Pentium G3220 vs AMD Phenom II X4 965

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Pentium G3220 and the AMD Phenom II X4 965 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Pentium G3220 has 2 cores and 2 threads, and the AMD Phenom II X4 965 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the AMD Phenom II X4 965 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3 GHz and 3.4 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Pentium G3220 uses the LGA1150 socket and the AMD Phenom II X4 965 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 53 W for the first and 125 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Pentium G3220 cost $64 and the AMD Phenom II X4 965 $245, which gives 17.2 and 4.5 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 Pentium G3220 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1650 Super before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD Phenom II X4 965 reaches the GeForce GTX 1650 Super. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Pentium G3220 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the AMD Phenom II X4 965 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.