i3-3220 vs i5-6600K

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-6600K
2015
4 cores / 4 threads, 91 Watt
3.98
+178%
Core i3-3220
2012
2 cores / 4 threads, 55 Watt
1.43

Core i5-6600K outperforms Core i3-3220 by a whopping 178% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking14182187
Place by popularitynot in top-10082
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.710.14
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i5 (Desktop)Intel Core i3 (Desktop)
Power efficiency4.142.46
Architecture codenameSkylake (2015−2016)Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date5 August 2015 (9 years ago)3 September 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$242$117

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i5-6600K has 407% better value for money than i3-3220.

Detailed specifications

Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 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)2 (Dual-core)
Threads44
Base clock speed3.5 GHz3.3 GHz
Boost clock speed3.9 GHz3.3 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0no data
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s5 GT/s
Multiplier35no data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache6 MB (shared)3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm22 nm
Die size122 mm294 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data67 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)64 °C65 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA1155
Power consumption (TDP)91 Watt55 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
AES-NI+-
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.0-
Hyper-Threading Technology-+
TSX+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
FDIno data+

Security technologies

Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-+
EDB++
Secure Key+-
MPX+-
Identity Protection++
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-d+-
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size64 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 530Intel HD Graphics 2500
Max video memory64 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHz1.05 GHz
InTru 3D++

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over VGAN/Ano data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.5no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes16no 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.

i5-6600K 3.98
+178%
i3-3220 1.43

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.

i5-6600K 6322
+179%
i3-3220 2265

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.

i5-6600K 1431
+171%
i3-3220 529

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.

i5-6600K 4041
+272%
i3-3220 1085

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.

i5-6600K 6188
+33.8%
i3-3220 4626

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.

i5-6600K 21324
+109%
i3-3220 10193

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.

i5-6600K 7413
+84.4%
i3-3220 4019

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.

i5-6600K 7
+109%
i3-3220 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.

i5-6600K 1.88
+36.2%
i3-3220 1.38

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.

i5-6600K 3.2
+900%
i3-3220 0.3

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.  

i5-6600K 40
+113%
i3-3220 19

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.  

i5-6600K 196
+99.1%
i3-3220 99

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.

i5-6600K 3643
+35.2%
i3-3220 2695

3DMark Fire Strike Physics

i5-6600K 7370
+191%
i3-3220 2530

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.98 1.43
Integrated graphics card 2.59 0.69
Recency 5 August 2015 3 September 2012
Physical cores 4 2
Chip lithography 14 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 91 Watt 55 Watt

i5-6600K has a 178.3% higher aggregate performance score, 275.4% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 2 years, 100% more physical cores, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.

i3-3220, on the other hand, has 65.5% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-6600K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-3220 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-6600K and Core i3-3220, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i5-6600K
Core i5-6600K
Intel Core i3-3220
Core i3-3220

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.6 1137 votes

Rate Core i5-6600K on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.5 2234 votes

Rate Core i3-3220 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i5-6600K or Core i3-3220, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.