A8-5600K vs i5-3550

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-3550
2012
4 cores / 4 threads, 77 Watt
3.02
+67.8%
A8-5600K
2012
4 cores / 4 threads, 100 Watt
1.80

Core i5-3550 outperforms A8-5600K by an impressive 68% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking16302010
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.53no data
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i5 (Desktop)AMD A-Series (Desktop)
Power efficiency3.711.70
Architecture codenameIvy Bridge (2012−2013)Trinity (2012−2013)
Release date29 April 2012 (12 years ago)2 October 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$205no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads44
Base clock speed3.3 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed3.7 GHz3.9 GHz
Bus rate5 GT/sno data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)128K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)1 MB (per core)
L3 cache6 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography22 nm32 nm
Die size160 mm2246 mm2
Maximum core temperature67 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)67 °C74 °C
Number of transistors1,400 million1,178 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplier-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration11
SocketFCLGA1155FM2
Power consumption (TDP)77 Watt100 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVXno data
AES-NI+-
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology-no data
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
FDI+no data

Security technologies

Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data
Secure Key+no data
Identity Protection+-
Anti-Theft+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-d+no data
VT-x+no data
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth25.6 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 2500AMD Radeon HD 7560D (760 MHz)
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHzno data
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K.

PCIe version3.0no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i5-3550 3.02
+67.8%
A8-5600K 1.80

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i5-3550 4804
+68.3%
A8-5600K 2855

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i5-3550 642
+51.4%
A8-5600K 424

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i5-3550 1912
+88.9%
A8-5600K 1012

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i5-3550 5191
+76.5%
A8-5600K 2941

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i5-3550 17762
+101%
A8-5600K 8838

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i5-3550 6405
+49.1%
A8-5600K 4295

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i5-3550 9.98
+67.3%
A8-5600K 16.7

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i5-3550 6
+81.6%
A8-5600K 3

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i5-3550 1.56
+59.2%
A8-5600K 0.98

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i5-3550 2.7
+50%
A8-5600K 1.8

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i5-3550 33
+56.2%
A8-5600K 21

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i5-3550 164
+60%
A8-5600K 102

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i5-3550 3375
+37.8%
A8-5600K 2449

Geekbench 2

i5-3550 8990
+37.9%
A8-5600K 6520

3DMark Fire Strike Physics

i5-3550 5870
+58.6%
A8-5600K 3700

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.02 1.80
Integrated graphics card 0.69 1.18
Recency 29 April 2012 2 October 2012
Chip lithography 22 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 77 Watt 100 Watt

i5-3550 has a 67.8% higher aggregate performance score, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 29.9% lower power consumption.

A8-5600K, on the other hand, has 71% faster integrated GPU, and an age advantage of 5 months.

The Core i5-3550 is our recommended choice as it beats the A8-5600K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-3550 and A8-5600K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i5-3550
Core i5-3550
AMD A8-5600K
A8-5600K

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