Intel
Intel Core i3-3220
Ivy Bridge's mainstream dual-core: the same 3.3 GHz and four threads as the i3-2120 it replaced, but on 22 nm inside a 55 W envelope. Today it is mainly the cheapest way to make a dead LGA1155 board POST again.
Pros
- 55 W TDP — 10 W lower than the Sandy Bridge i3 at identical clocks, and passively coolable in a slim case
- 22 nm tri-gate process makes it the most efficient dual-core on LGA1155
- Official DDR3-1600 support, a step up from Sandy Bridge's DDR3-1333
- Quick Sync on HD Graphics 2500 is a generation newer than HD 2000 for video encode
- Works in both 7-series and (after a BIOS update) 6-series boards, so the used board supply is huge
Cons
- Two cores, four threads, no turbo, locked multiplier — nothing about it can be pushed
- HD Graphics 2500 has only 6 EUs and is markedly slower than the HD 4000 in the i7-3770
- 6-series boards need a BIOS flashed with a Sandy Bridge chip first, which is a chicken-and-egg problem if the i3 is your only CPU
- No AVX2, no official Windows 11 support
Below average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the Intel Core i3-3220
General
- Announced
- 2012
- Socket
- LGA1155
- Process
- 22 nm
- Base TDP
- 55 W
- Unlocked multiplier
- No
- Cooler included
- Yes
Cores & Clocks
- Cores
- 2
- Performance cores
- 2
- Efficiency cores
- 0
- Threads
- 4
- Base clock
- 3.3 GHz
- Boost clock
- 3.3 GHz
- L2 cache
- 1 MB
- L3 cache
- 3 MB
Integrated GPU
- iGPU
- Intel HD Graphics 2500
- iGPU clock
- 1,050 MHz
Memory
- Memory support
- DDR3-1600
- Max memory
- 32 GB
- Memory channels
- 2
Platform
- PCIe version
- 2
- CPU PCIe lanes
- 16
Benchmarks
- Geekbench 6 (single)
- 790
- Geekbench 6 (multi)
- 1,720
- Cinebench R23 (single)
- 765
- Cinebench R23 (multi)
- 1,900
- PassMark
- 2,700
Quick answers
Is the Intel Core i3-3220 good in 2026?
The Intel Core i3-3220 earns an Inno Score of 20.2/100 (“Below average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. Ivy Bridge's mainstream dual-core: the same 3.3 GHz and four threads as the i3-2120 it replaced, but on 22 nm inside a 55 W envelope. Today it is mainly the cheapest way to make a dead LGA1155 board POST again.
What are the key specs of the Intel Core i3-3220?
Cores: 2 · Threads: 4 · Boost clock: 3.3 GHz · Socket: LGA1155
What are the closest alternatives to the Intel Core i3-3220?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are Intel Core i3-2120, AMD Ryzen 3 1200, Intel Core i5-3470 — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.