I3 8100 or i5 7400
I3 8100 or i5 7400
Without thinking about cost, the i3 8100 and these chips are quite similar. The main benefits are: 1) it runs faster with a 0.1GHz clock boost, and 2) it’s from the eighth generation, meaning it works with newer 300 series boards, often offering better durability and additional features like more M.2 ports.
It's worth mentioning that the Core i3-8100 officially backs Windows 11 since the eighth-generation release was the limit for Intel. After October 2025, support for Windows 10 will stop on this platform unless you switch to Linux. You might still be able to run Windows 11 on unsupported machines by altering the installation files with tools like Rufus. However, considering the Core i3-8100 closely resembles the Core i5-7400 in terms of performance metrics, choosing the i5 isn't really necessary.
Both options are not ideal for gaming right now, though the i3 performs slightly better. Remember these require completely different boards—only the i3 functions with 300 and 400 series boards.
300 series options are mainly limited to Coffee Lake 8/9 models. The introduction of Comet Lake (10th gen) and the bios update for Rocket Lake (11th gen) brought changes. The chipset evolved through two phases—Z370 followed by Z390, with lower-tier chipsets also getting updates. On the original discussion, there wasn’t much to decide between them. Even on a tight budget, aiming for at least a 6th gen (Skylake) Gen 4 core with 8 threads would be reasonable.