Intel Core i3 8100: 3.6GHz Quad-Core With UHD Graphics For Less Than $120 USD
The new Intel Core i3 8100 processor is a quad-core CPU running at 3.6GHz, offers integrated UHD Graphics 630, 6MB L3 cache, and has a 65 Watt TDP. This Intel quad-core CPU will cost you less than $120 USD. As about to be shown in these Ubuntu Linux benchmark results, this lowest-end Coffeelake CPU right now has a lot to offer. Here is a 30-way Intel/AMD Ubuntu benchmark comparison featuring the i3 8100, i5 8400, i7 8700K, and many other CPUs going back to the Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer days.
With this week's Coffee Lake / Intel "Gen 8" CPU launch, Core i7 CPUs like the i7-8700K have transitioned from quad-cores plus Hyper Threading to now having six-cores plus HT while Core i5 CPUs like the i5-8400 are no longer just quad-cores without HT but are now six-core designs too. That leaves the Coffeelake Core i3 CPUs, which are now true quad-core processors compared to earlier generations being dual-core and dual-core with HT. The current i3 models are the Core i3 8100 and the i3 8350K.
The Core i3 8100 comes clocked at 3.6GHz while the i3-8350K is clocked at 4.0GHz; both CPUs lack any turbo boost capability, are true quad-core CPUs, both offer a 6MB smart cache size, support dual-channel DDR4-2400 (rather than DDR4-2666 with the Core i5/i7 models) and the 8350K with the "K" designation means it comes unlocked for overclocking. The Core i3 8100 has a 65 Watt TDP while the i3-8350K is at 91 Watts.
I ended up buying a Core i3 8100 on launch day for Linux testing as I figured many of you would be interested in seeing how it performs and have yet to see any other public i3-8100 benchmarks. The Core i3 8100 is a decent low-end entry with a 3.6GHz quad-core design plus UHD Graphics and a 65 Watt TDP all for $118 USD.
On the AMD side, the Ryzen 3 1200 is quad-core and clocked at 3.1GHz with a 3.4GHz turbo and 8MB L3 cache while costing about $110 USD. Or at about $130 USD is the Ryzen 3 1300X that is a quad-core with a 3.5GHz base frequency and 3.7GHz turbo while retaining the 8MB L3 cache size and 65 Watt TDP. So with the i3-8100 we get a higher clocked CPU than the Ryzen 3 1200 while with the 1300X it has a higher base frequency while its turbo is slightly above this low-end Coffeelake. And with the i3-8100 there is the integrated UHD Graphics 630 for those interested.
As published separately, the UHD Graphics 630 can work under Linux but currently require a special kernel module parameter be set for enabling the Coffeelake graphics hardware support. As well, Beignet OpenCL doesn't yet have the support but can be easily hacked in. With our testing of the UHD Graphics 630 thus far, it's indeed basically a rebranded HD Graphics 630 from the Kabylake era. You can't do much heavy gaming with UHD Graphics 630, but it's certainly enough for a modern composited desktop like GNOME Shell or KDE Plasma, video watching on the web, desktop/office tasks, etc. It's worked out fine at 4K, can handle multiple monitors, and basically will cover your bases for all normal Linux desktop tasks short of any real 3D gaming.