Core i5-3550 vs Core i7-2600

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-3550 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 i5-3550 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i7-2600 has 4 cores and 8 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 3.7 GHz and 3.8 GHz.

Platform, power and price

Both chips use the LGA1155 socket, so they fit the same motherboards. You can swap one for the other without changing the board.

Rated power is 77 W for the first and 95 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 i7-2600 $294, which gives 7.8 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 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 i7-2600 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 i7-2600 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.