How Intel CPU generations compare

3 May 2016
Entire Intel Skylake CPU range has been priced locally

There have been seven generations of Intel i5 processors since the release of the Lynnfield line in 2009.

While gaming performance is typically tied to the power of your graphics card, not all i5 processors perform the same in today’s latest games.

HardwareUnboxed tested a processor from each of the seven generations using today’s most demanding games. They based their game choices on pure graphical fidelity (a game like Battlefield 4 for example) and games that would require substantive CPU calculations (like the recently-released Ashes of the Singularity).

The most noticeable differences can be found in the jumps to Sandy Bridge and Skylake, but even the Lynnfield processors can put out very playable framerates when paired with a recent GPU.

Here are the results of the different processors paired with a GTX 980 Ti.

You can find a complete breakdown of the processors’ performance and how they compare with other graphics cards here.


Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4


Black Ops 3

Black ops 3


GTA V

GTA V


Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3


Star Wars: Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront


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  1. Emile Greyling
    05.05.2016 at 08:31

    stop this fake article stuff guys… essentially what you have done is tested a cars engine by examining the cars interior… a gaming test cannot test CPU speed beyond the game’s needs! You need to run those CPU’s at 100% capacity for extended periods and then compare avg flops and temperature and even power consumption.

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