Ryzen 7 2700 vs Core i3-10100F

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Ryzen 7 2700 scores 36 and the Core i3-10100F scores 34, about 6% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Ryzen 7 2700 has 8 cores and 16 threads, and the Core i3-10100F has 4 cores and 8 threads. The extra cores of the Ryzen 7 2700 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.1 GHz and 4.3 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Ryzen 7 2700 uses the AM4 socket and the Core i3-10100F uses LGA1200, 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 7 2700 cost $299 and the Core i3-10100F $79, which gives 12.0 and 43.0 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 7 2700 can feed a card up to the Arc B580 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i3-10100F reaches the Radeon RX 7600 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Ryzen 7 2700 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i3-10100F if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.