I'm thinking of building a budget PC featuring the Intel i3 12100F processor along with an ASRock B760M motherboard, 16GB of DDR5 RAM (picked up for $65), a 512MB M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD, and an RX 5700 Radeon Edition GPU. I have some leftover parts that I couldn't sell, including the RX 5700, and I figured I might as well put them to use by building and then selling this PC. Is the i3 12100F really that bad for gaming and productivity, or is there a way to make this setup work well?
5 Answers
A low-tier SKU from a few generations back isn’t necessarily the best choice. Just a heads up.
Honestly, the i3 12100F only has 4 cores and 8 threads, which isn't enough for many modern games at 1080p. An i5 from the same generation offers much better value. However, the RX 5700 might bottleneck the system before the CPU does, so it could work fine for less demanding games.
Thanks for the input! I’m okay with lower settings; I just want decent performance for older games.
This CPU was once seen as the top budget option, so it’s definitely not a bad choice. If you can stretch your budget a bit, the 12400F would be a better fit, but for resale purposes, the 12100F makes sense.
It’s not *that* bad. The performance is somewhat similar to the Ryzen 3600 in gaming, battling it out with the 3700X on occasion, depending on the game. Sure, it’s lagging behind for productivity tasks, but it's still relevant for gaming if you're not after the latest titles.
Given current market conditions, your build could actually sell well! If it doesn’t, you can always use it for basic tasks like browsing the web. The motherboard allows for upgrades down the line if you update the BIOS and drivers. Just keep in mind that the future availability of LGA1700 chips might be a consideration.
I see where you’re coming from, but in my country, the 12th generation CPUs are still quite popular in stores.