Intel Core i5-3570K Review

The Core i5-3570K is one of Intel's mid-range Desktop processors. It was released in 2012 with 4 cores and 4 threads. With base clock at 3.4GHz, max speed at 3.8GHz, and a 77W power rating. The Core i5-3570K is based on the Ivy Bridge 22nm family and is part of the Core i5 series.

Core i5-3570K is also the successor of Intel's last gen Core i5-2550K processor that was based on the Sandy Bridge and 32nm process and was released in 2012.

Intel Core i5 3rd Generation, and the Ivy Bridge architecture itself, is notable because it leads 22nm processors to the mainstream for the first time. But, there’s a lot more going on under the hood than just a smaller manufacturing node.

The Core i5-3570K takes the basic ingredients of the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture, which brings an average of 15% more instructions per cycle (IPC) throughput, and 22nm process and melds them into a high-performance chip that is impressive across our test suite, especially when we factor in the competitive pricing, backward compatibility with most LGA1155 socket motherboards, unlocked overclocking features, and bundled cooler.

As the higher-priced version of the Core i5-3550, the Core i5-3570K has higher base and Boost frequencies of 3.4 and 3.8 GHz, respectively. That's an increase in base frequency and a bump to boost clocks, but the real advantage should lay in the higher Package Power Tracking (PPT) envelope, which is a measurement of the maximum amount of power delivered to the socket. The Core i5-3550's PPT tops out at 77W, while the motherboard can pump up to 142W to the Core i5-3570K at peak performance. That opens up much more aggressive boost behavior, on both single and multiple cores, that could widen the performance gap beyond what we see on the spec sheet.

Intel Core i5 3 Generation is finally here, and the Intel Core i5-3570K might just be the poster child for what this generation of processors has in store for consumers. Sure, it might have stuck with the 4-core, 4-thread setup, which it inherited from its predecessor, the Core i5-2550K. However, with the new 22nm manufacturing process, it delivers a far better performance at lower power consumption.

This decision to 22nm has brought a beefy 15% boost to IPC (instructions per clock) performance. Effectively, compared to a Core i5 2-Generation processor at the same clock speed, you will get a straight 15% increase in performance. That’s not big enough to be evident in day-to-day workloads, but it does still mean something.

The Intel Core i5-3570K is another impressive release from Intel and its 3 Generation of Core i5 chips. With it, you’re getting 4-cores and 4-threads, with a boost clock of 3.8GHz. It may not be the strongest contender ever made on paper, but when you see and feel the actual performance gains it offers, you’re certainly getting a lot of bang for your $235 buck.

One of the nice things about the Intel Core i5-3570K processors is that the retail boxed models come with a CPU cooler. So, you can pick something like the Intel Core i5-3570K up for $235 and don’t need to spend any extra money on CPU cooling.

The Intel Core i5-3570K retail boxed processor comes with the traditional ‘pancake’ CPU cooler. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done on this processor which is rated at 77W TDP. You do not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution unless you want to.

The gaming tests with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti installed in the test system showed the Intel Core i5-3570K was more capable than many might have expected. The basic mid-range processor from Intel that can be picked up for $235 was able to out perform the FX-4200 that runs $433.2 shipped in the three games we tested on. We know that you can’t test on just three games and declare something the overall victor, but it just goes to show that 4-core processors can still manage to get by today. Being able to play current game titles and stream to Twitch on the Core i5-3570K was something we give playable results, but we were pleasantly surprised. As games become more threaded the ‘value’ in a 4-core processor continues to go down, but you can still get by with something like the Core i5-3570K in a pinch.

If extended overclocking and boost frequencies are trivial matters to you, Intel also offers the Core i5-3550 at $205. It’s still outfitted with 4-cores and 4-threads, but clocks in at a slower 3.3GHz and maxes out at only 3.7GHz.

Fresh from a successful roll-out of mainstream Core i5 CPUs, Intel's attack on AMD now extends down into the mid-range with its Core i5-3570K processors, which the company is making available as of Apr 2012.