AMD FX-8320 vs Core i5-2500

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD FX-8320 and the Core i5-2500 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD FX-8320 has 8 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i5-2500 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-8320 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4 GHz and 3.7 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD FX-8320 uses the AM3+ socket and the Core i5-2500 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-8320 cost $169 and the Core i5-2500 $205, which gives 8.9 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-8320 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-2500 reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD FX-8320 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-2500 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.