Intel Core i3 4350

Intel Core i3 4350 Review – Considering this cheap is even more affordable than many of AMD’s range, there’s got to be a catch, right? And there is, although it’s one that will only arise in the most recent of games, say those released in the last year or two. Intel has cut costs by making the i3 4350 a twin-cored CPU, which means it will truly struggle to run games that rely heavily on multithreading, such as Battlefield 4. On the other hand, it’s fine to run older titles that only utilise a single CPU core.

Being built on the Haswell architecture, this CPU is made using the 22nm process that is soon to be replaced by Broadwell’s 14nm process. Despite only having twin cores, it comes with Intel’s Hyperthreading technology, which, without going into too much detail, allows the two cores to be seen as four cores in certain applications. The base speed is 3.6GHz, but the lack of a Turbo feature means this the speed it’s stuck at 24/7, and the lack of a K designation means it’s multiplier locked, negating any overclocking potential. Those of you silly enough to try integrated graphics for gaming will find the integrated Intel HD 4600 graphics to be far too slow for anything more detailed than Hearthstone.

As our benches show, in single threaded apps like Cinebench the i3 4350 is a potent little performer, but it lags behind when more than two cores are required. As such it’ll make a decent CPU for a dedicated retro gaming or HTPC box, but doesn’t have what it takes to run today’s most demanding games.

Pros

• Great Price ($159)
• Speedy at Single-threaded apps
• Solid single core performance

Cons

• Only two cores
• Lacking cache