Core i5-8600T vs Core i3-1125G4

The Core i5-8600T packs 6 cores / 6 threads, while the Core i3-1125G4 offers 4 cores / 8 threads — the Core i5-8600T has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.7 GHz on the Core i5-8600T versus 3.7 GHz on the Core i3-1125G4 — identical boost frequencies (base: 2.3 GHz vs 2 GHz). The Core i5-8600T uses the Coffee Lake (2017−2019) architecture (14 nm), while the Core i3-1125G4 uses Tiger Lake-UP3 (2020−2021) (10 nm SuperFin). In PassMark, the Core i5-8600T scores 9,201 against the Core i3-1125G4's 9,284 — a 0.9% lead for the Core i3-1125G4. Cinebench R23 multi-core: 4,633 vs 5,112 (9.8% advantage for the Core i3-1125G4). Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,224 vs 1,560, a 24.1% lead for the Core i3-1125G4 that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 4,470 vs 4,770 (6.5% advantage for the Core i3-1125G4). L3 cache: 9 MB (total) on the Core i5-8600T vs 8 MB (total) on the Core i3-1125G4.

The Core i5-8600T uses the LGA1151 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Core i3-1125G4 uses FCBGA1449 (PCIe 4.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-2666 memory speed. The Core i5-8600T supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 64 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. Both provide 16 PCIe lanes. Chipset compatibility: H310,B360,H370,Q370,Z370,Z390 (Core i5-8600T) and SoC (Core i3-1125G4).

Only the Core i3-1125G4 supports AVX-512 instructions — important for machine learning and scientific applications. Virtualization support: Yes (Core i5-8600T) vs VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i3-1125G4). Both include integrated graphics — UHD Graphics 630 (Core i5-8600T) and UHD Graphics (48 EU) (Core i3-1125G4) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i3-1125G4 targets Productivity. Direct competitor: Core i3-1125G4 rivals Ryzen 3 5300U.