Intel i5 10400F Vs Ryzen 5 3600 [Benchmarks 2023]

AMD remains the value-for-money king in the world of CPUs and GPUs, but it seems Intel has finally thought of giving the team red a run for its money. This Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 comparison will pit both competitors, i.e. AMD and Intel, against each other and see which processor you should go for. There is much to compare between the two CPUs, so continue reading. 

---

Key Takeaways

• The Intel Core i5 10400F offers better gaming performance than the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with higher FPS at 4k and 1080p resolutions. 
• As far as performance with professional tools goes, the lead goes to AMD Ryzen 5 3600 because of its quick processing times on Adobe Premiere, Cinebench, and Zip File Manager.
• The Ryzen 5 3600 consumes slightly less power compared to the Intel Core i5 10400F while providing a 10 percent better performance.
• The Core i5 10400F comes with an MSRP of $97, while the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 costs $118.
• Both processors have a maximum memory of 128GB.

---

Comparison Table

CPU	Ryzen 5 3600	i5 10400F
Physical cores	6	6
Threads	12	12
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	2.9 GHz
Boost clock speed	4.2 GHz	4.3 GHz
L1 cache	384 KB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	3 MB	256K (per core)
L3 cache	32 MB (shared)	12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	7 nm, 12 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	no data	100 °C
Integrated Graphics	None	None
Number of transistors	4,800 million	no data
64 bit support	Yes	Yes
Windows 11 compatibility	Yes	Yes
Unlocked multiplier	Yes	No
TDP	65 W	65 W
Launch Price	$199	$155
Launched	2019 Q3	2020 Q2
Best Motherboards	Best Motherboards For Ryzen 5 3600
Best Coolers	Best CPU Coolers for Ryzen 5 3600

Similarities

Let’s begin with the similarities between Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600. Not that it’s an attempt to convince one side in favor of the other side, but it clearly explains that there are certain common grounds between the two rivaling processors. 

Also Read: Ryzen 5 3600 vs Ryzen 5 5600x

So, the first thing to note is the cores and threads on the two CPUs, where both come head to head with identical specifications. They have 6 main cores with 12 threads to take the extra workload when you overclock them. So, in terms of the main task-handling power, you have similar menu processors. 

Another aspect that appears to be similar between the two is that they both can be hyperthreaded or overclocked. The overclocked speeds are also quite similar, with Ryzen topping off at 4.20 GHz and i5 10400F at 4.30 GHz. 

There are some similarities in their downsides, which may be a bit disappointing for some. For example, you don’t get integrated graphics with either of them. If you did, you wouldn’t be paying the price you are currently paying for both. In other words, they would be quite expensive. 

The memory channels on both are dual, with both supporting up to 128 GB of RAM. However, there is a huge win for AMD here, which you will know when you read the differences between the two CPUs.

Differences

There are more differences between these two processors than there are similarities. In most cases, you would notice that AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has some great advantages and upgrades over the i5 10400F despite the fact that the latter was launched later. 

Moreover, you have a better RAM integration on Ryzen 5 3600 with support for DDR4-3200 memory than DDR4-2666 support on i5 10400F. The difference is only very small, but it’s there, and any small advantage that AMD has over Intel is highly appreciated because you, the customer, will be getting more bang for your buck. 

There are some other major architectural differences, such as the process size being 7 nm on AMD processor and 14 nm on an Intel processor. Let’s also not forget that AMD Ryzen 5 3600 will be compatible with PCIe 4.0, allowing for better bandwidths and data transfers compared to PCIe 3.0 compatibility on i5 10400F. 

It is essential to mention here that a higher transistor count can mean better performance on newer CPUs and computer components. The transistor count of 3800 million on Ryzen 5 3600 is known, but most people online are still wondering about the transistor count on Intel Core i5 10400F.

Last but not least, let’s not close out our differences section without mentioning the tremendously impressive L3 Cache on Ryzen 5 3600. You are getting 32 MB L3 cache, which could mean improved overall performance of the entire system. On the other hand, Intel has stuck to only 12 MB on its L3 cache. 

Gaming Benchmarks

There can always be surprises and shocks waiting for you when you test two CPUs in gaming benchmarks. The differences on paper matter, but the real-world performance is truly objective and gives you an accurate estimate of which processor is better. 

There is no doubt that your GPU will have a huge impact on how a game performs on your computer. However, we can always nullify that by keeping the same specifications on the computer and changing only the CPU. This means both CPUs get a level playing field, and you could crown the winner and the loser based on the final outcomes from these benchmarks. 

The following Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 benchmarks have been taken from Testing Games on YouTube. The CPUs in this test are overclocked quite close to their maximum clocking boosts. 

Testing Rig

• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
• CPU 1: Intel i5 10400F 2.9GHz (~4.0GHz)
• Motherboard 1: MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
• CPU 2: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz (~4.1GHz)
• Motherboard 2: GIGABYTE X570 AORUS PRO
• CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Performa
• GPU: GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB
• Memory: 16GB RAM 3600Mhz

It is important to mention that these games have been tested at 1080p resolution for both CPUs. So, let’s get into the benchmarks. 

PUBG

• Core i5 10400F maintains a higher FPS throughout with better Low 1% and Low 0.1%.
• Ryzen 5 3600 isn’t far behind with an average FPS of 128 and 87 FPS and 68 FPS on Low 1% and Low 0.1%.
• The temperatures on i5 10400F are impressive at 46 degrees Celsius despite 36% usage.
• Despite a low CPU usage of 34%, Ryzen 5 3600 has a higher temperature of 52 degrees Celsius.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

• The FPS reading of 92 on i5 10400F is slightly better than 87 FPS on Ryzen 5 3600.
• The Lows aren’t great on either CPU, with Low 1% being at 69 and 60 for Core i5 10400F and Ryzen 5 3600, respectively.
• CPU usage on both processors is the same at 77%.
• The temperature readings on both CPUs are quite similar at 52 degrees and 53 degrees Celsius.

Also Read: Ryzen 5 3600 vs Ryzen 7 3700X

SnowRunner

• The average FPS of 187 on Core i5 10400F is slightly higher than AMD Ryzen 5 3600.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is trailing at 172 FPS.
• The Low 0.1% is terrible on Ryzen 5 3600 at just 28 FPS compared to 76 FPS on Core i5 10400F.
• Core i5 10400F remains the cooler one out of the two at 44 degrees Celsius.

Call Of Duty: Warzone

• The performance from both CPUs is quite identical in this Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 test, with 144 FPS and 148 FPS on Ryzen 5 and Core i5, respectively.
• There was a bit of a shocker from Core i5 10400F with Low 0.1% at 51 FPS, whereas the same being 67 FPS on Ryzen 5 3600.
• CPU usage percentage is slightly higher on AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 54%.
• Intel Core i5 10400F gives a consistently cooler performance at just 50 degrees Celsius.

Metro Exodus

• Intel Core i5 10400F remains a bit stronger with better overall FPS readings.
• Low 1% and Low 0.1% are also higher on Core i5 10400F.
• AMD Ryzen 4 3600 runs hotter at 49 degrees Celsius.
• Intel Core i5 10400F is the cooler one at 46 degrees Celsius despite a tad bit higher CPU usage.

Battlefield V

• Some stark differences in performance between the two CPUs, with i5 10400F being the better one.
• At 53 degrees Celsius, i5 10400F is 3 degrees cooler than Ryzen 5 3600.
• Average FPS, Low 0.1%, and Low 1% are better on Intel Core i5 10400F.
• A huge difference between the two is CPU usage, which is 71% on i5 and 83% on Ryzen 5.

Hitman 2

• Temperatures on both CPUs are quite identical.
• Core i5 10400F is running 5 degrees cooler than AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 47 degrees Celsius.
• Overall, FPS readings on both CPUs aren’t very impressive.
• Low 0.1% and Low 1% are also quite identical on both CPUs at 62/63 and 55/56.

The Witcher 3

• Core i5 10400F is the better performer here at 149 FPS.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is also showcasing great performance at 144 FPS.
• Low 1% and Low 0.1% are very similar on both processors.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is 3 degrees hotter than Intel Core i5 10400F at 52 degrees Celsius.

Kingdom Come Deliverance

• There’s technically no winner or loser in this test.
• The average FPS on both CPUs is the same at 81 FPS and 82 FPS on Ryzen 5 and Core i5, respectively.
• The Low 0.1% and Low 1% are also quite similar in both.
• The major difference is in CPU temperatures with Core i5 10400F at 51 degrees Celsius compared to Ryen 5 3600 at 56 degrees Celsius.

Red Dead Redemption 2

• The FPS performance from i5 10400F is significantly better than Ryzen 5 3600.
• All FPS readings are much higher on Core i5 10400F with nearly 15% improvement on AMD Ryzen 5 3600.
• CPU usage percentages on both processors are not very different.
• Better FPS performance from Core i5 10400F while still being 5 degrees cooler than AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 51 degrees Celsius.

Similar Guides: Ryzen 7 5800X3D Vs. i5-13600K

Overall Gaming Performance

It was clear during the Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 benchmarks in 10 games that Intel Core i5 10400F is the better performer. At the same time, it was also evident that the difference wasn’t huge. Even if you don’t look at the averages, the differences in the games were quite negligible and only fodder for the debates of people who like micro-details. 

The average FPS performance is quite neck and neck with both CPUs, which is great for those looking to build a PC without breaking the bank. Not to mention the upcoming Christmas season when parents will be looking to buy their children a well-balanced PC without going overboard with their budgets. 

It is evident from all the readings and averages that Core i5 10400F does perform better, but the small difference forces us to consider the prices of the two CPUs. Quite surprisingly and shockingly, at the same time, it is one of the few occasions where Intel’s processor is priced lower than AMD’s. In other words, you are getting more for less, which usually suits AMD CPUs more, but Intel has done the unthinkable with the i5 10400F. 

Let’s compare the launch price for both. AMD Ryzen 5 3600 was priced at $200 at the time of its launch, whereas Intel Core i5 10400F was priced at $155. That’s more than 22.5% price difference, with Intel offering the better/lower price. In terms of performance, the average FPS on Core i5 10400P is approximately 124 FPS, whereas it’s 119 FPS on Ryzen 5 3600. That’s a difference of just a little over 4%. 

Yes, the performance boost of 4% isn’t huge, but it is certainly quite an achievement for a 22.5% lower price. Most importantly, the performance difference doesn’t exist only paper, but is quite evident from the real-world benchmarking performance in the 10 games we tested. 

Thermal Efficiency

Before going into the details, the first thing that should impress anyone buying these CPUs is that they remain pretty cool in all of these games. Remember that these games were being played at 1080p, but other graphics settings were set to maximum. 

So, for both CPUs, they remained cool and well within the ranges that shouldn’t bother any computer user or gamer. If you have to look at things on a micro level, then you can say that Intel Core i5 10400F was the better performer out of the two. It was consistently 4 to 6 degrees cooler than AMD Ryzen 5 3600 in most of the games. 

However, you should not ignore that Ryzen 5 3600 also doesn’t go too high in terms of temperatures in any of the 10 games we tested the two CPUs for. The slightly bigger temperature differences were visible in PUBG, Red Dead Redemption 2, SnowRunner, and Battlefield V. 

The maximum temperature difference between the two processors was only of 8 degrees. These 8 degrees don’t matter much because both the lower and higher temperatures are within the ranges that you would consider safe for any CPU in the world. 

Productivity Benchmarks

You now know which processor you want to get if you are a gamer. But what if you are not a gamer? Will you still have to choose one of the CPUs based on its gaming benchmarks? No, you don’t have to. We’ll not have these processors battle each other in a productivity benchmark ordeal. 

We’ll conduct multiple benchmark tests to verify the performance of single cores, multiple cores, and overall processors while handling different tasks. If you are a content creator, these are the benchmarks you must consider. 

Providing us with the benchmarks will be PC Benchmarks on YouTube. Here is the rig being used to test the two processors. 

Testing Rig

• CPU 1: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Motherboard 1: MSI X570 Mobo
• CPU 2: Intel Core i5 10400F
• Motherboard 2: MSI Z490 Mobo
• Memory: 2 x 16 GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060Ti

CineBench R20

• The single core score on Core i5 10400F is 439.
• The single core score on Ryzen 5 3600 is much higher at 492.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is leagues ahead of Intel Core i5 10400F with a multi-core score of 3794.
• Core i5 10400F is nearly 500 points behind Ryzen 5 3600 at only 3206.

Also Read: Ryzen 7 3800x vs Ryzen 5 5600x

7-Zip File Manager

• Ryzen 5 3600 is the clear winner in both compressing and decompressing files.
• Compression scores on Ryzen 5 3600 and Core i5 10400F, respectively, are 56850 and 52301.
• Decompression was performed by Core i5 10400F with a score of 52301.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is miles ahead in decompression with a score of 71998.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

• The test shows how long it takes for each CPU to export a 4K YouTube video.
• Ryzen 5 3600 took 889 seconds to complete the job.
• Core i5 10400F took 993 seconds to complete the same job.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is the better CPU with more than 10% faster than Core i5 10400F.

Blender

• The benchmark tests both CPUs based on the time they take to render a 3D sample.
• Intel Core i5 10400F took 1338 seconds to render the 3D sample.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 took 1232 seconds to complete the same rendering task.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 beats Intel Core i5 10400F with an 8% faster speed.

Corona 1.3

• Corona 1.3 is used for creating smartphone and desktop applications, and the CPU that takes less time to render an application is the winner.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 takes 144 seconds to complete the rendering task.
• Intel Core i5 10400F finishes the same job in 153 seconds.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is the winner, but not by a big margin in this particular test.

Handbrake

• This benchmark tests the productivity of the two CPUs based on how fast they transcode a video.
• Intel Core i5 10400F spends 559 seconds transcoding the sample file.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 transcodes the same video file in 491 seconds.
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 offers improved transcoding speeds with a 12% improvement.

Overall Productivity Performance

There is no doubt that Ryzen 5 3600 has taken a clear lead in Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 productivity benchmarks. It’s like these two CPUs were made with completely different aims. When we tested them against each other for their gaming performance, Intel Core i5 10400F came out as the clear winner, but AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has done exactly the same to its rival in these tests. 

Throughout the tests, there was no respite for Intel as its CPU never came to beat AMD’s chip. Yes, if you consider the difference in performance, it might not seem huge, but it’s there, and you can’t ignore it. 

However, one important piece of information must not go without being noticed here. It’s that Intel was able to launch its chip at a much lower price than AMD’s chip. That occurrence is rarer than a solar eclipse, but it happened with the launch of Core i5 10400F. You have to give Intel credit for launching a processor almost 8 months later and still pricing it lower. 

In other words, the difference in productivity performance is there, but the lead taken by AMD gets marred by the fact that Intel’s chip is much more budget-friendly this time around. Not to mention, it comes with the extra perk of offering better in-game performance.

Also Read: i7-13700K Vs Ryzen 9 7900X

Pricing And Availability

There are two ways for you to look at the prices of these processors, and you have to decide whether to give one or the other credit for the lower price.

There is no doubt that the launch price of Intel Core i5 10400F was much lower than that of AMD Ryen 5 3600. There was a difference of nearly $50 in their prices, with Intel’s chip offering you the chance to save those $50. 

However, with time, the prices of these processors continue to decrease, so it is very possible for you to find them at precisely the same price or maybe Ryzen 5 3600 at a lower price too. 

So, upon checking on Amazon, we found that both processors are easily available in the $120 to $150 range. You will find Core i5 10400F more in the $130 and $160 range. On the other hand, some AMD Ryzen 5 3600 options out there are priced as low as $124. If you are scratching your head in confusion, here’s something that’ll help you decide. 

Do you value having a cooler with your processor? Well, if your answer is yes, you surely want to go with AMD Ryzen 5 3600 because it comes with a Wraith Stealth Cooler at that price stated above, whereas Intel Core i5 10400F comes stripped of that luxury. 

Intel Core i5 10400F vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 – Which One Should You Buy?

In many reviews, deciding between the two options becomes quite difficult because both products have their strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, different people have different preferences, so the decision isn’t really that straightforward to make after all. 

In this case, there are 3 paths in front of you, and you can pick the one that you think sounds most appealing. First, you can decide on the basis of your specific needs. If you want a processor for gaming, you want to go with Intel Core i5 10400F. If you create content and like something to increase your productivity in creating 3D animations, editing videos, archiving files, etc., you would be better off with AMD Ryzen 5 3600.

What’s the third path, you may ask? Well, that’s the most trodden path out of all, i.e., value for money. The prices of the two processors seem to be quite similar at the moment. The deciding factor, however, can be the cooler coming with the processor. You have one processor coming with the cooler and the other one without. 

As you may have guessed, AMD Ryen 5 3600 comes with its own cooler, which is Wraith Stealth Cooler. Intel’s chip comes naked and requires you to remove your old processor only to replace it with a new one. Hey! Don’t forget that you have an unlocked multiplier on your AMD chip, allowing you to overclock it with much more liberty than you would overclock Intel’s processor. In any case, we hope that you enjoyed reading our Core i5 10400F vs Ryzen 5 3600 guide. 

---

Related Articles:

• Ryzen 7 5800X Vs Ryzen 7 5700G
• i7-13700K Vs i5-13600K
• i9-13900K Vs i7-13700K