Intel Core i3-10325 vs Intel Core i7-8850H Comparison

The Intel Core i7-8850H and the Intel Core i3-10325 occupy the same neighborhood in the database rankings, yet they arrive from opposite corners of the market. The i7-8850H is an end-of-life mobile part from the Coffee Lake-H family, a 6-core, 12-thread processor soldered onto a BGA 1444-pin package with a 45 W thermal envelope. The i3-10325 is an active desktop Comet Lake-R chip, a 4-core, 8-thread design on Socket 1200 with a 65 W rating and a launch MSRP of $154. Despite the i7's core-count advantage, the recorded data shows the desktop i3 sweeping every head-to-head benchmark, a result worth unpacking in detail.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The comparison is unusual in its consistency: the i3-10325 wins all six shared Cinebench tests, and five of them by nearly identical margins. In Cinebench R15 multi-core the i3 posts 881 points against the i7's 857, a 2.7 percent gap. The single-core R15 result follows the same pattern, 124 versus 120, a 3.2 percent advantage for the i3. Cinebench R20 mirrors this almost exactly: 3673 versus 3574 multi-core (2.7 percent) and 518 versus 504 single-core (2.7 percent). Cinebench R23, the most demanding of the three render tests, lands at 8747 versus 8511 in multi-core and 1234 versus 1201 in single-core, both 2.7 percent in the i3's favor.

Interpreting that spread, the story is one of clock speed trumping core count. The i7-8850H carries 6 cores and 12 threads, but its 2.70 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clocks are constrained by a 45 W mobile envelope. The i3-10325 runs fewer cores but at significantly higher frequencies, with a 3.90 GHz base and a 4.70 GHz boost. In sustained all-core rendering workloads, the desktop chip's clocks hold up under its 65 W budget, and the extra threads of the mobile i7 are not enough to close the gap. The near-uniform 2.7 percent multi-core delta suggests the i7's additional logical processors are roughly offsetting its frequency deficit, but never overcoming it.

The database also records Geekbench results for the i7-8850H, with 4765 multi-core and 1300 single-core scores, but no corresponding Geekbench entries exist for the i3-10325, so no cross-platform conclusion can be drawn there. In the aggregate view, the two chips sit almost on top of each other: the i7's average benchmark score is 2604 against the i3's 2530, and both land in the 49th percentile versus all CPUs in the database. Their rival clusters reinforce how close they are. The i7-8850H's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 4355GE (avgScore 2596, 0.3 percent delta), the Intel Xeon E-2174G (2588, 0.6 percent), the Intel Xeon E5-4620 v3 (2587, 0.6 percent), and the Intel Xeon W-2125 (2623, -0.7 percent). The i3-10325's cluster is similarly tight: the Intel Xeon E-2244G (2527, 0.1 percent), the Xeon E5-1650 v3 (2545, -0.6 percent), the Xeon E-2144G (2514, 0.7 percent), and the Xeon E5-2643 v3 (2511, 0.8 percent). Two processors from different segments, different sockets, and different generations end up statistically indistinguishable in overall ranking.

Architecture Differences

Both chips are Intel 14 nm products, which explains much of the architectural kinship. The i7-8850H belongs to the Coffee Lake architecture with the Coffee Lake-H codename, while the i3-10325 is a Comet Lake design carrying the Comet Lake-R codename. Both trace back to the same long-lived process family, and neither represents a process-node leap over the other.

The core topology is the clearest divide. The i7 offers 6 cores and 12 threads; the i3 offers 4 cores and 8 threads. That 50 percent advantage in physical cores and 50 percent advantage in threads is the i7's principal architectural asset, and it is what keeps the mobile chip within striking distance in every multi-core test despite lower clocks. The cache hierarchy partly offsets this: the i7 carries 12 MB of shared L3, while the i3 carries 8 MB shared. Per-core L1 and L2 are identical between the two, 64 KB and 256 KB per core respectively, so the i7 enjoys both more cache-per-core effectively and a larger shared pool.

Memory and platform support differ along segment lines. Both support DDR4 and both lack ECC memory support. The i3-10325, as a desktop part, lists a dual-channel memory bus with 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth and PCIe Gen 3 with 16 CPU lanes. The corresponding fields for the i7-8850H are not populated in the database, which is typical for mobile parts where platform details depend on the notebook implementation. Both integrate the same UHD Graphics 630-class solution, the i7 listing "UHD 630" and the i3 "UHD Graphics 630". Neither has an unlocked multiplier. The i7's die size is recorded at 149 mm²; no die size is recorded for the i3. Release timing is notable: the i7-8850H shipped in April 2018 and is now end-of-life, while the i3-10325 shipped in March 2021 and remains in active production.

The Verdict

Strictly on the benchmark data, the i3-10325 is the faster processor in every measured test. If the decision is purely about rendering throughput as recorded in the database, the i3 wins: all six Cinebench results, by margins of 2.7 to 3.2 percent. Its higher average clocks and the same percentile ranking (49th for both) make it the pick where the workload fits within 8 threads.

The i7-8850H still has a defensible case, but only on structural grounds visible in the data: 6 cores and 12 threads versus 4 and 8, and 12 MB of L3 versus 8 MB. No recorded workload in this comparison taxes more than the i3's thread count long enough to flip a result, so the i7's advantage remains theoretical within this dataset. Buyers choosing between them are really choosing between form factors and platforms rather than performance tiers, since the aggregate scores (2604 versus 2530) differ by less than the noise band implied by their respective rival clusters. Both are mid-pack CPUs, ranked at the same percentile, and neither separates itself from the other in any meaningful statistical sense beyond the small but consistent per-test edge to the desktop chip.

Specification Differences

• Cores/Threads: i7-8850H has 6 cores / 12 threads; i3-10325 has 4 cores / 8 threads.
• Base/Boost Clock: i7-8850H runs 2.70 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost; i3-10325 runs 3.90 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost.
• TDP: 45 W for the i7-8850H versus 65 W for the i3-10325.
• Socket: Intel BGA 1444-pin (soldered) for the i7-8850H; Intel Socket 1200 for the i3-10325.
• Architecture/Codename: Coffee Lake / Coffee Lake-H for the i7; Comet Lake / Comet Lake-R for the i3.
• L3 Cache: 12 MB shared on the i7 versus 8 MB shared on the i3. L1 and L2 are identical per core.
• Memory Bus/Bandwidth: the i3 lists dual-channel with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth; these fields are unpopulated for the i7. Both support DDR4 without ECC.
• PCIe: the i3 lists Gen 3 with 16 CPU lanes; PCIe is unpopulated for the i7.
• Market Segment: Mobile (i7-8850H) versus Desktop (i3-10325).
• Production Status: the i7-8850H is end-of-life; the i3-10325 is active.
• Release Date: April 2018 for the i7; March 2021 for the i3.
• Die Size: 149 mm² recorded for the i7; not recorded for the i3.
• Launch MSRP: $154 recorded for the i3-10325; none recorded for the i7-8850H.
• Part Numbers: SR3YZ for the i7, SRH3H for the i3.

Shared traits include the Intel 14 nm process node, the UHD Graphics 630 integrated GPU, DDR4 memory support, a locked multiplier, and no ECC support.

FAQ

Q: Does the 6-core i7-8850H beat the 4-core i3-10325 in multi-core rendering? A: No. The i3-10325 wins every recorded Cinebench multi-core test: R15 at 881 versus 857, R20 at 3673 versus 3574, and R23 at 8747 versus 8511. The i3's higher clock speeds more than compensate for its lower core count.

Q: How large is the performance gap between them? A: Consistently small. Five of the six head-to-head tests show a 2.7 percent advantage for the i3-10325, with the remaining single-core R15 test at 3.2 percent.

Q: Which processor has more cache? A: The i7-8850H, with 12 MB of shared L3 versus 8 MB on the i3-10325. Per-core L1 (64 KB) and L2 (256 KB) are identical between the two.

Q: Are these chips ranked differently in the database overall? A: No. Both sit in the 49th percentile versus all CPUs, with average benchmark scores of 2604 for the i7-8850H and 2530 for the i3-10325, a near-statistically meaningless separation.

Q: Can either processor be overclocked via multiplier? A: No. Both the i7-8850H and the i3-10325 have locked multipliers.

Q: Which one is still in production? A: The i3-10325 is an active product. The i7-8850H is end-of-life, having launched in April 2018, while the i3 launched in March 2021.