Core i5-3550 vs Core i5-4430

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-3550 and the Core i5-4430 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-3550 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i5-4430 has 4 cores and 4 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 3.7 GHz and 3.2 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-3550 uses the LGA1155 socket and the Core i5-4430 uses LGA1150, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 77 W for the first and 84 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-3550 cost $205 and the Core i5-4430 $182, which gives 7.8 and 8.8 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 i5-3550 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-4430 reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-3550 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-4430 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.