Intel Core i3-7320 Review

Discover the Core i3-7320! This Desktop processor is a star in Intel's entry-level portfolio. Released in 2017, it sports 2 cores and 4 threads. It has a base frequency of 4.1GHz, can reach up to 4.1GHz, and has a power rating of 51W, ready to enhance your gaming rig. The Core i3-7320 is built using the Kaby Lake-S 14nm process and is a part of the esteemed Core i3 series.

And guess what? The Core i3-7320 is the ultimate successor to Intel's previous-gen gaming champion, the Core i3-6320. The Core i3-6320 was based on the legendary Skylake-S and 14nm process, and it made its grand entrance into the gaming scene back in 2015. But now, it's time for the Core i3-7320 to take the throne and conquer the gaming world!

Heads up, with a simple overclock, the Core i3-7300 can actually perform almost as well as the Core i3-7320, even when the Core i3-7320 is overclocked too. But the Core i3-7300 is $70 cheaper! Don't get us wrong, the Core i3-7320 is still a beast and offers more overall performance than AMD's Ryzen 3 1300X, but if you're on a budget, the cheaper sibling might be the better call.

We already went deep into the nitty-gritty details of the Kaby Lake-S chip design in our reviews of the Intel Core i3-7350K and Core i3-7300. If you want to learn more about the Core i3-7320's architecture (which is identical to the Core i3-7300), head over there!

The Core i3-7320 is the more expensive version of the Core i3-7300, and it shows with its higher base and boost clock speeds: 4.1 GHz and 4.1 GHz, respectively. That's a nice boost in speed, but the real game changer is the higher power delivery (PPT). This lets the motherboard pump more juice (up to 142W) to the Core i3-7320 compared to the Core i3-7300's limit of 51W. This extra power allows the Core i3-7320 to crank up the boost clocks even more aggressively, on both single and multiple cores. That means the performance gap between these two CPUs might be bigger than what the specs on paper suggest.

The Intel Core i3-7320 launched on Jan 2017 for $157, which is pretty much the same price as the last-generation Core i3-6320. At least there's no crazy price hike this generation!

Heads up! If you already have a Core i3-6320, this new generation doesn't offer a huge jump in performance. You might be better off waiting a year to upgrade or spending more on a higher-end CPU.

Intel has been struggling lately to keep up with the new Ryzen 3 processors. This has forced them to get creative with their existing lineup. The Intel Core i3-7320 isn't exactly new - it's basically a Core i3-6320 with a higher clock speed. But there's one more twist...

For gamers, both the Ryzen 3 1300X and Core i3-7320 are great choices. They're neck and neck, with a slight edge to the AMD CPU if you don't overclock it. The Core i3-7320's base performance can be achieved with cheaper RAM (around $90), whereas the Ryzen 3 1300X needs faster RAM ($110-$120) to hit the frame rates we showed. The price difference is small though, and with anything less than an RTX 2070 or Vega 64 graphics card, your GPU will bottleneck your performance anyway. BottleneckAtPlay

One of the best things about the Intel Core i3-7320 is that it comes with a free CPU cooler! You can grab the Core i3-7320 for $157 without having to spend extra on cooling.

The Intel Core i3-7320 comes with a basic heatsink cooler, nothing fancy. But it gets the job done for this low-power CPU (TDP of 51W). You won't need a fancy aftermarket cooler unless you want to overclock it.

The Intel Core i3-7320 might not get a lot of hype, but it's a solid entry-level option that delivers a good experience for casual users.

If you don't care too much about overclocking and max boost speeds, then the Intel Core i3-7300 is a good option for $147. It also has 2 cores and 4 threads, but with slightly lower clock speeds (4GHz base and 4GHz boost).

Building on the success of mainstream Core i3 CPUs, Intel is now attacking the entry-level market with the Core i3-7320 processors, available since Jan 2017.