Core i7-6700 vs Core i5-6500

Short answer: which is best?

Core i7-6700 is 11.3 % stronger than Core i5-6500. Core i7-6700 ranks #75 of 82 measured processors at WhatFPS (4,175 CPU score over 1 verified runs). Core i5-6500 ranks #79 of 82 measured processors at WhatFPS (3,750 CPU score over 1 verified runs). The numbers are measured in 2 verified WhatFPS runs — not estimated, not self-reported.

Measured comparison

MetricCore i7-6700Core i5-6500
CPU score (the processor's own performance)4,1753,750
Best rig (GAMING — whole PC)2,8611,884
Integer (MT)1.9 Gop/s1.4 Gop/s
Single-thread (1T)0.37 Gop/s0.38 Gop/s
Draw calls/s (DX11)3,643,9175,286,054
Cores / threads4 / 84 / 4
L3 cache8 MB6 MB

What the numbers mean

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 i7-6700 · All measurements for Core i5-6500