Intel has released a refreshed version of the i3-10100 called the Core i3-10100F. The processor was not part of the initial 10th Generation Comet Lake-S launch but is a rather new addition to the 10th Generation series of processors. Intel’s aim is to battle AMD’s Ryzen 3 3300X that has largely been absent from retail channels since its launch five months ago.
The Intel Core i3-10100F is a 14nm Comet Lake-S chip having four cores and eight threads. The processor has a base clock of 3.6 GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.3 GHz. The quad-core chip has a thermal power design (TDP)of 65w which is quite moderate and won’t require high-end cooling, which is good news for budget PC builders.
Intel has listed the Core i3-10100F on its ARK website but the chip still is not on the company’s master price list. The F letter in the i3-10100F indicates the absence of integrated graphics but it won’t be a major issue considering that it is aimed at gamers who will be pairing it with a discrete graphics card anyways.
According to Intel, the Core i3-10100F will retail for between $79 and $97 and it will put it in the driving seat against AMD’s 3300x which has been absent from the retail market for quite a while. The AMD 3300x runs at 3.8GHz boosting to 4.3GHz and offers four cores and eight threads. And while the 3300X does have 16MB of L3 cache compared to the 10100F’s 6MB, it loses out on pricing and availability.
Currently, it is not known when the Core i3-10100F will be available for purchase. If Intel can make the 10100F readily available and decides to price it at $79, then it surely will be in a prime position to take over the budget CPU section. Intel has a sure winner on its hands if the chipmaker can provide sufficient supply.
