Core i7-3770 vs Core i3-4160

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i7-3770 scores 19 and the Core i3-4160 scores 18, about 6% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i7-3770 has 4 cores and 8 threads, and the Core i3-4160 has 2 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-3770 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.9 GHz and 3.6 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i7-3770 uses the LGA1155 socket and the Core i3-4160 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 54 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i7-3770 cost $294 and the Core i3-4160 $117, which gives 6.5 and 15.4 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 i7-3770 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3050 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i3-4160 reaches the GeForce GTX 1070. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i7-3770 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i3-4160 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.