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Intel Core i3-9300T

Intel Core i3-9300T: Budget Processor for Compact Systems

Relevant as of April 2025

1. Key Specifications

Architecture and Process Technology

The Intel Core i3-9300T belongs to the Coffee Lake generation (9th generation) and is built on a 14nm process. It is a 4-core CPU without support for Hyper-Threading, resulting in 4 threads. The base frequency is 3.2 GHz, with Turbo Boost capability up to 3.8 GHz. The L3 cache size is 8 MB.

Performance

According to Geekbench 6, the processor scores:

- 1407 points in single-threaded tests;

- 4127 points in multi-threaded tests.

These scores are adequate for basic tasks but lag behind modern counterparts with more cores.

Key Features

- Energy Efficiency: A TDP of 35W makes it ideal for compact PCs and systems with passive cooling.

- Integrated Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 630 supports 4K@60Hz via HDMI/DisplayPort and hardware decoding of H.265.

- Technologies: Supports Intel Optane Memory, hardware acceleration for AES, and SHA-1/SHA-256.

2. Compatible Motherboards

Socket and Chipsets

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

- H310/B360/H370 — for basic builds;

- Z370/Z390 — for memory overclocking (though the CPU itself does not overclock).

Motherboard Examples

- ASUS Prime B360M-A ($70–90): 4 DDR4 slots, M.2 for NVMe.

- Gigabyte H310M S2H ($60–80): a budget option for office PCs.

Important: To work with 9th generation processors, a motherboard with an updated BIOS version is required.

3. Supported Memory

The i3-9300T works with DDR4-2400 MHz in dual-channel mode. The maximum capacity is up to 64 GB (depending on the motherboard). DDR5 and LPDDR4x are not supported.

Recommendations:

- Use two modules (e.g., 2×8 GB) to enable dual-channel mode.

- For office tasks, 8 GB is sufficient; for multimedia, 16 GB is recommended.

4. Power Supplies

With a TDP of 35W and integrated graphics, a power supply of 300–400W is sufficient. Examples:

- EVGA 400 BR ($35–45): a reliable option for basic systems.

- Corsair CX450 ($50–60): 80+ Bronze certification, semi-modular design.

Tip: Do not skimp on the power supply — low-quality models can cause system instability.

5. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Low power consumption.

- Integrated graphics suitable for 4K content.

- Affordable price (about $120 for a new processor).

Cons:

- Only 4 threads — weak in multitasking.

- Outdated 14nm process technology.

- No support for PCIe 4.0.

6. Use Cases

- Office Tasks: Working with documents, browsers, Zoom.

- Multimedia: Watching 4K videos, streaming, light editing in Shotcut.

- Gaming: Only older or less demanding titles (CS:GO, Dota 2) at low settings (30–40 FPS in 1080p).

Real-World Experience: In conjunction with an SSD and 16 GB DDR4, the system on the i3-9300T quickly launches applications but struggles during video rendering in DaVinci Resolve.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 3 5300G ($130–150):

- 4 cores/8 threads, 7nm process.

- Vega 6 graphics outperform UHD 630.

- Better performance in multi-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Multi Core ~5200).

Intel Core i3-10100T ($130):

- 10th generation, 4 cores/8 threads.

- Support for DDR4-2666.

- Enhanced optimization for Windows 11.

Conclusion: The i3-9300T falls behind in multitasking but excels in price and energy efficiency.

8. Building Tips

- Case: Choose Mini-ITX or Micro-ATX for compactness (e.g., Fractal Design Node 202).

- Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but for quieter operation, the Noctua NH-L9i is a good option.

- Storage: Be sure to use an SSD (Crucial MX500 500 GB — $45).

- Sample Build:

- CPU: i3-9300T ($120);

- Motherboard: ASUS B360M-A ($80);

- Memory: 16 GB DDR4-2400 ($40);

- Storage: WD Blue SN570 500 GB ($50);

- PSU: EVGA 400 BR ($40);

- Total: ~$330.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the i3-9300T For?

This processor is a good choice if:

- You need a cheap PC for office work or internet browsing.

- You're building an HTPC for 4K video.

- Low noise and heat levels are important (e.g., for a living room system).

It is not suitable for gamers, video editors, or those working with "heavy" applications. In 2025, the i3-9300T is a choice for those who value price-to-performance balance and energy efficiency rather than maximum performance.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2019

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.

i3-9300T

Code Name

Coffee Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Threads

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

Basic Frequency

3.20 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.

3.80 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.80 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.

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.

4096 x 2304@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.

4096 x 2304@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.

4096 x 2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

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.

8 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

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1407

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

4127

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

892

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

2752

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2302

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

6164

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i7-8700

1509 +7.2%

Xeon E-2124G

1453 +3.3%

Core i3-9300T

1407

Ryzen 5 4600HS

1365 -3%

Core i7-8700T

1324 -5.9%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E5-2687W v4

4613 +11.8%

Core i5-1035G1

4370 +5.9%

Core i3-9300T

4127

Ryzen Embedded R2544

3873 -6.2%

Core i3-9100F

3661 -11.3%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

EPYC 7272

926 +3.8%

Ryzen 3 PRO 1200

909 +1.9%

Core i3-9300T

892

Athlon Gold 7220C

875 -1.9%

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX

860 -3.6%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon E5-1428L

3040 +10.5%

Core i5-3470

2880 +4.7%

Core i3-9300T

2752

Xeon E5-2630L

2620 -4.8%

Core i3-1115G4

2490 -9.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

EPYC 8324P

2366 +2.8%

Core i3-9100

2334 +1.4%

Core i3-9300T

2302

Core i5-7500

2269 -1.4%

Xeon E3-1230 v6

2242 -2.6%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon D-1528

6638 +7.7%

Ryzen 3 PRO 2200GE with Radeon Vega 8 Graphics

6344 +2.9%

Core i3-9300T

6164

Ryzen 3 3350U

5853 -5%

Opteron 6376

5572 -9.6%