I also have the i5 which seems pretty usable, but I have no idea about the i3. I’m guessing it’d be fine for most home stuff and photo editing if the memory was maxed… and an SSD installed. SSDs truly are the savior of older hardware. I have a later Core 2 Duo that is still able to work it’s magic thanks to maxed ram (16 gig) and an ssd.
That said, you can find my top of the line 2010 i7 on Craigslist for 379 or less. I expect to be using it for a few years yet.
