15 specifications

Intel Core i5-2500K vs Intel Core i5-4430

On paper, the Intel Core i5-2500K boosts higher. Specifications describe what each chip is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 2 with a higher side

Full specifications

Intel Core i5-2500K

Intel · Core 2nd generation · Desktop

Full specifications

Intel Core i5-4430

Intel · Core 4th generation · Desktop

Cores and clocks

Cores

Threads

Base clock

3.3 GHz

3.0 GHz

Boost clock

3.7 GHz

3.2 GHz

Cache and power

L3 cache

6 MB

TDP

95 W

84 W

Platform

Socket

LGA1155

FCLGA1150

Process

32 nm

22 nm

Integrated graphics

Intel HD Graphics 3000

Intel HD Graphics 4600

Launched

Q1'11 (quarter)

Q2'13 (quarter)

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

Boost clock

The Core i5-2500K boosts to 3.7 GHz against 3.2 GHz, 16 percent higher. Across generations it is not a guide to speed on its own, for the reason above. Boost is also a peak: it is held for seconds to minutes, on one or two cores, while the cooling and the power limit allow. What either chip settles at under a long load is lower, and it depends on the cooler and the motherboard as much as the chip.

Power and cooling

The Core i5-2500K is rated at 95 W against 84 W. The rating is the heat the cooler has to move for the chip to hold its speed, and modern chips draw well above it in short bursts. A competent tower cooler suits the Core i5-2500K; the Core i5-4430 is easier to keep quiet and fits smaller cases. A chip whose cooling falls short does not fail. It slows down, and it does so after the first minute, which is why short benchmarks miss it.

Platform

They use different sockets, LGA1155 and FCLGA1150, so moving from one to the other means a new motherboard. For an upgrade, that cost belongs in the comparison; for a new build, the newer platform is the one with later chips still to come.

Manufacturing process

The Core i5-4430 is built on a 22 nm process against 32 nm. A finer process generally does the same work for less power. The names are marketing labels rather than measurements, though, and they are not comparable between manufacturers, so treat the row as a sign of how recent the design is and no more.

Which to pick, on paper

A quiet or compact build: Core i5-4430; 84 W against 95 W: less heat to move, so a smaller cooler and slower fans.

What no table says

How much of its speed a processor keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

Free CPU stress test

Questions

Is the Core i5-2500K better than the Core i5-4430?: By need, on the specifications: a quiet or compact build: the Core i5-4430. No specification says how much speed either one keeps under a long load; that depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in, and it is what a sustained test measures.
Do the Core i5-2500K and the Core i5-4430 use the same socket?: No. The Core i5-2500K uses LGA1155 and the Core i5-4430 uses FCLGA1150, so switching means a new motherboard.
Does the Core i5-2500K or the Core i5-4430 have integrated graphics?: Both do: Intel HD Graphics 3000 on the Core i5-2500K and Intel HD Graphics 4600 on the Core i5-4430.
Which runs hotter, the Core i5-2500K or the Core i5-4430?: The Core i5-2500K is rated at 95 W against 84 W, so it produces more heat under load and needs the larger cooler. How hot either one actually runs depends on the cooler and the case more than on the chip.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a processor behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

Run the test on your machine How we measure →