Intel Core i7 10700F 8-core LGA 1200

The Core i7-10700F is a solid 8-core chip with strong single-thread performance, landing in the 79th percentile for single-thread scores. At USD 190 on Amazon, it's a great budget gaming CPU. But the LGA 1200 platform is dead, there's no integrated graphics, and user sentiment is surprisingly low, so only buy it if you're building a cheap rig and never plan to upgrade.

The 10700F posts a PassMark multi-thread score of 16,083 and a single-thread score of 2,870. That single-thread number is the highlight here, landing in the 79th percentile across all CPUs we track. For gaming, that translates to smooth frame rates in most titles, especially paired with a decent GPU. Multi-thread sits at the 70th percentile, which is solid but not spectacular. The 2.9GHz base clock is low, but the 4.8GHz boost does the heavy lifting. The 16MB of L3 cache helps with latency-sensitive workloads. Just keep in mind this is PCIe 3.0, so you won't get Gen4 SSD speeds, and the 65W TDP means you'll want a decent air cooler if you plan to push sustained all-core loads.

Against the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the 10700F gets absolutely demolished in gaming and multi-thread workloads. The 9800X3D is a current-gen monster with 3D V-Cache, and it's not even a fair fight. The 10700F's real competition is older Ryzen 5000 chips or Intel's own 11th gen parts. Compared to something like a Ryzen 5 5600X, the 10700F trades blows in gaming but pulls ahead in multi-thread thanks to those 8 cores. The G.Skill Trident Z Neo and be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 aren't CPUs, so they're not direct comparisons, but they do highlight the ecosystem issue: you'll need DDR4 RAM and a decent cooler to get the most out of this chip. The MICRO CENTER bundle and ADVB3 Phenom II are odd entries in our competitor list, but they reinforce that this is a budget-oriented part in a sea of newer options.

Pricing is all over the place. US listings range from USD 190 to USD 475, which is a massive spread for the same chip. Amazon has the best deal at USD 190, and at that price, this is a genuinely good value for a budget gaming rig. At USD 475, you're getting robbed, that's Ryzen 7 9800X3D territory. European buyers see a tighter range of EUR 245 to EUR 336, with the best price on Amazon. If you can snag this under USD 200 or EUR 250, it's a solid buy. Anything more and you should look at newer platforms.

The Core i7-10700F is Intel's Comet Lake workhorse from 2020, and it still holds up surprisingly well for a 14nm chip. You get 8 cores, 16 threads, and a 4.8GHz boost clock in a tidy 65W package. No integrated graphics here, so you'll need a dedicated GPU, but for a budget gaming or productivity build, that's usually the plan anyway.

Our database puts this thing in a weird spot. Single-thread performance is strong, efficiency is well above average, but user sentiment lands in the bottom quarter. That gap tells a story: the silicon is fine, but the platform is aging. LGA 1200 is a dead socket, PCIe 3.0 only, and DDR4 tops out at 128GB. If you're building fresh in 2025, you're buying into a platform with zero upgrade path.

Skip this if you're building a new PC from scratch and care about future upgrades. The LGA 1200 socket is dead, PCIe 3.0 limits fast SSD performance, and you'll be stuck with DDR4. If you need integrated graphics for a home office or media PC, this chip is useless without a GPU. And if you're paying more than USD 250, you're overpaying for old tech.

If you're building a budget gaming PC and you find this chip for under USD 200, it's a no-brainer. The 10700F delivers smooth 1080p and 1440p gaming when paired with a mid-range GPU, and the 8 cores give you headroom for streaming or light productivity work. But if you're starting from scratch with a new motherboard, you should seriously consider a newer platform. AM5 or LGA 1700 boards give you PCIe 4.0 or 5.0, DDR5 support, and a real upgrade path. The 10700F is a great chip for what it is, but what it is, is a dead-end platform from 2020.