Core i5-2500 vs AMD FX-6350

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i5-2500 scores 15 and the AMD FX-6350 scores 14, about 7% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i5-2500 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the AMD FX-6350 has 6 cores and 6 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-6350 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.7 GHz and 4.2 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-2500 uses the LGA1155 socket and the AMD FX-6350 uses AM3+, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 95 W for the first and 125 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-2500 cost $205 and the AMD FX-6350 $132, which gives 7.3 and 10.6 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 i5-2500 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD FX-6350 reaches the GeForce GTX 1660 Super. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-2500 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the AMD FX-6350 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.