Core i3-10300 vs Core i5-8400

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i3-10300 and the Core i5-8400 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i3-10300 has 4 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i5-8400 has 6 cores and 6 threads. The extra cores of the Core i5-8400 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.4 GHz and 4 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i3-10300 uses the LGA1200 socket and the Core i5-8400 uses LGA1151, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 65 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i3-10300 cost $143 and the Core i5-8400 $182, which gives 25.2 and 19.8 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 Core i3-10300 can feed a card up to the Arc B580 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-8400 reaches the Arc B580. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i3-10300 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Core i5-8400 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.