Core i5-4440 vs Core i5-3570K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i5-4440 scores 17 and the Core i5-3570K scores 16, about 6% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i5-4440 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i5-3570K has 4 cores and 4 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 3.3 GHz and 3.8 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-4440 uses the LGA1150 socket and the Core i5-3570K 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 84 W for the first and 77 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-4440 cost $187 and the Core i5-3570K $212, which gives 9.1 and 7.5 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 i5-4440 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-3570K reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-4440 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-3570K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.