Intel Core i5-4670K review

The Core i5-4670K is the 4th-generation Core equivalent to the immensely popular Core i5-3570K, and we think it’s set to be just as popular. For more details on Intel’s new Haswell architecture see our Intel Core i7-4770K review.

On paper, it would seem that not much has changed since the i5-3570K. The two processors have the same base clock speed of 3.4GHz, Turbo Boost speed of 3.8GHz, four cores, 6MB cache memory and both are a 22nm process. They also have the same cache memory capacities. One noticeable difference is the Core i5-4670K’s higher TDP of 84W which is a 7W increase on the Core i5-3570K’s 77W. However, the Core i5-4670K certainly performs better than the Core i5-3570K, scoring an impressive 112 overall, which is a 12 per cent improvement over the Core i5-3570K’s score of 100.

The graphics core has increased in size significantly

The Core i5-4670K is also very well suited to overclocking. We overclocked the processor to 4GHz and re-ran our benchmarks. The Core i5-4670K scored 120 overall, which is a 20 per cent improvement on the Core i5-3570K. We were even more pleased to see an overall score of 138 when we pushed the processor to 4.6GHz. Raising the clock speed to 4.8GHz produced a slightly higher score of 143, and our test system remained stable, even at this high clock speed.

We saw the biggest increases in performance during the multitasking segment of our benchmark suite, with the Core i5-4670K peaking at a score of 144 when overclocked to 4.8GHz. At this clock speed, the processor also scored an impressive 138 in the video editing portion of our benchmark suite. This compares well with the more expensive Core i7-4770K, which scored 139 overall and 154 in the multitasking segment at a clock speed of 4.8GHz. Unlike the Core i5-4670K, the Core i7-4770K has Intel’s Hyper Threading technology, which splits its four physical cores into eight logical cores, which probably explains that processor’s higher multitasking score.

One important improvement is the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 graphics processor, which produced a playable average frame rate of 32.3fps in Dirt Showdown at a resolution of 1,280×720 with 4x anti-aliasing and graphics quality set to High. This is so close to the Core i7-4770K’s 32.4fps that it renders the difference negligible.

As with the Core i5-3570K, the Core i7-4670K also benefits from technologies such as Intel Wireless Display (WiDi), which lets you wirelessly transmit your PC’s display to a compatible smart TV or adaptor so that it mirrors what’s on your PC’s screen.

Although the Intel Core i7-4770K scores higher for multitasking when overclocked, the difference in performance isn’t that great. The Core i7-4770K may be the grandest of Intel’s 4th-generation processors, but the Core i5-4670K is the best value and the processor we’d choose for our 4th-generation PC.