AMD FX-8370 vs Core i5-3470

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the AMD FX-8370 scores 16 and the Core i5-3470 scores 15, about 7% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The AMD FX-8370 has 8 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i5-3470 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-8370 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.3 GHz and 3.6 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD FX-8370 uses the AM3+ socket and the Core i5-3470 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 77 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the AMD FX-8370 cost $199 and the Core i5-3470 $184, which gives 8.0 and 8.2 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-8370 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-3470 reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD FX-8370 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-3470 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.