Core i5-4590 vs AMD FX-8350

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i5-4590 scores 18 and the AMD FX-8350 scores 17, about 6% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i5-4590 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the AMD FX-8350 has 8 cores and 8 threads. The extra cores of the AMD FX-8350 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.7 GHz and 4.2 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-4590 uses the LGA1150 socket and the AMD FX-8350 uses AM3+, 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 125 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Core i5-4590 cost $192 and the AMD FX-8350 $199, which gives 9.4 and 8.5 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 i5-4590 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1070 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD FX-8350 reaches the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. If you plan to buy a fast graphics card, that gap is the real difference between these two.

Choose the Core i5-4590 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the AMD FX-8350 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.