The Intel Core i3-7350K (60W) Review: Almost a Core i7-2600K
by Ian Cutress on February 3, 2017 8:00 AM ESTGRID Autosport
No graphics tests are complete without some input from Codemasters and the EGO engine, which means for this round of testing we point towards GRID: Autosport, the next iteration in the GRID and racing genre. As with our previous racing testing, each update to the engine aims to add in effects, reflections, detail and realism, with Codemasters making ‘authenticity’ a main focal point for this version.
GRID’s benchmark mode is very flexible, and as a result we created a test race using a shortened version of the Red Bull Ring with twelve cars doing two laps. The car is focus starts last and is quite fast, but usually finishes second or third. For low-end graphics we test at 1080p medium settings, whereas mid and high-end graphics get the full 1080p maximum. Both the average and minimum frame rates are recorded.
GRID prefers a high frequency and high IPC, and so we see the Core i3-7350K getting noticably better frame rates over the 2600K at 1080p using all our high-end and mid-range GPUs - only at 720p using an R7 240 did we see a minimal difference. The integrated graphs are still amusing to look at.
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eldakka - Sunday, February 5, 2017 - link
"celeron - duel core"Calm down, breathe. It's not something worth dueling over!
AndrewJacksonZA - Monday, February 6, 2017 - link
Yeah eldakke, "duel" vs "dual" is also something that gets my heart rate up. :-)Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer - Monday, February 6, 2017 - link
Username checks outAssBall - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
Duel core? Funny mine never got into a fight.....R0H1T - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
Yeah that's true except when people find out that there's this thing called Ryzen just on the horizon. Seems to me that the HT pentium & unlocked is just a way to sell more of these KL chips & Intel are hoping/waiting for Coffee Lake to counter Zen.There's no way a dual core is justified today, even if unlocked or with HT, unless you're absolutely on a shoestring of a budget &/or KL is the only thing you want. It's such bad value for money atm that no one should be recommending it, not at this point in time.
lopri - Sunday, February 5, 2017 - link
I have to agree. Not necessarily because there is anything wrong with this chip technically but because of the competitive landscape where Intel's own quad-core chips can be had for the same or lower prices.Meteor2 - Sunday, February 5, 2017 - link
I think the only thing which can be recommended at the moment is not to buy a CPU until Zen is released, in case AMD live up to their hype in performance and price their products competitively (I.e. cheaper than Intel).bananaforscale - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
And see how Intel reacts. Gimme a 20% price drop on hex cores!Jumangi - Saturday, February 4, 2017 - link
They would be misleading gamers badly as is this Anandtech review. Their gaming becnhmarks are just woefully out of date its getting embarassing. There are already games that have come out like Farcry 4 that literally won't run if the system doesn't have 4 full cores. Any real gamer is screwing themselves over by trying to skimp on a CPU like this. Any legit tech site would never reccomend less than a 4 core CPU in 2017.Meteor2 - Sunday, February 5, 2017 - link
@nathanandrews hasn't that always been the case? Except, you might not be able to afford an i7, and (as these results show) you're better buying an i5 and a better GPU for gaming.