Core i3-6100 vs Ryzen 3 1200

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i3-6100 and the Ryzen 3 1200 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i3-6100 has 2 cores and 4 threads, and the Ryzen 3 1200 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the Ryzen 3 1200 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.7 GHz and 3.4 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i3-6100 uses the LGA1151 socket and the Ryzen 3 1200 uses AM4, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 51 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i3-6100 cost $117 and the Ryzen 3 1200 $109, which gives 17.1 and 18.3 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 Core i3-6100 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 2060 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Ryzen 3 1200 reaches the GeForce RTX 2060. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i3-6100 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Ryzen 3 1200 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.