Intel Core i3-3220 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 Ghz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33220

by Intel

• Process Type: Intel Core i3 Processor i3-3220
• Core Count: 2
• Clock Speed: 3.3 GHz
• Intel Smart Cache: 3 MB
• Max Memory Bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s
• Socket: LGA1155

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.5 x 5.8 inches ; 10.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0093H8HXS
• Item model number: BX80637I33220
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #5 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Components > CPU Processors
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 2, 2012

Product Description

Intel Core i3 Processor i3-3220 3.3GHz 5.0GT/s 3MB LGA1155 CPU, Retail

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Little Gem September 27, 2012

By aniview

In my quest to build a quality gaming PC on a budget I stumbled upon the i3-3220. It's a powerful current generation processor that will ensure your system is future proofed for several years to come. For $5 you get a 10% improvement in performance over last year's i3-2120 so, why not? I bought this off Newegg but there are no reviews up on Amazon, so I'll give you one!

While there are games out that can utilize four cores there aren't a whole lot of them out there. Including new releases you'll be able to play 99% of what's out on maximum settings providing you have the graphics card to match. The only titles that won't stay at a consistent 60+ fps are games like Battlefield 3 where you have enormous 64 player games.

In my Steam library the most graphic intensive games I have are the Crysis games, a heavily modded Skyrim, Arkham City, and Max Payne 3. So far, they've all been at a consistent 60+ fps with everything turned up. I know for a fact the upcoming titles I'm interested in (Black Ops 2, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3) will play the same.

So, if you're on a budget and want to save the $100 I can safely recommend this over the 3570K. You also save money on a third party heat sink. At idle I'm seeing 28-33c and 60ish on a full load. I'm very happy with this purchase.

My Build:
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
Intel Core i3-3220
G. Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4) RAM
HIS Iceq X 7850 (OC'd)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars nice budget gaming CPU September 27, 2012

By wqerty

Amazon Verified Purchase

Built a budget rig today, this with an 7850, 8 gig of memory and 120G SSD pretty much handles everything I can throw at it.
If you are building a game rig and really on a budget I recommend getting this instead of an i5 and put the extra 100$ in a better video card, which makes all the differences in terms of gaming. This won't be a bottleneck for most of the games. However if you're doing a lot of cpu-intense tasks like video capturing/editing a better cpu does make the difference. But as I said before, for gaming, this little cpu is a solid performer and a better video card is way more important.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great upgrade but with a little problem December 20, 2012

By Mark M.

Amazon Verified Purchase

Well, first of all the CPU is great, i used to have the Celeron G530 paired with the HD6850 from AMD, and it was ok at gaming but sometimes the bottleneck from the CPU was annoying so i decide tu upgrade to the i3..(not enough money for the i5).

The "problem" that i have is with the temperature of the cores, i read reviews here and on another sites and it seems that the idle temps are between 28 and 33, my cores are at 38c on core0 and 14c on core1 with a room temp of 15-17c....at full load the temps are more close, 56c on core0 and 48c on core1, i thought that maybe the motherboard wasn't reading the heat sensor right so i try the i3 on another board and the result is the same, it kind of worries me that i received a faulty chip, and that at some point it may fail on me, because right now is very cool where i live, and it idles at almost 40c, so i don't know what is going to happen when the ambient temperature rise to 30-35.

I still think that the CPU deserves a 5 stars rating because the performance/price is great, and i do understand that when you buy electronics, something can be defective...it happens.

Any ideas about the high temperatures?

Thanks.

P.S. I apologize if my English is not right.

UPDATE 01-21-2013

I decided to return the CPU to amazon after the user M.Zaurov told me on the comments of this review that it was possible (i didn't know that) and i have to say that i'm very impressed.

I sent an email to amazon support at 12 pm on January 7th and in less than 5 hours i received an email telling me that a new order was placed for me at no charge and with the prepaid labels from UPS for the return of the defective CPU. Amazing.

The new i3 i recieved is working as it should, the idle temperatures are between 26-28c on both cores and on a very cold night it goes down to 18c using the Hyper 212+ and 43-45 at full load. With the stock cooler i didn't notice a big difference at idle, 27-29c but on full load it goes up to 51-54c so i decide to use the Hyper 212+ although the stock fan is quieter.

Yes, i'm happy now :)