AMD Ryzen 5 3550U vs Intel Core i7-4790K

Processor comparisons 17-03-2021

   For example you are thinking about choosing a processor, you will be able to make a decision after reading the full tests AMD Ryzen 5 3550U vs Intel Core i7-4790K and see which is better for games or normal use for programming, video editing, machine learning, streaming, rendering. Here you can find all information from real streaming and video editing tests or various benchmarks. A careful review of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in special test applications such as Handbrake, AIDA64, MATLAB, 7zip, Furmark, Blender, PCMark 10, SuperPi, Gears 5, PassMark, WPrime, 3DMark, UserBenchmark, VeraCrypt, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blender, GeekBench 6, 5.2, RealBench, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Prime95, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Dolphin Emulator.
   And how good the processors are in games:

Overwatch
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Fallout 76
Cyberpunk 2077
Last Man Standing
Valheim
Fortnite
Watch Dogs Legion
DOOM: Eternal
Red Dead Redemption 2
Valorant
Borderlands 3
Death Stranding
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone
Apex Legends
Halo Infinite
Rainbow Six Siege
Grand Theft Auto V

After looking at the data of parallel benchmarks and videos, you already be able to understand which processor is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i7-4790K or AMD Ryzen 5 3550U.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Ryzen 5 3550U

52%

Core i7-4790K

52%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 5 3550U

51%

Core i7-4790K

52%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because this processor costs several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a low game result, just look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the summary table below.
List of other games in which processors were compared: Half-Life: Alyx, NBA 2K20, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Hitman 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghostrunner, League of Legends (LOL), Metro Exodus, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Monster Hunter World, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Control, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Microsoft Flight Simulator, DOTA 2A, Forza Horizon 4, Battlefield V.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	91.1	92.8
Valorant	103.6	105.5
Cyberpunk 2077	58.0	59.1
Apex Legends	97.4	99.2
Call of Duty Warzone	77.7	79.1
Overwatch	83.9	85.5
Red Dead Redemption 2	71.5	72.8
DOOM Eternal	51.8	52.8
Warzone	80.8	82.3
Assassin's Creed	87.0	88.6
Valheim	86.0	87.6

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The tested computers not only did they have different amounts of RAM and different video cards. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K or FullHD. Therefore, the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. To be sure exactly how much performance the processor will be in games, if you get acquainted with the benchmarks that are made with the same video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Ryzen 5 3550U

197%

Core i7-4790K

46%

To make a finishing decision on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. It is clear that the newer the generation, the better the performance of the processor in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 5 3550U is more energy efficient than the Core i7-4790K as it consumes less power: 15W vs. 88W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, you must know its TDP. It is necessary to calculate so that the TDP data specified in the cooler specification is greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for machine learning, streaming, video editing or video rendering, programming, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to reach maximum performance, the CPU includes all cores and threads that it has. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to find out whether the program that you are going to use on your computer can work in multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that use only one core to work, and all the benefit of multi-core mode turns out to be unnecessary.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U	Intel Core i7-4790K
Cinbench 15 Single-core	134	169
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	707	854
Cinbench 20 Single-core	343	411
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	1581	1982
Cinbench 23 Single-core	900	1069
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	4232	4936

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U	Intel Core i7-4790K
Single-Core	2032	2491
Multi-Core	7704	8030

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U	Intel Core i7-4790K
Single-Core	888	1230
Multi-Core	3078	4747

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the processor release date and overclocking capability will be the most useful. The later the processor is released, the longer it will last in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same can be said about overclocking. When the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS even in the newest games. It turns out that there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The economy are obvious!

	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U	Intel Core i7-4790K
Announcement date	April 01, 2020	April 01, 2014
Type	Unknown	Desktop
Socket	FP5	LGA1150
Core name	Raven Ridge	Devil's Canyon
Architecture	Zen	x86
Generation	1	4
Turbo Frequency	3.7 MHz	4.4 MHz
Frequency	2.1 MHz	4 MHz
Cores	4	4
Threads	8	8
Bus rate		5 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	12 nm	22 nm
Transistors count	4200 millions	1420 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	15 W	88 W
Memory type		DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V
Max. Memory		32 Gb
Memory Frequency	2400
Memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
L1 cache	384KB
L2 cache	2MB
L3 cache	4MB	8 MB
Overclocking	No	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	YM3500C4T4MFG n/a

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Core i7-4790K is 47% better than Ryzen 5 3550U in terms of CPU frequency. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 5 3550U is better: 7
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i7-4790K is better: 29
However, it should be realized that all the figures in the article above do not mean that you should be guided entirely by them and trust a simple quantitative comparison. Better to watch the testing video and read the opinion of real owners of AMD Ryzen 5 3550U and Intel Core i7-4790K before making a selection which CPU to buy for gaming and which not.

• AMD Ryzen 5 3550U specs and review.

• Intel Core i7-4790K specs and review.