Core i7-4790K vs Ryzen 5 1600

#ad
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregated performance score

Ryzen 5 1600
2017
6 cores / 12 threads
7.94
+52.1%
Core i7-4790K
2014
4 cores / 8 threads
5.22

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 52% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Primary Details

Comparing Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking8551101
Place by popularity56not in top-100
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation12.412.20
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Ryzen 5Core i7 (Desktop)
Architecture codenameZen (2017−2020)Devil's Canyon
Release date11 April 2017 (7 years ago)June 2014 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$219$339
Current price$140 (0.6x MSRP)$164 (0.5x MSRP)

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen 5 1600 has 464% better value for money than i7-4790K.

Detailed Specifications

Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores6 (Hexa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads128
Base clock speed3.2 GHz4 GHz
Boost clock speed3.6 GHz4.4 GHz
L1 cache96K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache512K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache16 MB (shared)8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm22 nm
Die size192 mm2177 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data74 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors4,800 million1,400 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierYesYes

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketAM4FCLGA1150
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt88 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsXFR, FMA3, SSE 4.2, AVX2, SMTIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
TSXno data-
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data-
FDIno data+
Statusno dataDiscontinued

Security technologies

Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
Identity Protectionno data+
OS Guardno data+
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size64 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/s25.6 GB/s
ECC memory support+-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card-Intel HD Graphics 4600
Max video memory-2 GB
Quick Sync Video-+
Clear Video HD-+
Graphics max frequency-1.25 GHz
Execution Units-20
InTru 3D-+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported-3
eDP-+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
DVI-+
VGA-+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4-3840x2160@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP-3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort-3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over VGA-1920x1200@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX-11.2/12
OpenGL-4.3

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes2016

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Ryzen 5 1600 7.94
+52.1%
i7-4790K 5.22

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 52% based on our aggregated benchmark results.


Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

Ryzen 5 1600 12284
+52.3%
i7-4790K 8068

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 52% in Passmark.

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Ryzen 5 1600 1069
i7-4790K 1388
+29.8%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 30% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Ryzen 5 1600 4576
+4.2%
i7-4790K 4391

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 4% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Benchmark coverage: 20%

Ryzen 5 1600 4538
i7-4790K 6520
+43.7%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 44% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

Ryzen 5 1600 25970
+3.5%
i7-4790K 25082

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 4% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

Ryzen 5 1600 8244
i7-4790K 9485
+15.1%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 15% in 3DMark06 CPU.

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Benchmark coverage: 18%

Ryzen 5 1600 6.85
i7-4790K 5.94
+15.3%

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 15% in wPrime 32.

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

Ryzen 5 1600 13
+37.5%
i7-4790K 9

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 38% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core.

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

Benchmark coverage: 15%

Ryzen 5 1600 1129
+33.5%
i7-4790K 846

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 33% in Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core.

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

Benchmark coverage: 15%

Ryzen 5 1600 147
i7-4790K 174
+18.4%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 18% in Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core.

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

Ryzen 5 1600 1.65
i7-4790K 1.95
+18.2%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 18% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core.

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

Ryzen 5 1600 6.4
+28%
i7-4790K 5

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 28% in TrueCrypt AES.

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

Ryzen 5 1600 3430
i7-4790K 5534
+61.3%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 61% in WinRAR 4.0.

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

Ryzen 5 1600 177
i7-4790K 189
+6.9%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 7% in x264 encoding pass 1.

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

Ryzen 5 1600 69
+33.3%
i7-4790K 52

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 33% in x264 encoding pass 2.

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

Benchmark coverage: 5%

Ryzen 5 1600 3189
i7-4790K 4418
+38.5%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 39% in Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core.

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

Benchmark coverage: 5%

Ryzen 5 1600 19391
+24.6%
i7-4790K 15557

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 25% in Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core.

Geekbench 2

Benchmark coverage: 5%

Ryzen 5 1600 16217
+17.7%
i7-4790K 13779

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Core i7-4790K by 18% in Geekbench 2.

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit multi-core

Benchmark coverage: 2%

Ryzen 5 1600 15096
i7-4790K 16612
+10%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 10% in Geekbench 4.0 64-bit multi-core.

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit single-core

Benchmark coverage: 2%

Ryzen 5 1600 3652
i7-4790K 5104
+39.8%

Core i7-4790K outperforms Ryzen 5 1600 by 40% in Geekbench 4.0 64-bit single-core.

Gaming performance

Pros & Cons Summary


Performance score 7.94 5.22
Recency 11 April 2017 on June 2014
Physical cores 6 4
Threads 12 8
Cost $219 $339
Chip lithography 14 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 88 Watt

The Ryzen 5 1600 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-4790K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i7-4790K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for Your Favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Ryzen 5 1600
Intel Core i7-4790K
Core i7-4790K

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community Ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 5326 votes

Rate Ryzen 5 1600 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.3 2207 votes

Rate Core i7-4790K on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & Сomments

Here you can ask a question about Ryzen 5 1600 or Core i7-4790K, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.