Intel Core i5-2500k vs Intel Core i7-6700K. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• Segment
  Desktop / Server Desktop / Server
• Family
  Intel Core i5 Intel Core i7
• Generation
  2 6
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 2000 Intel Core i 6000
• Successor
  -- Intel Core i7-7700K

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

• Frequency
  3.30 GHz 4.00 GHz
• CPU Cores
  4 4
• Turbo (1 Core)
  3.70 GHz 4.20 GHz
• CPU Threads
  4 8
• Turbo (4 Cores)
  3.70 GHz 4.00 GHz
• Hyperthreading
  No Yes
• Overclocking
  Yes Yes
• Core architecture
  normal normal

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• GPU name
  Intel HD Graphics 3000 Intel HD Graphics 530
• GPU frequency
  0.85 GHz 0.35 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  1.10 GHz 1.15 GHz
• Execution units
  12 24
• Shader
  96 192
• Max. GPU Memory
  -- 64 GB
• Max. displays
  2 3
• Generation
  6 9
• DirectX Version
  10.1 12
• Technology
  32 nm 14 nm
• Release date
  Q1/2011 Q3/2015

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No Decode
• h264
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VP9
  No Decode
• VP8
  No Decode / Encode
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• JPEG
  No Decode / Encode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i7-6700K and Intel Core i5-2500k. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Max. Memory
  32 GB 64 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 2
• PCIe version
  2.0 3.0
• PCIe lanes
  16 16

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i5-2500k and Intel Core i7-6700K to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  95 W 91 W

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i5-2500k and Intel Core i5-2500k, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
• L3-Cache
  6.00 MB 8.00 MB
• Architecture
  Sandy Bridge S Skylake S
• Technology
  32 nm 14 nm
• Socket
  LGA 1155 LGA 1151
• Release date
  Q1/2011 Q3/2015