AMD FX-9590 vs Core i3-4160

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD FX-9590 and the Core i3-4160 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD FX-9590 has 8 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i3-4160 has 2 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-9590 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 5 GHz and 3.6 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD FX-9590 uses the AM3+ socket and the Core i3-4160 uses LGA1150, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 220 W for the first and 54 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the AMD FX-9590 cost $299 and the Core i3-4160 $117, which gives 6.0 and 15.4 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-9590 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1070 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i3-4160 reaches the GeForce GTX 1070. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD FX-9590 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i3-4160 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.