Winner
Intel Core i7 4790K
CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i7 4790K based on its performance.
See full details Intel Core i7 4790K vs AMD Athlon 46 |
Released April, 2014
Intel Core i7 4790K
- 4 GHz
- Quad core
- Unlocked
8.8 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i7 4790K
 | Much higher clock speed 4 GHz | | Is unlocked Yes |
| | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm | | Has a built-in GPU Yes |
VS
First seen on June, 2012
AMD Athlon 46
- 2.1 GHz
- Single core
4.6 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the AMD Athlon 46
| | Much lower typical power consumption 20.31W | | More l2 cache per core 0.5 MB/core |
| | Much lower annual home energy cost 6.02 $/year | | Much lower annual commercial energy cost 21.9 $/year |
CPUBoss Review Our evaluation of 4790K vs 46 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 | |
| 8.8 | CPUBoss Score |
Combination of all six facets | |
 | Winner |
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
VS
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much higher clock speed | 4 GHz | vs | 2.1 GHz | More than 90% higher clock speed | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Is unlocked | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; An unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking | |||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 22 nm | vs | 65 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
| Has a built-in GPU | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; A separate graphics adapter is not required | |||
| More l2 cache | 1 MB | vs | 0.5 MB | 2x more l2 cache; more data can be stored in the l2 cache for quick access later | |||
| Much better PassMark score | 11,194 | vs | 473 | Around 23.8x better PassMark score | |||
| Much better performance per watt | 11.42 pt/W | vs | 0.77 pt/W | More than 14.8x better performance per watt | |||
| More threads | 8 | vs | 1 | 7 more threads | |||
| More cores | 4 | vs | 1 | 3 more cores; run more applications at once | |||
| |||||||
| Much lower typical power consumption | 20.31W | vs | 71.5W | 3.5x lower typical power consumption | |||
| More l2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | vs | 0.25 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| Much lower annual home energy cost | 6.02 $/year | vs | 21.2 $/year | 3.5x lower annual home energy cost | |||
| Much lower annual commercial energy cost | 21.9 $/year | vs | 77.09 $/year | 3.5x lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i7 4790K vs Athlon 46
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Core i7 4790K | vs | Athlon 46 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 4 GHz | 2.1 GHz | |
| Cores | Quad core | Single core | |
| Is unlocked | Yes | No | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| F16C | |||
| MMX | |||
| SSE4 | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| EM64T | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| FMA3 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| 3DNow! | |||
| AES | |||
| AVX 2.0 | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
details | Core i7 4790K | vs | Athlon 46 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | |
| Threads | 8 | 1 | |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 0.5 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.25 MB/core | 0.5 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 22 nm | 65 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
integrated graphics | |||
| GPU | GPU | None | |
| Label | Intel® HD Graphics 4600 | N/A | |
| Number of displays supported | 3 | N/A | |
| GPU clock speed | 350 MHz | N/A | |
| Turbo clock speed | 1,250 MHz | N/A | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 88W | 25W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 21.2 $/year | 6.02 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 77.09 $/year | 21.9 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 11.42 pt/W | 0.77 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 71.5W | 20.31W | |
 Intel Core i7 4790K  Report a correction |  AMD Athlon 46 Report a correction |
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