Core i5-4460 vs Core i7-2600K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-4460 and the Core i7-2600K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-4460 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i7-2600K has 4 cores and 8 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 3.4 GHz and 3.8 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-4460 uses the LGA1150 socket and the Core i7-2600K 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 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-4460 cost $182 and the Core i7-2600K $317, which gives 9.3 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 i5-4460 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-2600K reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-4460 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i7-2600K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.