Ryzen 3 3200G vs Core i3-8100

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Ryzen 3 3200G scores 26 and the Core i3-8100 scores 25, about 4% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Ryzen 3 3200G has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i3-8100 has 4 cores and 4 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 4 GHz and 3.6 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Ryzen 3 3200G uses the AM4 socket and the Core i3-8100 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 Ryzen 3 3200G cost $99 and the Core i3-8100 $117, which gives 26.3 and 21.4 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 Ryzen 3 3200G can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3060 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i3-8100 reaches the GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Ryzen 3 3200G if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i3-8100 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.