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AMD Ryzen 5 230 vs Intel Core 5 330: Comparison
AMD Ryzen 5 230 vs Intel Core 5 330 l3 cache compared
Start with l3 cache, because it is the widest measured gap between them: AMD Ryzen 5 230 16 MB against Intel Core 5 330 6 MB, 63% in favour of AMD Ryzen 5 230. Tdp is not the same on both, 28 W on the AMD Ryzen 5 230 versus 15 W on the Intel Core 5 330. There is a split on socket as well, FP8, FP7, FP7r2 on the AMD Ryzen 5 230 versus FCBGA1516 on the Intel Core 5 330. There is a split on release year as well, 2025 on the AMD Ryzen 5 230 versus 2026 on the Intel Core 5 330.
Which should you buy, AMD Ryzen 5 230 or Intel Core 5 330?
Buy the AMD Ryzen 5 230 for budget and midrange thin-and-light laptops and office work, browsing and video calls, though it is not built for modern games at high settings without a dedicated GPU and copilot+ PC AI features, which need a 40+ TOPS NPU. Avoid it for heavy video rendering or 3D work, where 8-core chips finish much sooner. The Intel Core 5 330 suits business and school fleet laptops managed by IT and office apps, browsing and video meetings, though it is the wrong buy for heavy multi-core work such as video exports or code builds and gaming beyond very light or older titles.
What AMD Ryzen 5 230 and Intel Core 5 330 have in common
Everything else lines up. Total cores, integrated graphics, form factor, market segment and unlocked multiplier read the same on both, so those are not worth weighing. They match on 1 further specification as well.
Do the AMD Ryzen 5 230 and Intel Core 5 330 differ on performance cores?
Yes. Performance Cores reads 6 on the AMD Ryzen 5 230 versus 2 on the Intel Core 5 330.
Is the PCIe Generation the same on the AMD Ryzen 5 230 and Intel Core 5 330?
It is. Both are listed at PCIe 4.0, so it is not a reason to pick one over the other.
Specs and benchmarks
Form Factor
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Laptop
- Intel Core 5 330
- Laptop
Codename
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Hawk Point
- Intel Core 5 330
- Wildcat Lake
Release Year
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 2025
- Intel Core 5 330
- 2026
TDP
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 28 W
- Intel Core 5 330
- 15 W
iGPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- AMD Radeon 760M (8 cores, up to 2600 MHz)
- Intel Core 5 330
- Intel Graphics
Market Segment
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Laptop
- Intel Core 5 330
- Laptop
Socket
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- FP8, FP7, FP7r2
- Intel Core 5 330
- FCBGA1516
Process Node
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 4 nm
- Intel Core 5 330
- 18 nm
Total Cores
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 6
- Intel Core 5 330
- 6
Performance Cores
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 6Best
- Intel Core 5 330
- 2
Efficiency Cores
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 0
- Intel Core 5 330
- 4Best
Total Threads
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 12Best
- Intel Core 5 330
- 6
SMT Enabled
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Yes
- Intel Core 5 330
- No
P-Core Base Clock
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 3.5 GHz
- Intel Core 5 330
- 1.5 GHz
P-Core Boost Clock
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Up to 4.9 GHz
- Intel Core 5 330
- 4.6 GHz
Unlocked Multiplier
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- No
- Intel Core 5 330
- No
L3 Cache
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 16 MBBest
- Intel Core 5 330
- 6 MB-62%
Base Power
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- 15-30W
- Intel Core 5 330
- 15 W
Memory Type
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- DDR5 (FP8) , LPDDR5X (FP8) , DDR5 (FP7r2) , LPDDR5X (FP7), 2-Channel
- Intel Core 5 330
- LPDDR5x up to 7467 MT/s, DDR5 up to 6400 MT/s
Integrated Graphics
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- Yes
- Intel Core 5 330
- Yes
PCIe Generation
- AMD Ryzen 5 230
- PCIe 4.0
- Intel Core 5 330
- PCIe 4.0
Which one should you pick?
Choose AMD Ryzen 5 230 if you want the higher L3 cache (16 MB vs 6 MB).
Choose Intel Core 5 330 if you already have it on hand or find it at a lower price.