Intel Core i3-6100, 2 Cores & 4 Threads Desktop Processor with Intel HD Graphics 530

Just completed 2 Mini ITX HTPC builds/rebuilds with these new Skylake chips. Wow! these units edge out the performance of my nearly 3 year old Ivy Bridge I7-3770S and I5-3570K builds for less than half the cost. Now and 3 years ago I used the best available Asrock ITX boards to enhance what I want in these units: feature rich power HTPC's that can run nearly silently with ultra low profile CPU fans without burning up. With the previous builds I had to use the motherboard's built in controls to slightly underclock the CPU's to get the thermal and quiet noise level patterns I wanted. Now I have used 2 new Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac boards with thirteen buck Rosewill RCX-Z775-LP 80mm Sleeve Low Profile CPU Coolers that without underclocking run the new I3's quietly 10-15 Celsius lower than the old builds. Plus I now have HTPC's that have HDMI 2.0 ports that can run 4K video at 60Hz.I am not a gamer, so I also used the Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac boards to get the new USB3.1 and C ports and upgraded Audio. I suspect that gamers on a budget could put the cash saved on this Skylake I3 into a good Graphics board and small SSD - and still have a rocking machine. Recommend: Don't skimp on the motherboard though.Update: 5/18/2016: Just saw some old comments/questions: Yes, I am using onboard graphics only. My HTPC enclosures are only about 8X8X2.5 inches. In these tiny boxes the older I7 & I5 Ivy Bridge temperatures ran up fan speeds and noise too much for my tastes while watching video, so I artificially under clocked them in the bios to reduce the thermal profiles and quiet the fans to unnoticeable beyond 12-18 inches away from the units. The I3 Skylake builds run quietly as HTPC's without bios setting modifications. The only time fan speeds and noise increase are during maintenance tasks such as virus scans and OS update installs which run quickly with the I3's. But for my personal preference for snappy maintenance, the G4400 or G4500 Skylake dual-cores might have worked well as HTPC's for me. I did build a totally silent HTPC using an Asrock Q1900DC-ITX board which includes an Intel Quad-Core Processor J1900 with fanless heat sink and built in DC/DC power for cheap. It runs well as a HTPC, but it's pokey running maintenance tasks, so like the I3's better

For the average user, it is great. It has plenty of processing power and it does not generate much heat, which means the fans do not have to run fast (and loud) to keep the system functioning. The integrated graphics technology will work well for the average person that browses the web, watches movies, reads email, types documents, etc. If you are building a new PC with a relatively limited budget, this is definitely worth a look.I am not sure how well this will work for modern gamers. Most of the games I play are either old or are much harder on the CPU than graphics. I tried this on one of the more CPU intensive games and and the integrated graphics were pretty bad when the CPU was strained. However, when I stuck an old video card in it, performance was great. The CPU had no problems. I just don't know how the CPU will handle some of the more recent games that are hard on both the CPU and graphics.

After my previous system burned out, I looked into building a budget-friendly microATX gaming PC. I considered going with a non-K i5, but after reading tons of reviews online and considering the fact that the 6100 was about $100 cheaper than the cheapest i5, I decided to choose the 6100. I am thoroughly impressed with its performance for such a good price. I had previously owned an i5-4690K OC'd to 4.1GHz with 8GB DDR3 memory. For considerably cheaper than my previous rig, I was able to snag the 6100, a microATX motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4. I also upgraded my SSD to a 256gb Samsung 850 EVO. My machine feels noticeably faster now. I am unsure of which part accounts for this, or if all of them working together is the culprit, but whatever the case may be it feels like greased lightning. I paired this with a Zotac GTX 1060 and have been getting 55-60FPS consistently at 1080p in The Witcher 3 with the CPU hitting a max of about 46C. I am also getting consistent 100FPS in Dwarf Fortress 2014 at a fortress population of 240 with little to no fortress or game optimization present. Anyone who has played DF knows how ludicrous that is. My previous rig, with its overclocked i5, could handle a pop of 120 before slowing down to 60FPS, and ground to a halt at anything over 160.Overall, this is quite possibly the best budget CPU out there. Don't let the fact that it only has two physical cores scare you: it's tough enough to handle anything you throw at it.