Processor Intel Core i3-6100: reviews, review, specs, performance, tests

Yes, over the past few years, potential buyers have noticed that the assortment of computer components has increased several times. Well, there would be new brands, but this remark applies to the processors released under the flags of AMD and Intel. The war for the sales market has reached an unprecedented scale. Who would have thought that a regular Core i3 with two cores can demonstrate excellent gaming potential in the tests? But this has already happened, and no one knows how this fight will end.

In the focus of this article - an inexpensive product for all fans of resource-intensive and dynamic toys - the Intel Core i3-6100 processor. Reviews, review, specifications, overclocking, tests and recommendations of experts will allow the reader to learn about the novelty a lot of interesting.

Worthy range of modifications

Before proceeding directly to acquaintance with the crystal, it is worthwhile to obtain input data on the modifications. The fact is that Intel did not limit itself to the standard division of products for the boxed version and the OEM supply, but gave the market two similar processors with identical markings. The essential difference, as practice shows, is only in the clock frequency of the crystal. So, the processor Intel Core i3-6100 LGA 1151 operates at a frequency of 3.7 GHz, and its modification with the index "T" - only 3.2.

As a result, users saw on the shop windows four identical processors, made in different modifications and having almost the same price. It is worth noting that the models could be and 2 times more, if the technology Intel decided to play with the blocking of multipliers. Fortunately, this did not happen. By the way, the multiplier is still blocked, so that fans of overclocking will have to purchase a game board with the ability to control the clock speed of the processor bus. True, it is not entirely clear why to go for such costs, if you can just buy a more expensive crystal, for example, Core i5.

First meeting

As you might expect, the Intel Core i3-6100 OEM processor is shipped in a conventional plastic box without any accompanying documentation. As users noticed in their reviews, processors are the most expensive crystals that can be purchased "by weight".

As for the BOX packaging, the future owner will not find anything new for himself: the crystal, the cooling system in the collection and the large amount of waste paper in the form of warranty coupons, specifications and instructions. Apparently, the manufacturer compensates for the shortage of paper in the supply of OEM.

Jokes are jokes, however, the price of the two versions (with the cooling system and without it) in the domestic market is almost identical. It seems that the famous American manufacturer Intel simply gives a cooler to all customers who decided to purchase an Intel Core i3-6100 BOX processor. There are no secrets: the manufacturer simply does not welcome other people's products, and therefore creates the conditions under which it is profitable for a buyer to purchase a branded cooling system.

Declared characteristics

On the marking of the processor, it is not difficult to guess that this is the representative of the sixth generation of chips created within the walls of Intel. The product, codenamed Skylake, is made using the latest 14 nanometer process and is affiliated with the new Socket LGA 1151 platform, which works with modern DDR4 memory modules.

As practice shows, the main performance indicator is not the base frequency of the core, which the Intel Core i3-6100 processor can demonstrate. 3.7 GHz is really impressive, but there is a more interesting factor that can affect performance. It's about the number of threads - their number 4. In fact, Intel engineers used their old Hyper-threading technology, which showed itself perfectly with the LGA 775 platform.

The reference frequency of the bus is 100 MHz, and the multiplier is 37 - no changes in this plan from the manufacturer, and should not be expected. But the volume of cache memory is already interesting. At the first level 2x32 kilobyte is given both under the instructions and under the data. At the second level of 256 KB per physical core, and the third has a full 3 MB.

Gifts for the Middle Kingdom

The fact that many buyers consider the Intel Core i3-6100 Skylake processor to be a miracle is a fact, but for many this crystal brought unpleasant news. Purchased earlier (1-2 years ago) powerful products Core i5 and i7 are simply not quoted in performance with this baby. True, it's still about the performance of the system unit, and not about mathematical calculations.

Finally, Intel has equipped budget crystals with support for fast memory modules. And here we are not talking about DDR4 technology, but about frequencies. Now the standard of 2133 MHz is available to inexpensive processors. The crystal supports two memory channels and can work with 64 gigabytes of RAM.

Also, the product has a built-in graphics core Intel HD 530, which has 24 execution units. The video adapter operates at 350 MHz (in Boost mode, this indicator triples). As for the video output, the user is allowed to connect 3 monitors at the same time.

Integrated graphics core

Many consumers know that the Intel Core i3-6100 Skylake is equipped with an integrated video adapter, but they all try to buy a video card in the budget class on the market, naively believing that the built-in core is not capable of demonstrating to the owner a decent potential in games. But it is because of the integrated graphics accelerator that the crystal has such a big price.

There is no point in describing the technical process and the characteristics of the Intel HD 530 chip. It's easier to compare gaming capabilities with discrete graphics cards. If we talk about the budget class, then the characteristics are more suitable Nvidia GTX 740 and ATI HD 5830. As for the gaming class, gamers are likely to have heard about the Geforce GTX 460 (192 bit) and Radeon HD 7750 video cards. So the purchase Less productive graphics accelerators will simply be impractical. Experts recommend starting with video adapters Nvidia GTX 960 or their analogs from AMD.

Thermal package

Intel processors should be called the eighth wonder of the world, because only this product on the world market contains many secrets and mysteries. The officially declared dissipated power of the crystal is 51 watts. For such a heat package, the complete set of the standard cooling system, which is available in a boxed version of the Intel Core i3-6100 processor, is quite understandable. Characteristics of the chip are also quite economical - 3,700 MHz and 14-nanometer technology.

But enthusiasts have a lot of questions. First, in the tests, the crystal is not heated at all even in peak loads. To achieve from the processor of the same 80 degrees Celsius it is possible only in one case - to remove the cooler. Secondly, the situation with the critical temperature is not clear. The manufacturer installed it at around 100 degrees, but you can achieve this figure only in the acceleration without the installed cooling system. It's completely unclear where the strange specifications for the thermal package come from in the specifications for the processor. There are assumptions that in the future there will be motherboards that activate the potential hidden from users, however, this is still at the level of rumors.

Building a gaming platform

Do not need to be skeptical of the owners' feedback on the statements about the gaming power of this crystal. The Intel Core i3-6100 processor runs perfectly with almost any powerful video card. As practice shows, Nvidia GTX 960 reveals its full potential, working in tandem with a dual-core toddler. As for the analog from AMD, the Radeon R9 280 is better to limit in the settings, since it simply can not keep up with the CPU. And, if we talk about a decent layout of the system unit, then there are not so many recommendations:

• Geforce accelerator GTX 970 (or Radeon R9 290X);
• 16 gigabytes of DDR4 memory in 2133 MHz (in Dual mode);
• Motherboard on the Z170 chip (if you plan to use ultra-fast memory).

Yes, such a set does not fit into the budgetary framework, but it is the most effective components of the system unit that will be able to fully reveal the potential of a modern processor related to the 6th generation.

Comparison with Intel products

Do not expect that the processor Intel Core i3-6100 OEM will be a stranger among its counterparts. The company's policy will never allow budget-class processors to outperform their older products. True, it should be noted here that we are talking about generations, not platforms, and the future owner of this crystal still has a chance in tests to exceed the performance of processors built on the legendary chip of the second generation Sandy Bridge.

As you might expect, the Core i3 crystal fit comfortably between Pentium G products and representatives of the expensive Core i5 segment. But only a significant gap from the leader is able to demonstrate only an increasing schedule. Looking at the numbers, the user will find that the performance gap is minimal.

From word to deed

When you need a specific, experts recommend running resource-intensive toys at the maximum quality settings and look at the display rate of the display. The Intel Core i3-6100 BOX processor is no exception. This is not a product that is better tested by World of Tanks or DOTA 2. This crystal will cope 100% with any existing in the world game:

• Total War in the resolution of FullHD and at maximum settings is able to work at a frequency of 40 frames per second (Core i5-4460 demonstrates 42 FPS).
• GTA V (FullHD, Ultra) - 61 FPS (Core i5-4460 shows at 2 frames per second more).
• Thief (resolution and settings are the same) - 100 frames per second (Core i5-4460 passes the position - 99 FPS).

There are hundreds of such examples, and judging from the feedback of users, it makes no sense to compare with the crystals of the early generation, if you can already clearly see that the budget processor Intel Core i3-6100 makes with more expensive 4-generation chips.

Alternative from AMD

In the camp of competitors, technologists are also not asleep, but are vigilantly watching the novelties on the market under the Intel logo. True, it leaves the company is somehow weak, since in the price category up to 10 000 rubles under the flag of AMD there is not a single product that could at least approach the results of the novelty of the 6th generation.

The Intel Core i3-6100 processor, which is being reviewed, just does not leave a single chance to win the competition. Two, four, six cores - no chance. There is light at the end of the tunnel - this is an eight-core crystal from AMD. Intel is already powerless, with a significant performance gap (about 15-20% depending on the game). But the representative of a competitor is in an expensive price segment and simply can not be compared with a representative of the budget class. To compare with the product AMD you can processor Core i5 of the sixth class. So it will be fair.

When the hands are itching

Overclocking the Intel Core i3-6100 processor in the responses of most owners is not considered. Crystal and so powerful, toys pull, and the sense to squeeze out of it the maximum of opportunities simply is not present. However, to dispel the myths created by amateurs of AMD products, you can find out what will end the epic with the overclocking.

First you need to take care of the video adapter and take a really powerful product that will make the processor work at the limit of its capabilities. Here the conversation is short - Geforce Titan Z. Also for overclocking, you can take care of a decent cooling system. Experts assure that this is not an extra step, since the processor is well-run and has a huge potential, although it is equipped with a restriction set at the factory (5 GHz).

And then everything is simple - the multiplier is blocked, so overclocking is performed only on the data bus. In fact, everything depends on the capabilities of the motherboard and memory modules (if there is no partition in the BIOS). Theoretically, the frequency can be raised to 166 MHz, but in practice the limit comes at 133 MHz. But this is enough to take a psychological barrier.

Results of testing in overclocking

Such a large increase in frequency (35%) somehow slightly affected the actual performance. In resource-intensive games, the overclocked Intel Core i3-6100 processor shows an increase of no more than 10%. This once again emphasizes that the matter is not at all in high frequencies. Most modern applications require a built-in kernel cache.

Yes, fans of AMD products, of course, will win, because such a big crackdown can not help the crystal owner win in the games themselves.

On the other hand, it's enough to look at the results of testing to understand that in fact Intel did not need to overclock this processor. It basically leaves all AMD representatives behind (except for the flagship with eight cores).

And if to be honest with ourselves, then buyers looking for a processor in a budget class definitely plan to save money. And overclocking a priori will not allow this, because to increase performance you need to purchase: a powerful cooling system, a game motherboard that supports overclocking, and a powerful power supply (after all, the crystal starts to consume more).

Finally

Processor Intel Core i3-6100 in terms of price-quality ratio can be safely considered the best purchase in the budget class. The crystal is powerful, affordable and quite cold - what else does a fan of resource-intensive games need? But fans of overclocking should better look at the products under the AMD logo, because only in this camp you can see worthy performance gains in games (10-15%). That's just not entirely clear what the benefits of such manipulations.