I
ntel’s quad-core dominance ended
when Ryzen hit the scene in 2017 but
before that, when CPUs such as the
Core i5-6600K were the kings of mainstream
overclockable enthusiast systems, these
CPUs were highly desirable and supremely
quick in games. The Core i5-6600K was a
£250 chip, though, so those on a budget had
to look lower down the ladder. Sadly, below
the Core i5 range, Intel only offered limited
overclockable options, with the likes of the
Core i3-7350K being limited to just two cores.
As such, the Core i3-8350K was a breath
of fresh air. It not only offered double the core
count of the constrained Core i3-7350K, but itINTEL CORE
i39350KF /£131 inc VAT
SUPPLIER ebuyer.comcost under £160 at launch. It was one of Intel’s
success stories in the face of Ryzen and was a
superb budget gaming and overclocking CPU.
The current Core i3-9350KF, though, has much
stiffer competition.
With the ‘KF’ suffix denoting a lack of
on-board graphics and a cheaper price tag,
this CPU undercuts the Ryzen 5 3600 by £25,
but it’s relying solely on clock frequency for
its performance. It’s still manufactured using
Intel’s aging 14nm process and has just four
non-Hyper-Threaded cores. In comparison, the
Ryzen 5 3600 has six cores with Simultaneous
Multithreading, so it can operate on 12 threads at
a time. This lack of Hyper-Threading – a feature
that’s missing from most of Intel’s sub-Core
i9 desktop CPUs – is a major thorn in the Core
i5-9350KF’s side. What’s more, it has far less
cache than its rivals too.
However, it can reach a peak boost
frequency of 4.6GHz, which means it’s still a
potentially quick CPU for lightly threaded tasks
such as gaming. It also overclocks easily, with
our sample hitting 5.1GHz across all four cores
using a vcore of 1.32V, adding 500MHz to an
already impressive stock speed boost.
The Core i3-9350K kept up with the Ryzen
3600 in our image editing test, which stresses
single-threaded performance, but was left in the
dust in the heavily multi-threaded Handbrake
video encoding test, as well as our multi-tasking
test. Only once it was overclocked could the
Intel CPU better it, and only in the image editing
test, which responds well to clock speed. In
Cinebench, the Ryzen CPU’s extra cores and
threads saw it double the Intel CPU’s score, and it
was a huge amount quicker in Premiere Pro too.The tables were turned in games, though,
with Far Cry New Dawn still working well with
the Core i3-9350KF adding around 10 per cent
to the 99th percentile minimum frame rate with
a similar outcome in Metro Exodus. These leads
were extended once we’d overclocked the Intel
CPU. However, these are far from as impressive
as the gains the AMD CPU had in the content
creation tests that were up to 100 per cent faster.Conclusion
It’s clear that Intel still enjoys significant leads
in frame rates in some games and the Core
i3-9350K’s ability to overclock to 5GHz
across all cores means that in some titles, it’s
a compelling cheap gaming CPU. This won’t
be the case everywhere, though, and its
multi-threaded performance is utterly dire,
even at this price. It you’re looking to build a
cheap, overclockable gaming PC, it’s worth
considering, but the Core i5-9400F with its
six cores is a better all-rounder, while the
Ryzen 5 3600 is much quicker when all cores
are called into action.SPEC
Base frequency 4GHz
Turbo frequency 4.6GHz
Core Coffee Lake
Manufacturing process 14nm
Number of cores 4 x physical
IGP None
Hyper-Threading No
Cache 8MB L3 cache, 1MB L2 cache
Memory controller Dual-channel
DDR4, up to 2400MHz
Packaging Intel LGA1151-V2
Thermal design power (TDP) 91W
Features Turbo Boost 2, FMA3, F16C, SHA,
BMI / BMI1 + BMI2, AVX-512, AVX2, AVX,
AES, SSE4a, SSE4, SSE3, SSE2, SSE, MMXVERDICT
Still holds its own in some games but there
are better options all round.YO U O N LY
LIVE TWICE
+ Great overclocking
headroom
+ Fast in some games
+ AffordableDIE ANOTHER DAY- Dire multi-threaded
performance - Desperately needs
Hyper-Threading - Core i5-9400F is a
better all-rounder
PERFORMANCE
26 / 50FEATURES
13 / 15OVERALL SCORE
69 %
VALUE
30 / 35I
ntel’squad-coredominanceended
whenRyzenhitthescenein 2017 but
beforethat,whenCPUssuchasthe
Corei5-6600Kwerethekingsofmainstream
overclockableenthusiastsystems,these
CPUswerehighlydesirableandsupremely
quickingames.TheCorei5-6600Kwasa
£250chip,though,sothoseona budgethad
tolooklowerdowntheladder.Sadly,below
theCorei5range,Intelonlyofferedlimited
overclockableoptions,withthelikesofthe
Corei3-7350Kbeinglimitedtojusttwocores.
Assuch,theCorei3-8350Kwasa breath
offreshair.It notonlyoffereddoublethecore
countoftheconstrainedCorei3-7350K,butit
INTEL CORE
i39350KF/£131inc VAT
SUPPLIER ebuyer.comcost under £160 at launch. It was one of Intel’s
success stories in the face of Ryzen and was a
superb budget gaming and overclocking CPU.
The current Core i3-9350KF, though, has much
stiffer competition.
With the ‘KF’ suffix denoting a lack of
on-board graphics and a cheaper price tag,
this CPU undercuts the Ryzen 5 3600 by £25,
but it’s relying solely on clock frequency for
its performance. It’s still manufactured using
Intel’s aging 14nm process and has just four
non-Hyper-Threaded cores. In comparison, the
Ryzen 5 3600 has six cores with Simultaneous
Multithreading, so it can operate on 12 threads at
a time. This lack of Hyper-Threading – a feature
that’s missing from most of Intel’s sub-Core
i9 desktop CPUs – is a major thorn in the Core
i5-9350KF’s side. What’s more, it has far less
cache than its rivals too.
However, it can reach a peak boost
frequency of 4.6GHz, which means it’s still a
potentially quick CPU for lightly threaded tasks
such as gaming. It also overclocks easily, with
our sample hitting 5.1GHz across all four cores
using a vcore of 1.32V, adding 500MHz to an
already impressive stock speed boost.
The Core i3-9350K kept up with the Ryzen
3600 in our image editing test, which stresses
single-threaded performance, but was left in the
dust in the heavily multi-threaded Handbrake
video encoding test, as well as our multi-tasking
test. Only once it was overclocked could the
Intel CPU better it, and only in the image editing
test, which responds well to clock speed. In
Cinebench, the Ryzen CPU’s extra cores and
threads saw it double the Intel CPU’s score, and it
was a huge amount quicker in Premiere Pro too.The tables were turned in games, though,
with Far Cry New Dawn still working well with
the Core i3-9350KF adding around 10 per cent
to the 99th percentile minimum frame rate with
a similar outcome in Metro Exodus. These leads
were extended once we’d overclocked the Intel
CPU. However, these are far from as impressive
as the gains the AMD CPU had in the content
creation tests that were up to 100 per cent faster.Conclusion
It’s clear that Intel still enjoys significant leads
in frame rates in some games and the Core
i3-9350K’s ability to overclock to 5GHz
across all cores means that in some titles, it’s
a compelling cheap gaming CPU. This won’t
be the case everywhere, though, and its
multi-threaded performance is utterly dire,
even at this price. It you’re looking to build a
cheap, overclockable gaming PC, it’s worth
considering, but the Core i5-9400F with its
six cores is a better all-rounder, while the
Ryzen 5 3600 is much quicker when all cores
are called into action.SPEC
Base frequency 4GHz
Turbo frequency 4.6GHz
Core Coffee Lake
Manufacturing process 14nm
Number of cores 4 x physical
IGP None
Hyper-Threading No
Cache 8MB L3 cache, 1MB L2 cache
Memory controller Dual-channel
DDR4, up to 2400MHz
Packaging Intel LGA1151-V2
Thermal design power (TDP) 91W
Features Turbo Boost 2, FMA3, F16C, SHA,
BMI / BMI1 + BMI2, AVX-512, AVX2, AVX,
AES, SSE4a, SSE4, SSE3, SSE2, SSE, MMXVERDICT
Still holds its own in some games but there
arebetteroptionsallround.YO U O N LY
LIVE TWICE
Great overclocking
headroom
Fast in some games
Affordable
DIE ANOTHER DAY- Dire multi-threaded
performance - Desperately needs
Hyper-Threading - Core i5-9400F is a
better all-rounder
PERFORMANCE
26 / 50FEATURES
13 / 15OVERALLSCORE
69 %
VALUE
30 / 35