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Intel Core i5-3470 Performance Analysis

By Kenny Yeo & Wong Chung Wee - 31 May 2012

Overclocking and Power Consumption

Overclocking

We attempted to overclock the Core i5-3470 by setting the CPU Core Ratios over its rated Turbo Frequency of 3.6GHz. We were unable to set all its CPU Core Ratios to the same values; however, we did manage to attain these settings:-

  • 1-Core Ratio Limit: 40
  • 2-Core Ratio Limit: 40
  • 3-Core Ratio Limit: 39
  • 4-Core Ratio Limit: 38

Hence, its overall CPU clock speed was 4.0GHz (with stock air cooling) and we needed set the voltage offset to +300mV and push both its Burst and Sustained Modes to the same setting of 500 (as recommended by Intel for the Core i7-3770K processor).

For Cinebench 11.5, our overclocking efforts translated to a paltry gain of about 2.4%. For its CPU Score of the 3DMark Vantage benchmark, the gain was less about the same (only a paltry 2.7% to be exact).  For the Far Cry 2 scores, overclocking the processor didn't increase its performance by any significant margin.

We understand that the Intel Core i5-3470 features a locked multiplier but we were curious to see if our attempts to push it beyond its operational boundaries yielded any meaningful results. It seems that to push the CPU further, we would have to start tweaking the board's clock frequency and that would entail installing better rated OC memory modules (for a start). However, given that overclocking the motherboard's base clock frequencies these days are rather futile, it's safe to say that overclocking this CPU isn't worthwhile. Overclockers and tweakers should clearly set their sights for the "K"-SKU processors to avoid disappointment.

 

Power Consumption

Ivy Bridge was all about optimizing the new architecture set forth by its predecessor. Intel claims that the shrunken 22nm manufacturing process along with innovations such as Tri-gate transistors will significantly reduce power consumption of the new Ivy Bridge processors and looking at the graphs we have, this certainly seems to be the case. The Core i5-3470 recorded the lowest power draw figures of any processor, which is clearly a testament to the power optimization improvements introduced in Ivy Bridge processors. AMD's FX processors clearly pale in comparison.

 

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8.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Features 8
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Decent overall performance
Much improved power efficiency
Rather competitive pricing
The Bad
Performance boost not enough to warrant upgrade from previous generation
Limited overclocking headroom
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