Intel Core i3-8350K 4.0 GHz

[W1zzard]

The Core i3-8350K is the first quad-core CPU in Intel's i3 arsenal, priced at $180 and clocked at 4 GHz, even when all four cores are active. Overclocking is extremely easy due to the "K" suffix and has the potential to turn this processor into a budget overclocker's dream.

Show full review

 

[dj-electric]

Wow, talking about losing in the silicon lottery. That's surprisingly horrible. One would assume 5Ghz wouldn't be a hard mission with a middle of the road i3 8350K...
I do think this CPU is a little expensive, and would prefer the 8400 in the long run. IMO this should have been a 150$ CPU.

 

[Henry8000K]

Will it bottle-neck a high end GPU?

 

[Vya Domus]

So damn expensive , the 8400 is a whopping 10$ more but has 50% more cores. I am still baffled why these unlocked i3s exist at this price point. Doesn't seem to break any record in overclocking and single thread performance either.

 

[GoldenX]

So damn expensive , the 8400 is a whopping 10$ more but has 50% more cores. I am still baffled why these unlocked i3s exist at this price point. Doesn't seem to break any record in overclocking and single thread performance either.

Same, the K privilege is too expensive.
With that price, the AM4 platform's longevity, and cheaper cost of overclocking enabled motherboards seems a better choice.
The i5 8400 on the other hand is a monster, we just need cheap motherboards for it.

 

[EarthDog]

Interesting part. For $50 more than a 1300x, you are getting a few % higher ipc, 600mhz more out of the box and better overclocking. At the same time, more cores and threads are available at the same pricepoint.

Plenty of people dont need more than 4 cores and overclock... but that premium though...

 

[Mescalamba]

Maybe silicon lottery needs some other settings changed, just an idea.. Unsure if its the case ofc.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

So damn expensive , the 8400 is a whopping 10$ more but has 50% more cores. I am still baffled why these unlocked i3s exist at this price point. Doesn't seem to break any record in overclocking and single thread performance either.

^ This. Sure the 8400 is locked, but it's only $10 more and, like you said, you get 50 percent more cores. To me, that's a no brainer. Then again, I'm not much of an overclocker, lol.

 

[Vario]

Maybe silicon lottery needs some other settings changed, just an idea.. Unsure if its the case ofc.

Could be the motherboard too?

 

[Frick]

So damn expensive , the 8400 is a whopping 10$ more but has 50% more cores. I am still baffled why these unlocked i3s exist at this price point. Doesn't seem to break any record in overclocking and single thread performance either.

And no stock cooler, so this might end up costing more than the i5 8400.

 

[Ruru]

So damn expensive , the 8400 is a whopping 10$ more but has 50% more cores. I am still baffled why these unlocked i3s exist at this price point. Doesn't seem to break any record in overclocking and single thread performance either.

This is like 7600K so I don't feel bad for the price. Hell, I don't even feel bad that I bought my 7600K one month ago at 255 euros.

Terribly low overclocker though, let's just hope that it's not a common thing.

 

[trog100]

Will it bottle-neck a high end GPU?

no.. not at normal gaming resolutions..

trog

 

[RejZoR]

Finally good gaming CPU's again on the budget. If these can be clocked to 4.7 or 4.8 (or even 5GHz) this can be a sweet budget gaming CPU. AMD has the core count game, but I hope new Ryzen CPU's will also be able to push some clocks...

 

[Frick]

Finally good gaming CPU's again on the budget. If these can be clocked to 4.7 or 4.8 (or even 5GHz) this can be a sweet budget gaming CPU. AMD has the core count game, but I hope new Ryzen CPU's will also be able to push some clocks...

"Finally" is a bit of a stretch as the Pentium G4560 has existed for a while now. Seriously, that thing destroys any performance/price chart and is good enough for the vast majority of even gamers. It's excellentness cannot be overstated, and the Coffee Lake Pentiums and the entry level i3's are the really interesting releases this cycle.

 

[jabbadap]

"Finally" is a bit of a stretch as the Pentium G4560 has existed for a while now. Seriously, that thing destroys any performance/price chart and is good enough for the vast majority of even gamers. It's excellentness cannot be overstated, and the Coffee Lake Pentiums and the entry level i3's are the really interesting releases this cycle.

Yeah I tend to agree. Hardware unboxed tested recently cpu bottlenecking, and came to conclusion that g4560 is enough for gtx1060 at 1080p. Those pentiums actually are only intel cpus, that amd has no competitive product out yet(where are you raven ridge).

 

[RejZoR]

G4560 is "just" a dual core. It's really time we move to actual real cores clocked so high.

 

[efikkan]

"Just" a quad-core

How is that a negative in this price segment?

 

[xkm1948]

8350K may as well be the coming from the outter layer of silicon wafer that has worse electronic property. That can explain the worse overclocking potential. They are essentially just parts that have potentially defective cores which are cut off to become a quad core

 

[looniam]

How is that a negative in this price segment?

i guess because anything ryzen ~180 is 4/8. the 4/4 chips are ~50 less.

so yeah, blame AMD!

 

[efikkan]

i guess because anything ryzen ~180 is 4/8. the 4/4 chips are ~50 less.

so yeah, blame AMD!

Number of cores should be irrelevant for an unbiased conclusion, only performance metrics should matter. I don't care if the competition have 100 cores, real performance within its segment is what matters.

 

[Mescalamba]

Could be the motherboard too?

Given his description. Thing is, if CPU is "dud" usually it simply doesnt boot or wont even make it to loading Windows. There is most likely some setting that needs to be altered (or mobo changed) to make it stable.

Sure, most of my experience is with older CPUs, but even with new CPUs its very rarely that easy as "select higher multiplier and more voltage". Also given how i3 works, there is a lot of stuff that can be affected by higher clocks and higher voltage, its sorta "all in one" CPU.

But I might be wrong, thats also option. What I know for sure is that I would try to experiment till it dies.

 

[RejZoR]

i guess because anything ryzen ~180 is 4/8. the 4/4 chips are ~50 less.

so yeah, blame AMD!

The issue with Ryzen is that it doesn't clock that high. 4GHz is what almost all achieve, but for really good utilization you need it at least at 4.5+. As much as I love Ryzen, that is an issue and I hope AMD needs to address that for Zen+/Zen2.

 

[looniam]

Number of cores should be irrelevant for an unbiased conclusion, only performance metrics should matter. I don't care if the competition have 100 cores, real performance within its segment is what matters.

yeah sure right. problem is people will look at cores and make a purchase decision.

you ask a question and i gave an answer. not my problem if you don't like it.

 

[efikkan]

yeah sure right. problem is people will look at cores and make a purchase decision.

you ask a question and i gave an answer. not my problem if you don't like it.

Sure, numbers count for many buyers, I'm aware of that. But we should expect an unbiased review without such nonsense. If individual buyers prefer numbers, that's their problem.

 

[looniam]

Sure, numbers count for many buyers, I'm aware of that. But we should expect an unbiased review without such nonsense. If individual buyers prefer numbers, that's their problem.

so an unbiased review would be what YOU find relevant but not to the masses?

ok. got it.