Processors/Comparison
15 specifications
Intel Core i5-4690 vs Intel Core i5-6600
On the specifications we can verify, the Intel Core i5-4690 and the Intel Core i5-6600 are closely matched. Which one is faster on your desk depends on cooling and sustained behaviour rather than on anything printed here.
Intel Core i5-4690
Intel · Core 4th generation · Desktop
Intel Core i5-6600
Intel · Core 6th generation · Desktop
Cores and clocks
Cache and power
Platform
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.
Power and cooling
The Core i5-4690 is rated at 84 W against 65 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 i5-4690; the Core i5-6600 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, FCLGA1150 and FCLGA1151, 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 i5-6600 is built on a 14 nm process against 22 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 i5-6600
- 65 W against 84 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.
Questions
- Is the Core i5-4690 better than the Core i5-6600?
- By need, on the specifications: a quiet or compact build: the Core i5-6600. 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 i5-4690 and the Core i5-6600 use the same socket?
- No. The Core i5-4690 uses FCLGA1150 and the Core i5-6600 uses FCLGA1151, so switching means a new motherboard.
- Does the Core i5-4690 or the Core i5-6600 have integrated graphics?
- Both do: Intel HD Graphics 4600 on the Core i5-4690 and Intel HD Graphics 530 on the Core i5-6600.
- Which runs hotter, the Core i5-4690 or the Core i5-6600?
- The Core i5-4690 is rated at 84 W against 65 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
- Intel Core i5-4690 vs Intel Core i5-6600K
- Intel Core i5-4690 vs AMD FX-4100
- Intel Core i5-4690 vs Intel Core i7-4770
- Intel Core i5-4690 vs Intel Core i7-4770K
- Intel Core i5-4690 vs AMD A8-6600K with Radeon HD 8570D
- Intel Core i5-6600 vs Intel Core i5-6600K
- Intel Core i5-6600 vs AMD FX-4100
- Intel Core i5-6600 vs Intel Core i7-4770
- Intel Core i5-6600 vs Intel Core i7-4770K
- Intel Core i5-6600 vs AMD A8-6600K with Radeon HD 8570D
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.