AMD Athlon 200GE vs Intel Core i3-7100T Comparison

The AMD Athlon 200GE and Intel Core i3-7100T are both 35-watt, dual-core, four-thread desktop processors, yet benchmark results reveal a sharp split in their performance profiles. The AMD part takes five of the seven head-to-head wins, while the Intel part counterattacks decisively in the Geekbench suite. The data shows two chips aimed at the same low-power segment but with distinctly different strengths.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking pattern in the benchmark data is the consistency of the AMD Athlon 200GE’s advantage across the Cinebench family. In Cinebench R15 multicore, the AMD chip scores 350 against 319 for the Intel Core i3-7100T, a 9.7% lead. That margin is nearly identical in Cinebench R20 multicore, where the AMD part scores 1461 versus 1333, a 9.6% difference. The pattern holds in Cinebench R23 multicore as well: the AMD processor delivers 3479 points compared to 3175 for the Intel chip, again a 9.6% delta. The single-core Cinebench results tell the same story. In Cinebench R20 single-core, the AMD Athlon 200GE scores 206 versus 188, a 9.6% advantage. In Cinebench R23 single-core, the AMD part reaches 491 points while the Intel i3-7100T manages 448, another 9.6% gap. Across every Cinebench test, the AMD processor holds a remarkably stable lead of roughly 9.6% to 9.7%.

The Intel Core i3-7100T, however, owns the Geekbench arena. In Geekbench multicore, the Intel chip scores 2230 against 1912 for the AMD Athlon 200GE. That is a 14.3% margin in Intel’s favor. The single-core Geekbench test is even more lopsided: the Intel part scores 1111 versus 925 for the AMD chip, a 16.7% advantage. These are the two largest deltas in the entire comparison, and they flip the overall narrative. The AMD chip wins the rendering-oriented Cinebench tests, but the Intel chip wins decisively in the more general-purpose Geekbench workloads.

Looking at the aggregate average benchmark score, the two parts are nearly inseparable. The AMD Athlon 200GE has an average score of 1261, while the Intel Core i3-7100T sits at 1258. The delta between them is a mere 0.3%, with the AMD part ahead. Both chips occupy the 34th percentile among all CPUs in the database. The nearest rivals list confirms how tightly grouped these two processors are: the Intel Core i3-7100T is listed as a rival to the AMD part with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD part appears as a rival to the Intel chip with a delta of -0.2%. For context, the AMD Athlon 200GE also sits within 0.3% of the Intel Xeon W-2102 and the Intel Core i3-1005G1, both of which have average scores around 1264-1265.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear division of labor. The AMD Athlon 200GE is the stronger choice for Cinebench-style rendering and multi-threaded content creation workloads, where it consistently outperforms the Intel Core i3-7100T by nearly 10%. If the workload is dominated by the kind of processing that Cinebench measures — ray tracing, 3D rendering, and similar compute tasks — the AMD chip is the better performer in this pairing. Its five wins in the head-to-head benchmarks, all in Cinebench variants, make this unambiguous.

The Intel Core i3-7100T, on the other hand, is the better pick for Geekbench-style tasks. Its 14.3% multicore lead and 16.7% single-core lead in Geekbench are substantial. Geekbench’s workload mix includes encryption, compression, image processing, and memory tests, which apparently favor the Intel architecture. For users running a broad mix of everyday applications, the Intel chip’s higher base clock of 3.40 GHz against the AMD part’s 3.20 GHz likely contributes to its Geekbench advantage, though the data does not isolate that factor.

If the decision rests on the average benchmark score, the AMD Athlon 200GE edges out the Intel part by 0.3%, which is effectively a tie. Neither chip has a meaningful overall performance edge. The choice comes down to which benchmark suite better represents the target workload. For pure Cinebench performance, the AMD part wins. For Geekbench performance, the Intel part wins. There is no scenario in the data where one chip dominates the other across all tests.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Athlon 200GE wins in every Cinebench test, both single-core and multicore. This includes Cinebench R15 multicore (350 vs 319), Cinebench R20 multicore (1461 vs 1333), Cinebench R20 single-core (206 vs 188), Cinebench R23 multicore (3479 vs 3175), and Cinebench R23 single-core (491 vs 448). The consistency of the 9.6% margin across all five tests suggests a fundamental architectural efficiency in the Zen core for these rendering workloads. The AMD chip’s larger L3 cache — 4 MB shared versus 3 MB shared for the Intel part — may play a role, as may the smaller 96 KB per-core L1 and 512 KB per-core L2 caches compared to the Intel chip’s 64 KB and 256 KB per-core caches. The data does not specify which factor drives the win, but the result is reliable across all Cinebench versions.

The Intel Core i3-7100T wins in both Geekbench tests. Its multicore score of 2230 beats the AMD chip’s 1912, and its single-core score of 1111 beats 925. The single-core Geekbench delta of 16.7% is the largest margin in any test. This suggests that for integer-heavy, memory-latency-sensitive, or single-threaded general workloads, the Intel chip has a clear advantage. The Intel part also has a higher memory bandwidth rating of 38.4 GB/s versus 42.7 GB/s for the AMD chip, yet it still wins in Geekbench, so bandwidth is not the deciding factor. The Intel chip’s 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes versus 8 for the AMD part also does not directly affect these CPU benchmarks.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Athlon 200GE has an average benchmark score of 1261, while the Intel Core i3-7100T has an average of 1258. The AMD part leads by 0.3%.

Q: How big is the AMD chip’s lead in Cinebench R23 multicore?

A: The AMD Athlon 200GE scores 3479 in Cinebench R23 multicore, compared to 3175 for the Intel Core i3-7100T, which is a 9.6% advantage.

Q: What is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head results?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench single-core, where the Intel Core i3-7100T scores 1111 against 925 for the AMD Athlon 200GE, a 16.7% lead for Intel.

Q: Do both processors have the same number of cores and threads?

A: Yes, both the AMD Athlon 200GE and the Intel Core i3-7100T have 2 cores and 4 threads.

Q: What is the thermal design power of both chips?

A: Both the AMD Athlon 200GE and the Intel Core i3-7100T have a TDP of 35 watts.

Q: Which processor sits at a higher percentile among all CPUs?

A: Both the AMD Athlon 200GE and the Intel Core i3-7100T are at the 34th percentile among all CPUs in the database.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Athlon 200GE is built on the Zen architecture, codenamed Zen, using a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries. It is part of the Athlon generation based on Raven Ridge. The chip has 2 cores and 4 threads with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and no boost clock. It contains 4,950 million transistors on a 209.8 mm² die. Its cache hierarchy includes 96 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 4 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The integrated graphics are Radeon Vega 3. The processor uses AMD Socket AM4 and offers PCIe Gen 3 with 8 lanes from the CPU. It does not support ECC memory and is not multiplier-unlocked. Its launch MSRP was $55. The part number is YD200GC6M20FB.

The Intel Core i3-7100T is built on the Kaby Lake architecture, codenamed Kaby Lake, using a 14 nm process node from Intel. It is part of the Core i3 generation. The chip has 2 cores and 4 threads with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and no boost clock. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 3 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s. The integrated graphics are Intel HD 630. The processor uses Intel Socket 1151 and offers PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes from the CPU. It does not support ECC memory and is not multiplier-unlocked. No die size or transistor count is listed for this part. The part number is SR35P.

The architectural differences are notable despite similar core counts and TDP. The AMD chip has a smaller L1 and L2 per core but a larger L3 cache overall (4 MB vs 3 MB). The Intel chip has a higher base clock (3.40 GHz vs 3.20 GHz). The AMD chip has higher theoretical memory bandwidth (42.7 GB/s vs 38.4 GB/s), while the Intel chip has double the PCIe lanes (16 vs 8). Both are 14 nm parts from their respective foundries. The Intel chip was released earlier in 2017, while the AMD chip came later in 2018. The benchmark results suggest that the AMD chip’s cache configuration and memory bandwidth help it in Cinebench, while the Intel chip’s higher clock speed and architecture help it in Geekbench.