy but for gaming setups, the Core i3-12100F seems like a perfect choice when coupled with an entry-level H610 board and DDR4 memory.
Source: Testing Games