Core i3-4330 vs Core i7-2600

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i3-4330 and the Core i7-2600 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i3-4330 has 2 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i7-2600 has 4 cores and 8 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-2600 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.5 GHz and 3.8 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i3-4330 uses the LGA1150 socket and the Core i7-2600 uses LGA1155, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 54 W for the first and 95 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Core i3-4330 cost $138 and the Core i7-2600 $294, which gives 11.6 and 5.4 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core i3-4330 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-2600 reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i3-4330 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Core i7-2600 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.