Core i3-530 vs Intel Core 2 Duo E8400

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i3-530 scores 8 and the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 scores 7, about 14% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i3-530 has 2 cores and 4 threads, and the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 has 2 cores and 2 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 2.93 GHz and 3 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i3-530 uses the LGA1156 socket and the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 uses LGA775, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 73 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i3-530 cost $113 and the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 $183, which gives 7.1 and 3.8 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 i3-530 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 reaches the Radeon R9 380. If you plan to buy a fast graphics card, that gap is the real difference between these two.

Choose the Core i3-530 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.