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Intel Core i3-13100F Gaming Benchmarks — The TLDR
Here we have the geometric mean of our gaming tests at 1080p and 1440p, with each resolution split into its own chart. We're testing with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible, and differences between test subjects will shrink with lesser cards, which is especially pertinent in this price range, or higher resolutions and fidelity. You'll find further game-by-game breakdowns below.
The first slides are simplified without the overclocking configs, while the remainder of the slides in the album cover the full roster of tested configurations.
The Core i3-13100 and 13100F offer the same level of gaming performance when paired with a discrete graphics card, but have a $40 price delta. That means we have two different contests in this section.
The $150 Core i3-13100 faces off with the $140 Ryzen 5 5600. The Ryzen 5 5600 is 8% faster than the Core i3-13100 at stock settings, and 6% faster after overclocking. That's an impressive advantage, especially given that the Ryzen 5 5600 regularly retails for $10 less.
The Core i3-12100 remains a viable gaming alternative at $130, especially because it offers basically the same performance as the 13100 at stock and overclocked settings, but for $20 less. However, the Ryzen 5 5600 still holds the performance lead by decent margins, but for a 7% upcharge. Given the Ryzen 5 5600's impressive advantages that we'll see in other areas, like power efficiency and performance in heavily-threaded work, it's the easy winner in the $130 to $150 price class.
Meanwhile, the $110 Core i3-13100F faces the $99 Ryzen 5 5500. The 13100F is 8% faster in 1080p gaming than the 5500 at stock settings, and 5% faster after overclocking. The Ryzen 5 5500 has a PCIe 3.0 connection instead of support for PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 like the 13100F, giving the 13100F the victory over the 5500.
The 13100F's win isn't unchallenged, though: The Core i3-12100F is an even better deal. The Core i3-12100F comes into the conversation at the same pricing as the 5500 and with a 7% advantage in gaming, giving it the win over the Ryzen 5 5500 and the Core i3-13100F. If you can find it in stock, the 12100F is the best value in the $100 price range, with the 13100F being a good alternative if it remains around $110.
Intel's decision to use the same design for the 13100/F and merely increase boost clocks by 200 MHz doesn't do enough to deliver any tangible increase in value — in fact, its higher pricing only reduces the appeal of the Core i3. We see a dead heat between the two Core i3 models in gaming at stock settings and a 2% difference after tuning the memory. That certainly isn't enough to justify the Core i3-13100's higher price tag, especially given that both chips can drop into the same motherboards and have identical features.
We also included the $170 Ryzen 5 5600X in our test pool, but as you can see, it isn't a good value compared to the Ryzen 5 5600. Additionally, the Ryzen 5 5600G, a Cezanne APU, falls into this price category. This chip was a wonderful alternative for budget gaming machines during the GPU shortage, but it's really meant for low-end gaming machines that don't have a discrete graphics card.
| Tom's Hardware | 1080p Game Benchmarks |
| $170 — Ryzen 5 5600X | 100% |
| $140 — Ryzen 5 5600 | 97.5% |
| $110 / $150 — Core i3-13100F | 90.3% |
| $100 / $130— Core i3-12100 | 89.6% |
| $135 — Ryzen 5 5600G | 84.1% |
| $99 —Ryzen 5 5500 | 83.5% |
The AMD vs Intel contest can vary in different game titles, with some clearly favoring one architecture over the other. As such, you should peruse the individual game benchmark results below for a closer look at the test results.
Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Far Cry 6 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
F1 2021 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Hitman 3 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Red Dead Redemption 2 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Warhammer 3 Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
Watch Dogs Legion Benchmarks on Intel Core i3-13100F
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- MORE: CPU Benchmark Hierarchy
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- MORE: How to Overclock a CPU
