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Intel Core i3-8100T

Intel Core i3-8100T: Review and Relevance in 2025

Architecture, Capabilities, and Use Cases of a Budget Processor

Key Specifications: Coffee Lake in Miniature

The Intel Core i3-8100T processor, released in 2017, remains a popular choice for budget PCs due to its energy efficiency and stability. Its key parameters are:

- Architecture: Coffee Lake (14 nm).

- Cores/Threads: 4 cores, 4 threads.

- Cache: 6 MB L3.

- TDP: 35W.

- Integrated Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 630.

- Performance: Geekbench 6 — 1070 (Single-Core), 3017 (Multi-Core).

Processor Features:

- Low power consumption - ideal for compact and quiet systems.

- Built-in graphics supporting 4K@60Hz via HDMI/DisplayPort.

- Support for hardware video decoding (HEVC, VP9).

Despite the outdated 14 nm manufacturing process (in 2025, 7 nm and 5 nm chips dominate), the i3-8100T remains relevant for basic tasks due to its optimized architecture.

Compatible Motherboards: What to Choose?

The processor uses the LGA 1151 v2 socket but is only compatible with 300-series chipsets:

- H310/B360/H370: Budget boards with basic functionality (e.g., ASUS Prime H310M-K).

- Z370/Z390: For enthusiasts, but the overclocking of the i3-8100T is not possible.

Choosing Features in 2025:

- New boards for LGA 1151 are hardly produced, but models can be found on the secondary market for $40-70.

- Check the BIOS version: boards manufactured before 2018 may not support Coffee Lake without an update.

Example: The Gigabyte B360M DS3H motherboard (around $60) is an optimal choice with support for DDR4 and M.2 NVMe.

Memory: Only DDR4

The i3-8100T operates exclusively with DDR4-2400 MHz (official support). In 2025, this seems modest compared to DDR5, but it is sufficient for office tasks.

- Recommendations:

- 8 GB (2x4 GB) — minimum for Windows 11 and browsing.

- 16 GB (2x8 GB) — for multitasking (e.g., working with documents + music streaming).

- Important: Motherboards with LGA 1151 v2 rarely support more than 64 GB of RAM, but that's excessive for the i3-8100T.

Power Supply: Low Power — High Savings

With a TDP of 35W, the processor hardly burdens the system. Recommendations:

- Without a discrete graphics card: A power supply of 250-300W (e.g., Be Quiet! SFX Power 300W, $45).

- With a GPU like NVIDIA GTX 1650: A power supply of 450W (EVGA 450 BR, $55).

Tip: Even considering component aging, a quality PSU with 80+ Bronze certification will last 7-10 years.

Pros and Cons: Who Is It Suitable For?

Pros:

- Energy efficiency — suitable for mini-PCs and home servers.

- Quiet operation even with the stock cooler.

- Low price (new units — $80-100).

Cons:

- 4 threads — weak multitasking (e.g., lags when running Photoshop and Chrome with 50 tabs simultaneously).

- No support for PCIe 4.0, DDR5, AVX-512.

- Integrated graphics are weaker than AMD Vega (important for light gaming).

Use Cases

1. Office PC: Document work, video conferences, browsing.

Example: With an SSD, the system boots in 10 seconds and doesn’t lag with 10+ open tabs.

2. Media Center: Streaming 4K (Netflix, YouTube), local content playback via Plex.

Example: Through HDMI 2.0, the processor outputs 4K HDR to a TV without stutters.

3. Light Gaming:

- Minecraft (60 FPS on medium settings).

- CS:GO (720p, 60 FPS).

- For 2025 AAA games (e.g., GTA VI), a discrete graphics card will be needed, but the CPU will become a bottleneck.

Competitors: How Does It Compare?

1. AMD Ryzen 3 3200G (4 cores/4 threads, Vega 8):

- Pros: Better graphics, overclocking.

- Cons: Higher TDP (65W), more expensive ($110 in 2025).

2. Intel Core i3-12100T (Alder Lake, 4 cores/8 threads):

- Pros: 30% faster in multitasking, DDR5.

- Cons: Price starting at $130, requires new motherboards.

Conclusion: The i3-8100T only wins on price and power consumption.

Assembly Tips

1. Case: Choose compact models (Fractal Design Core 500).

2. Storage: Definitely an SSD (Crucial MX500 500 GB, $50) — HDD "kills" system responsiveness.

3. Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but for complete silence, replace it with Noctua NH-L9i ($45).

4. Upgrade: Do not plan to install high-end GPUs — the CPU will not reveal the potential of RTX 4060 and similar cards.

Final Conclusion: Who Is the i3-8100T Suitable For in 2025?

This processor is worth considering:

- Budget Users: A complete PC build will cost $250-300.

- Digital Media Center Enthusiasts: A quiet and cool chip for a TV box.

- Owners of Old Systems: Upgrade from a Pentium G4560 without changing the motherboard.

But avoid it if:

- You need performance for video editing, 3D modeling, or modern gaming.

- You plan to use the PC for over 3 years — by 2028, even office tasks may require more resources.

In the conditions of 2025, the Intel Core i3-8100T is a niche yet practical solution for those who value minimalism and reliability.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2018

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.

i3-8100T

Code Name

Coffee 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

3.10 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.

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.

L3 Cache

6 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1151

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

35 W

Max. Operating Temperature

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

82°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.

DDR4-2400

Max Memory Size

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

64 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).

37.5 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.

Yes

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics 630

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

350 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.10 GHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@24Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096x2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

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 Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel Clear Video Technology

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 InTru 3D Technology

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Source of information

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1070

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

3017

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

838

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

2541

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1887

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

5278

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon E5-2637 v3

1140 +6.5%

Core i7-6820HQ

1101 +2.9%

Core i3-8100T

1070

Xeon E-2276ME

1011 -5.5%

Core i3-4160T

961 -10.2%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Core i7-8565U

3461 +14.7%

Core i7-3960X

3214 +6.5%

Core i3-8100T

3017

Celeron G6900E

2815 -6.7%

Xeon E5-4603

2512 -16.7%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

EPYC 7642

871 +3.9%

Core i3-4350

856 +2.1%

Core i3-8100T

838

Xeon E5-2618L v4

819 -2.3%

EPYC 7302

803 -4.2%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon E5-1410 v2

2780 +9.4%

Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega 8 Graphics

2664 +4.8%

Core i3-8100T

2541

Core i5-2500

2402 -5.5%

Xeon E5-2407

2230 -12.2%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core i3-4350

1945 +3.1%

Core i7-6700HQ

1914 +1.4%

Core i3-8100T

1887

Xeon E3-1505L v6

1848 -2.1%

Athlon Silver 3050C

1809 -4.1%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Ryzen 3 PRO 2300U

5842 +10.7%

Ryzen 5 3500C

5564 +5.4%

Core i3-8100T

5278

Xeon X5672

4994 -5.4%

Xeon X5667

4649 -11.9%