AMD FX-8150 vs Core i5-2300

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the AMD FX-8150 scores 14 and the Core i5-2300 scores 13, about 8% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The AMD FX-8150 has 8 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i5-2300 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-8150 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.2 GHz and 3.1 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD FX-8150 uses the AM3+ socket and the Core i5-2300 uses LGA1155, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 125 W for the first and 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the AMD FX-8150 cost $245 and the Core i5-2300 $177, which gives 5.7 and 7.3 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the AMD FX-8150 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1660 Super before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-2300 reaches the Radeon RX 6500 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD FX-8150 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-2300 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.