Winner
Intel Core i7 4790
CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i7 4790 based on its performance, single-core performance and value.
See full details Intel Core i7 4790 vs i5 6600K |
Released May, 2014
Intel Core i7 4790
- 3.6 GHz
- Quad core
8.2 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i7 4790
 | Much better performance per dollar 2.97 pt/$ | | Much better performance per watt 10.77 pt/W |
| | Supports trusted computing Yes | | Higher Maximum operating temperature 72.72 °C |
by Shawn-Baker (Jun, 2014)Combined with the slew of new Z97 motherboards that have hit the market; this paired with a nice high-end single GPU Video Card from AMD or NVIDIA is going to make for a truly wonderful gaming system.
VS
Released July, 2015
Intel Core i5 6600K
- 3.5 GHz
- Quad core
- Unlocked
8 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the i5 6600K
| | Is unlocked Yes | | Much newer manufacturing process 14 nm |
| | Significantly better cinebench r10 32Bit 1-core score 8,372 | | Newer Jul, 2015 |
CPUBoss Review Our evaluation of 4790 vs 6600K among all CPUs
Performance | |
Benchmark performance using all cores | |
| PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated, PassMark and 1 more | |
Single-core Performance | |
Individual core benchmark performance | |
| PassMark (Single Core), Geekbench 3 Single Core and 1 more | |
Integrated Graphics | |
Integrated GPU performance for graphics | |
| Sky Diver and Cloud Gate | |
Integrated Graphics (OpenCL) | |
Integrated GPU performance for parallel computing | |
| CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 4 more | |
Performance per Watt | |
How efficiently does the processor use electricity? | |
| Sky Diver, Cloud Gate, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more | |
Value | |
Are you paying a premium for performance? | |
| Sky Diver, Cloud Gate, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more | |
| 8.2 | CPUBoss Score |
Combination of all six facets | |
 | Winner |
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
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Intel Core i7 4790CPUBoss Winner |  | |
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much better performance per dollar | 2.97 pt/$ | vs | 1.17 pt/$ | More than 2.5x better performance per dollar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Much better performance per watt | 10.77 pt/W | vs | 2.4 pt/W | Around 4.5x better performance per watt | |||
| Supports trusted computing | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; Allows for safer, more reliable computing | |||
| Higher Maximum operating temperature | 72.72 °C | vs | 64 °C | Around 15% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
| More l3 cache per core | 2 MB/core | vs | 1.5 MB/core | Around 35% more l3 cache per core | |||
| Better turbo clock speed | 1,200 MHz | vs | 1,150 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
| More threads | 8 | vs | 4 | Twice as many threads | |||
| Better CompuBench 1.5 ocean surface simulation score | 225.9 fps | vs | 171.82 fps | More than 30% better CompuBench 1.5 ocean surface simulation score | |||
| Better geekbench 3 single core score | 3,632 | vs | 3,134 | More than 15% better geekbench 3 single core score | |||
| Better PassMark score | 9,996 | vs | 8,012 | Around 25% better PassMark score | |||
| |||||||
| Is unlocked | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; An unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking | |||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 14 nm | vs | 22 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
| Significantly better cinebench r10 32Bit 1-core score | 8,372 | vs | 7,994 | Around 5% better cinebench r10 32Bit 1-core score | |||
| Newer | Jul, 2015 | vs | May, 2014 | Release date over 1 years later | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i7 4790 vs i5 6600K
CompuBench 1.5 (Bitcoin mining) Data courtesy CompuBench
CompuBench 1.5 (Face detection)
CompuBench 1.5 (T-Rex) Data courtesy CompuBench
GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
PassMark (Single Core)
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Core i7 4790 | vs | i5 6600K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 3.6 GHz | 3.5 GHz | |
| Turbo clock speed | 4 GHz | 3.9 GHz | |
| Cores | Quad core | Quad core | |
| Is unlocked | No | Yes | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Supports trusted computing | Yes | No | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| F16C | |||
| MMX | |||
| SSE4 | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| EM64T | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| FMA3 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| AES | |||
| AVX 2.0 | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
memory controller | |||
| Memory controller | Built-in | Built-in | |
| Memory type | |||
| DDR3-1600 | |||
| DDR3L-1600 | |||
| DDR3-1333 | |||
| Channels | Dual Channel | Dual Channel | |
| Supports ECC | No | No | |
| Maximum bandwidth | 25,600 MB/s | 25,600 MB/s | |
| Maximum memory size | 32,768 MB | 65,536 MB | |
details | Core i7 4790 | vs | i5 6600K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | |
| Threads | 8 | 4 | |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 1 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.25 MB/core | 0.25 MB/core | |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 6 MB | |
| L3 cache per core | 2 MB/core | 1.5 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 22 nm | 14 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
| Operating temperature | Unknown - 72.72°C | Unknown - 64°C | |
integrated graphics | |||
| GPU | GPU | GPU | |
| Label | Intel® HD Graphics 4600 | Intel® HD Graphics 530 | |
| Number of displays supported | 3 | 3 | |
| GPU clock speed | 350 MHz | 350 MHz | |
| Turbo clock speed | 1,200 MHz | 1,150 MHz | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 84W | 91W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 20.24 $/year | 21.92 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 73.58 $/year | 79.72 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 10.77 pt/W | 2.4 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 68.25W | 73.94W | |
bus | |||
| Architecture | DMI 2.0 | FSB | |
| Number of links | 0 | 0 | |
| Transfer rate | 5,000 MT/s | 8,000 MT/s | |
 Intel Core i7 4790  Report a correction |  Intel Core i5 6600K Report a correction |
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