Intel Core i5-3470 Performance Analysis

Test Setup

 Test Setup

The new Core i5-3470 was tested using Intel’s reference Z77 motherboard - the DZ77GA-70K. The new Ivy Bridge processors have improved official memory support for up to DDR3-1600MHz. And since we have already established the minor performance gains going from DDR3-1333MHz to DDR3-1600MHz, the Core i5-3470 will only be tested at DDR3-1600MHz memory speeds.

For comparison, we’ll be pitting the Core i5-3470 against the the Core i5-2500 and Core i5-2400. These two Sandy Bridge CPUs have the closest clock speeds to the Core i5-3470. With a base frequency of 3.2GHz, the Core i5-3470 comes in right between in the Core i5-2500 and Core i5-2400, which have base clock speeds of 3.3GHz and 3.1GHz respectively. Since we don’t have a Core i5-2500, we’ll be using the Core i5-2500K in our results comparison. The Core i5-2500K is almost identical to the Core i5-2500, except that it has an unlocked CPU multiplier and also the more powerful HD Graphics 3000 GPU as compared to the HD Graphics 2000 on the Core i5-2500/2400 CPUs.

We have also included results of the flagship Core i7-3770K, and previous generation high-end Sandy Bridge-E processors, along with the lone eight-core AMD FX-8150.

 Intel Core i5-3470 / Intel Core i7-3770K / Intel Core i7-2700K Test Configuration

• Intel Desktop Board DZ77GA-70K (Intel Z77 Express chipset), BIOS version 3000
• 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 (CAS 9-9-9-27) (Also ran at DDR3-1333MHz, CAS 7-7-7-20)
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260 (ForceWare 197.45)
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (one single NTFS partition)
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Intel INF 9.3.0.1020

Intel Core i7-3960X / Intel Core i7-3820 Test Configuration

• Intel Desktop Board DX79SI (Intel X79 Express chipset), BIOS version 0280
• 4 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 (CAS 9-9-9-27)
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260 (ForceWare 197.45)
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (one single NTFS partition)
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Intel INF 9.2.3.1022

Intel Core i7-2600K / Intel Core i5-2500K / Intel Core i5-2400 Test Configuration

• ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 chipset), BIOS: 0602
• 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 (CAS 7-7-7-20)
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260 OC (ForceWare 197.45)
• WD Caviar Black 1TB, SATA 6G (Intel SATA 6G)
• Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
• Intel INF 9.2.0.1015

AMD FX-8150 Test Configuration

• ASUS Crosshair V Formula (AMD 990FX + SB950, 0813 BIOS)
• 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 (7-7-7-20)
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260 OC (ForceWare 197.45)
• AMD Chipset driver
• WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6G (AMD SATA 6G)
• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)