Core i7-4790 vs Core i5-6500

Short answer: which is best?

Core i7-4790 is 12.9 % stronger than Core i5-6500. Core i7-4790 ranks #92 of 105 measured processors at WhatFPS (4,232 CPU score in its best run — 1 rig, 1 verified run). Core i5-6500 ranks #98 of 105 measured processors at WhatFPS (3,750 CPU score in its best run — 1 rig, 1 verified run). Each part is shown at its best run, picked from 2 verified WhatFPS runs — measured, not estimated, not self-reported.

Measured comparison

MetricCore i7-4790Core i5-6500
CPU score, best run (the processor's own performance)4,2323,750
Best rig (GAMING — whole PC)3,6451,884
Integer (MT)2 Gop/s1.4 Gop/s
Single-thread (1T)0.36 Gop/s0.38 Gop/s
Draw calls/s (DX11)5,241,8995,286,054
Cores / threads4 / 84 / 4
L3 cache8 MB6 MB

What the numbers mean

The headline score is the part's best measured run, and the measurements under it come from that same run. It shows what the part has been proven to do — not what an average rig gets out of it. The CPU score is the processor's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the processor in, and leans heavily on the graphics card. A strong processor in a weak PC gets a low GAMING score without being worse. We show both and never mix them.

All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik

All measurements for Core i7-4790 · All measurements for Core i5-6500