UserBenchmark: Intel Core i3 540 vs i7-4790

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IntelBX80646I74790

BUY • $135

Intel

BUY • $60

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 279,590 user samples

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255,027 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 80% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 4 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 58% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 1.5 GHz (avg)

Poor: 58% Great: 80%

SPEED RANK: 371^st / 1442

Gaming 71%

Battleship

Desktop 75%

Battleship

Workstation 58%

Gunboat

24,563 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 52% Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 4 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 33% Base clock 3.05 GHz, turbo 1.45 GHz (avg)

Poor: 33% Great: 52%

SPEED RANK: 910^th / 1442

Gaming 46%

Yacht

Desktop 52%

Yacht

Workstation 33%

Sail boat


Effective Speed Effective CPU Speed		71.4 %	Much faster effective speed. +56%		45.9 %


Memory Avg. Memory Latency	82.6 Pts	Much lower memory latency. +30%	63.5 Pts
1-Core Avg. Single Core Speed	98.4 Pts	Much faster single-core speed. +47%	66.8 Pts
2-Core Avg. Dual Core Speed	187 Pts	Much faster dual-core speed. +60%	117 Pts
4-Core Avg. Quad Core Speed	327 Pts	Hugely faster quad-core speed. +98%	165 Pts
8-Core Avg. Octa Core Speed	482 Pts	Hugely faster octa-core speed. +185%	169 Pts


Memory OC Memory Latency	93.6 Pts	Lower OC memory latency. +30%	72.1 Pts
1-Core OC Single Core Speed	109 Pts	Much faster OC single-core speed. +44%	75.8 Pts
2-Core OC Dual Core Speed	214 Pts	Much faster OC dual-core speed. +46%	147 Pts
4-Core OC Quad Core Speed	377 Pts	Hugely faster OC quad-core speed. +98%	190 Pts
8-Core OC Octa Core Speed	551 Pts	Hugely faster OC octa-core speed. +190%	190 Pts

Market Share

Based on 67,777,088 CPUs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.64 %	Insanely higher market share. +6,300%	0.01 %
Value Value For Money	87.1 %	Better value. +25%	69.9 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	62 %	More popular. +19%	52 %
Price Price (score)	$135		$60	Much cheaper. +56%


Age Newest	119 Months	+4%	124+ Months
64-Core OC Multi Core Speed	556 Pts	Hugely faster OC 64-core speed. +191%	191 Pts
64-Core Avg. Multi Core Speed	495 Pts	Hugely faster 64-core speed. +191%	170 Pts


Launch Date Launch Date	Q2'14	Q1'10
Cache Cache	8 MB SmartCache	4 MB SmartCache
Instruction Set Extensions Instruction Set Extensions	SSE4.1/4.2, AVX 2.0	SSE4.2
Embedded Options Available Embedded Options Available	No	Yes
Lithography Lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Recommended Price Recommended Customer Price	$303.00 - $312.00	$109.00 - $117.00
Bus Speed Bus Speed	5 GT/s DMI2	2.5 GT/s DMI
Max Memory Size Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type)	32 GB	16 GB
Memory Types Memory Types	DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V	DDR3 1066/1333
Memory Bandwidth Max Memory Bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	21 GB/s
Processor Graphics Processor Graphics ‡	Intel® HD Graphics 4600	Intel® HD Graphics
Graphics Base Frequency Graphics Base Frequency	350 MHz	733 MHz
# of Displays Supported # of Displays Supported ‡	3	2
Graphics and IMC Lithography Graphics and IMC Lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Thermal Monitoring Technologies Thermal Monitoring Technologies	Yes	No
Turbo Boost Tech Intel® Turbo Boost Technology ‡	2.0	No
vPro Tech Intel® vPro™ Technology ‡	Yes	No
AES New Instructions Intel® AES New Instructions	Yes	No
Trusted Execution Tech Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡	Yes	No
PCI Express Revision PCI Express Revision	Up to 3.0	2.0
PCI Express Configurations PCI Express Configurations ‡	Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8+2x4	1x16, 2x8
	More specs »	More specs »

The Core i7-4790 is the third upgrade to Intel's flagship quad core hyper-threaded CPU. This version, like its predecessor the i7-4771, gets a 100 MHz bump in stock frequency and additionally the i7-4790 also gets a 100 MHz turbo frequency bump. These improvements (~4%) are marginal and practically impossible to discern in day to day use. Looking at a benchmark comparison between the 4771 and 4790 verifies that there is little difference between the two CPUs. Although the i7-4790 isn't much of a step forward, it's still one of the best (locked) mainstream processors on the market. AMD hasn't been able to compete with Intel on single threaded performance for several years, consequently Intel have no need to push the envelope. Overclockers should wait for the 4790K which is rumoured to be released shortly. ^{[May '14 CPUPro]}

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This hyperthreaded dual core Clarkdale processor was great for most users as this CPU comes very cheap and offered strong performance for that price. Still worth it today albeit for light gaming and modern basic tasks. ^{[Dec '19 ColdSpy]}

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $269	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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