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Intel Core i3-10105F

Intel Core i3-10105F: Budget Processor for 2025 – Is It Worth It?

Current Review for Entry-Level Builds

1. Key Features: Modest but Effective

The Intel Core i3-10105F, released in 2021, has maintained its position in the budget segment by 2025, thanks to a balance of price and performance.

- Architecture and Process Technology:

Based on the Comet Lake microarchitecture (14 nm), which, despite its age, provides stable performance. Four cores and eight threads (Hyper-Threading) handle multitasking effectively.

- Performance:

In Geekbench 6 (2025), the processor scores 1461 points in single-core tests and 4503 points in multi-core tests. This is sufficient for everyday tasks and light gaming. For instance, in CS2 at medium settings with a GTX 1660 Super graphics card, it achieves 90–120 FPS.

- Key Features:

- Supports PCIe 3.0 (16 lanes).

- No integrated graphics (the "F" in the name).

- TDP of 65 W — low power consumption.

- Unlocked multiplier? No, overclocking is not possible.

2. Compatible Motherboards: LGA1200 Socket and Chipset Choices

The processor uses the LGA1200 socket, limiting the selection of motherboards to older but affordable models:

- Chipsets:

- H410/B460: Budget motherboards (starting at $50). Suitable for office PCs. Example: ASRock H410M-HDV.

- H470: Enhanced capabilities (faster USB ports, RAID support).

- Z490: For enthusiasts (memory overclocking, PCIe 3.0 x4 for NVMe), but it’s excessive for the i3-10105F.

- Selection Tips:

- Ensure support for DDR4-2666 MHz.

- If planning to upgrade to a Core i5/i7 10th generation — choose a motherboard with reliable VRM (e.g., MSI B460M-A Pro).

3. Memory: Only DDR4, but No Compromises

The processor works only with DDR4 (maximum frequency — 2666 MHz for H410/B460 chipsets). For comfortable operation:

- Minimum: 8 GB (2x4 GB) — for office and browsing tasks.

- Optimum: 16 GB (2x8 GB) — for gaming and video editing.

- Tip: Choose modules with low timings (CL16), such as Kingston Fury Beast DDR4-2666.

DDR5 is not supported — this is a drawback for future upgrades, but in 2025, DDR4 is still relevant for budget builds.

4. Power Supply: 400W is Ample

With a TDP of 65 W, even with a mid-range discrete graphics card (like GTX 1660 Super, TDP of 125 W), a 400–450 W power supply is sufficient. Recommendations:

- Basic option: EVGA 450 BR (80+ Bronze, $45).

- For headroom: be quiet! System Power 10 550W (in case of a graphics card upgrade).

Important: Don't skimp on the PSU! Cheap models (like Apevia) may operate unstably under load.

5. Pros and Cons: Who Is It Suitable For and Who Is It Not?

Pros:

- Price: $80–90 (new, 2025) — one of the most affordable processors with 8 threads.

- Energy efficiency: suitable for compact cases.

- Adequate performance for casual gaming (Dota 2, GTA V).

Cons:

- No PCIe 4.0/5.0 — slow NVMe SSDs (the difference is noticeable in 2025).

- Only 4 cores — demanding workloads (rendering, streaming) are challenging.

- 14 nm architecture — lags behind new Ryzen 3 in energy efficiency.

6. Use Cases: From Office to Esports

- Office and Study: Working with documents, Zoom, browsing with 20+ tabs — the processor handles without lag.

- Gaming: Paired with a graphics card like RX 6600 (1080p, medium settings) — Fortnite (100 FPS), Cyberpunk 2077 (45–55 FPS with FSR).

- Multimedia: Streaming video (4K), light editing in DaVinci Resolve (projects up to 30 minutes).

Limitations: Don't expect high performance in Blender or AutoCAD — for that, you need at least 6 cores.

7. Comparison with Competitors: Who’s Better in 2025?

- AMD Ryzen 3 3300X (4 cores/8 threads, 7 nm):

Higher performance in multi-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Multi ~4800), but hard to find new (used price — $70–80).

- Intel Core i5-10400F (6 cores/12 threads):

20–30% more powerful in gaming and work tasks, but costs $120–130. For those who need a buffer for the future.

- AMD Ryzen 5 5600G (6 cores/12 threads + iGPU):

Price $140, integrated graphics, PCIe 4.0 support. Best choice if the budget allows.

Conclusion: The i3-10105F only wins in price.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

- SSD is a Must: Even a budget Kingston NV2 500 GB (PCIe 3.0) will speed up the system.

- Don’t Overpay for the Motherboard: H410/B460 with 2 RAM slots is optimal.

- Cooling: The boxed cooler will suffice, but for silence, consider the DeepCool GAMMAXX 400 ($20).

- Example Build for $400:

- CPU: i3-10105F ($85)

- GPU: Intel Arc A380 ($120)

- RAM: 16 GB DDR4-2666 ($35)

- SSD: 500 GB NVMe ($40)

- PSU: 450W 80+ Bronze ($45)

- Case: DeepCool MATREXX 30 ($35).

9. Final Conclusion: Who Is the i3-10105F Suitable for in 2025?

This processor is a choice for:

- Budget Gamers, playing at 1080p on low/medium settings.

- Office PCs, where reliability and minimal cost are important.

- Home Media Centers (4K viewing, streaming).

Why It? For $80–90, you get a proven platform with enough performance for basic tasks. However, if your budget allows $120–150, it’s better to go for the Ryzen 5 5500 or the i5-10400F — they will last longer.

Future Alternative: If possible, save on the processor now, so you can upgrade to the i5-11400F in a year (which will require changing the motherboard).

If you are building a PC "here and now" and want to minimize expenses — the i3-10105F is still relevant. But remember: technology does not stand still, and even budget newcomers in 2025 may offer more for the same money.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

March 2021

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i3-10105F

Code Name

Comet Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

3.70 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

4.40 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

4.40 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom.

L3 Cache

6 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1200

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

65 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2666

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

41.6 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

6 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1461

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

4503

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1142

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

4366

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2658

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

9008

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon W-2245

1568 +7.3%

Ryzen 7 4700GE

1521 +4.1%

Core i3-10105F

1461

Xeon W-3335

1410 -3.5%

Core i3-9100F

1371 -6.2%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Ryzen 3 4300GE

5063 +12.4%

Ryzen 5 1600X

4764 +5.8%

Core i3-10105F

4503

Xeon E5-2637

4199 -6.8%

Xeon Silver 4210R

3985 -11.5%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Xeon W-3375

1205 +5.5%

Core i9-9960X

1173 +2.7%

Core i3-10105F

1142

Core i9-7980XE

1117 -2.2%

EPYC 73F3

1098 -3.9%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon W-2225

4807 +10.1%

Xeon E7-4809 v4

4600 +5.4%

Core i3-10105F

4366

Ryzen 5 3580U

4114 -5.8%

Xeon D-1539

3924 -10.1%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 3 5400U

2735 +2.9%

Core i7-10870H

2689 +1.2%

Core i3-10105F

2658

Xeon E-2126G

2611 -1.8%

EPYC 7773X

2570 -3.3%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i5-9500T

9848 +9.3%

Core i5-8600T

9299 +3.2%

Core i3-10105F

9008

Core i7-8559U

8496 -5.7%

Core i5-10200H

8172 -9.3%