Intel Core i7-4770K vs Intel Core i3-7130U vs Intel Core i7-7500U

Intel Core i7-4770K

The Intel Core i7-4770K is a high-end quad-core processor for desktops and successor of the i7-3770K. It is based on the Haswell architecture and has been launched in Q2/2013. Due to Hyperthreading, the four cores can handle up to eight threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 3.5 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.8 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.9 GHz (for 1 active core). Furthermore, the Extreme CPUs offer an unlocked multiplicator for easy overclocking.

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports, improving especially the Hyper-Threading performance. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Due to these changes, the performance per clock has been improved by about 8 percent compared to the Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 offers 20 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 400 MHz up to 1250 MHz with Turbo Boost, making it about 30 % faster than the HD 4000.

The i7-4770K is rated at a TDP of 84 W including graphics card, memory controller and VRMs. This is significantly higher than the 3770K which is rated at 77 Watt.

Intel Core i3-7130U

The Intel Core i3-7130U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby-Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.7 GHz (without Turbo Boost) and integrates HyperThreading to work with up to 4 threads at once. The architectural differences are rather small compared to the Skylake generation, therefore the performance per MHz should be very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics adapter (clocked at 300 MHz to 1,000 MHz). It is manufactured on improved 14 nm Intel process with FinFETs.

Performance

The average 7130U in our database only just matches the Core i5-4310U, a dual-core CPU of similar energy efficiency that launched in 2014, in multi-thread performance. While not as horribly slow as most N-class Intel chips, this Core i3 is unlikely to make a power user happy.

Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your system is, and how high the CPU power limits are.

Power consumption

This Core i3 series chip has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W. Laptop makers are allowed to significantly reduce that value (7.5 W being the lower limit) resulting in lower clock speeds and lower performance.

Last but not the least, the i3-7130U is manufactured on one of the old 14 nm Intel processes for subpar, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i7-7500U

The Intel Core i7-7500U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.7 - 3.5 GHz and integrates HyperThreading to work with up to 4 threads at once. The architectural differences are rather small compared to the Skylake generation, therefore the performance per MHz is very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card (clocked at 300 - 1050 MHz). It is manufactured in an improved 14nm FinFET process (14nm+) at Intel. Compared to the old Skylake Core i7-6500U (2.5 - 3.1 GHz), the i7-7500U clock speed is up to 400 MHz higher.