Intel Core i7-3770K

Core i7-3770K specifications

What these numbers mean for the Core i7-3770K

On our index the Core i7-3770K scores 46.0, which places it 79th of the 83 processors we track and puts it faster than roughly 5% of them.

The Core i7-3770K and the Core i5-4690K land on exactly the same index score of 46.0, so on raw throughput the two are interchangeable and the choice between them comes down to memory, power draw and price on the day.

The Core i7-3770K is tuned for games rather than throughput, scoring 46.0 for games against 30.0 for multithread work, and that shape is the signature of a part built around cache and per core speed at 3.9 GHz rather than around core count, which is what game engines actually use.

The Core i7-3770K has 4 cores and 8 threads, which is below where modern titles are comfortable: several recent games run badly on 4 cores regardless of a 3.9 GHz boost clock, so this is a chip to pair modestly and plan to replace rather than build around.

A 2012 part, so the platform around the Core i7-3770K matters as much as the chip: expect PCIe 3.0, slower memory support and no upgrade path left on that socket after 14 years. Those cost a few percent on top of whatever its 46.0 index says.

Core i7-3770K frame rate at each resolution

The Core i7-3770K paired with the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB on the High preset with 16 GB of system memory. Which part is the limit changes as the resolution climbs for this pair, which is why the Core i7-3770K goes from 78 fps to 37 fps, a fall of 53%, across the three rows.

How the Core i7-3770K compares

6 processors sit within 30% of the Core i7-3770K on our gaming index, running from the Ryzen 5 3600X at +28% to the Core i7-6700K at +24%, a window narrow enough that price, memory and power decide it rather than raw speed.

What to pair with the Core i7-3770K, and when to upgrade

Best GPU for the Core i7-3770K

When the Core i7-3770K becomes the limit, the Ryzen 5 5500 is the next step worth paying for: 63.0 on our index against 46.0, a jump of 37%, which is roughly where an upgrade stops being something you have to look at a counter to notice. See its specs.

Check the Core i7-3770K against your own parts