1. Introduction
In my impression, Intel’s third and fourth generation Core processors have a very good reputation. The mid-to-high-end models from these two series, such as the classic Core i7-3770, Core i5-4590, and Core i7-4790, are still quite capable for general office and entertainment tasks, and some users may still be using them today.
This article will compare the gaming performance of the Core i7-3770 and the entry-level 14th generation Core model, the Core i3-14100F, to evaluate the performance improvement gained by upgrading from the Core i7-3770 to the Core i3-14100F. This serves as an indirect test of how much technological progress Intel has made over the past 11 years.
Some may argue that comparing the Core i7-3770 with the Core i3-14100F, which are 11 generations apart, is not meaningful, and that the performance of the Core i7-3770 is certainly “light-years away” from the Core i3-14100F. This perspective is quite one-sided and incorrect.
The single-core performance of the Core i7-3770 is about 47% that of the Core i3-14100F, while its multi-core performance is about 40%. In other words, the overall performance of the Core i7-3770 is approximately half that of the Core i3-14100F. Although there is a significant performance gap, it is not to the extent of being “light-years away,” and its capability should not be underestimated.
In summary, while there is an 11-generation difference between the two processors, theoretically, if the software and hardware are well-matched, the gaming performance of the Core i3-14100F may still reach around half that of the Core i3-14100F. But is this the case in reality? This article will reveal the answer.
2. Parameter Comparison
The Core i7-3770 was released on April 29, 2012, using a 22nm process. It features 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base frequency of 3.4 GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.9 GHz, an 8MB cache, a standard power consumption of 77W, and a suggested retail price of $278.
The Core i3-14100F was released on January 8, 2024, using a 10nm process. It has 4 performance cores, no efficiency cores, a total of 8 threads, 5MB L2 cache, and 12MB smart cache. The base frequency is 3.5 GHz, the maximum frequency is 4.7 GHz, with a power consumption of 58W and a suggested retail price of $109.
3. Test Platform Configuration
The main configurations are as follows:
The Core i7-3770 is paired with a GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard and 32GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory, while the Core i3-14100F is paired with an ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming motherboard and 32GB of DDR5 6000MHz memory.
The remaining configurations are identical, with a GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, two 1TB Samsung 970 EVO SSDs, and the operating system is Windows 11.
4. Gaming Tests
The following tests evaluate seven games, all using 1080P quality settings. The images in the series below show the Core i7-3770 platform on the left and the Core i3-14100F platform on the right.
Game 1: God of War
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 71
- Minimum FPS: 54
- Frame Time: 13.9 ms
- CPU Usage: 72%
- Power Consumption: 46W
- Temperature: 51°C
- Memory Usage: 12.3GB
- GPU Usage: 39%
- VRAM Usage: 6.3GB
- GPU Power: 71W
- GPU Temperature: 37°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 139
- Minimum FPS: 107
- Frame Time: 7.8 ms
- CPU Usage: 58%
- Power Consumption: 42W
- Temperature: 46°C
- Memory Usage: 8.9GB
- GPU Usage: 45%
- VRAM Usage: 5.4GB
- GPU Power: 168W
- GPU Temperature: 43°C
The Core i3-14100F platform’s CPU usage is 14% lower, with 3.4GB less memory used and 6% higher GPU usage. The average FPS is 68 higher (about 2.0 times), and the minimum FPS is 53 higher (about 2.0 times), with overall performance metrics roughly double those of the Core i7-3770.
Game 2: Cyberpunk 2077
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 36
- Minimum FPS: 27
- Frame Time: 25.9 ms
- CPU Usage: 87%
- Power Consumption: 48W
- Temperature: 51°C
- Memory Usage: 9.9GB
- GPU Usage: 40%
- VRAM Usage: 7.2GB
- GPU Power: 84W
- GPU Temperature: 37°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 80
- Minimum FPS: 60
- Frame Time: 11.4 ms
- CPU Usage: 85%
- Power Consumption: 49W
- Temperature: 48°C
- Memory Usage: 9.3GB
- GPU Usage: 49%
- VRAM Usage: 7.2GB
- GPU Power: 175W
- GPU Temperature: 44°C
The Core i3-14100F platform has 2% lower CPU usage, 0.6GB less memory, and 9% higher GPU usage. Average FPS is 44 higher (about 2.2 times), minimum FPS is 33 higher (about 2.2 times), maintaining overall performance metrics around double that of the Core i7-3770.
Game 3: Red Dead Redemption 2
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 61
- Minimum FPS: 51
- Frame Time: 15.8 ms
- CPU Usage: 91%
- Power Consumption: 47W
- Temperature: 51°C
- Memory Usage: 10.5GB
- GPU Usage: 37%
- VRAM Usage: 5.7GB
- GPU Power: 105W
- GPU Temperature: 37°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 116
- Minimum FPS: 94
- Frame Time: 9.0 ms
- CPU Usage: 88%
- Power Consumption: 50W
- Temperature: 45°C
- Memory Usage: 11.5GB
- GPU Usage: 51%
- VRAM Usage: 5.2GB
- GPU Power: 199W
- GPU Temperature: 40°C
Here, the Core i3-14100F platform has 3% lower CPU usage, 1GB more memory, and 14% higher GPU usage. The average FPS is 55 higher (about 1.9 times), and minimum FPS is 43 higher (about 1.8 times), with frame time around 57% of the Core i7-3770’s.
Game 4: Ghostwire: Tokyo
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 71
- Minimum FPS: 47
- Frame Time: 12.1 ms
- CPU Usage: 57%
- Power Consumption: 39W
- Temperature: 48°C
- Memory Usage: 11.7GB
- GPU Usage: 41%
- VRAM Usage: 6.3GB
- GPU Power: 126W
- GPU Temperature: 39°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 139
- Minimum FPS: 112
- Frame Time: 7.7 ms
- CPU Usage: 53%
- Power Consumption: 40W
- Temperature: 44°C
- Memory Usage: 10.7GB
- GPU Usage: 65%
- VRAM Usage: 6.1GB
- GPU Power: 205W
- GPU Temperature: 46°C
In this game, the Core i3-14100F has 4% lower CPU usage, 1GB less memory, and 24% higher GPU usage. Average FPS is 68 higher (about 2 times), and minimum FPS is 65 higher (about 2.4 times), with frame time around 64% of the Core i7-3770’s.
Game 5: Microsoft Flight Simulator
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 34
- Minimum FPS: 17
- Frame Time: 30.3 ms
- CPU Usage: 58%
- Power Consumption: 44W
- Temperature: 47°C
- Memory Usage: 11.6GB
- GPU Usage: 36%
- VRAM Usage: 6.7GB
- GPU Power: 67W
- GPU Temperature: 35°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 55
- Minimum FPS: 40
- Frame Time: 17.7 ms
- CPU Usage: 55%
- Power Consumption: 45W
- Temperature: 44°C
- Memory Usage: 12.4GB
- GPU Usage: 36%
- VRAM Usage: 6.9GB
- GPU Power: 98W
- GPU Temperature: 36°C
In this case, the Core i3-14100F platform has 3% lower CPU usage, 0.8GB more memory, and equal GPU usage. Average FPS is 21 higher (about 1.6 times), and minimum FPS is 23 higher (about 2.4 times), with frame time around 58% of the Core i7-3770’s.
Game 6: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 43
- Minimum FPS: 27
- Frame Time: 25.3 ms
- CPU Usage: 100%
- Power Consumption: 50W
- Temperature: 53°C
- Memory Usage: 15.2GB
- GPU Usage: 40%
- VRAM Usage: 12.4GB
- GPU Power: 106W
- GPU Temperature: 39°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 90
- Minimum FPS: 58
- Frame Time: 11.4 ms
- CPU Usage: 99%
- Power Consumption: 52W
- Temperature: 50°C
- Memory Usage: 14.2GB
- GPU Usage: 58%
- VRAM Usage: 12.9GB
- GPU Power: 236W
- GPU Temperature: 50°C
In this game, CPU usage is nearly equal, with the Core i3-14100F using 1GB less memory and 18% higher GPU usage. Average FPS is 47 higher (about 2.1 times), and minimum FPS is 31 higher (about 2.1 times), with frame time around 45% of the Core i7-3770’s.
Game 7: Starfield
Core i7 3770
- Average FPS: 31
- Minimum FPS: 24
- Frame Time: 29.1 ms
- CPU Usage: 100%
- Power Consumption: 50W
- Temperature: 53°C
- Memory Usage: 12.1GB
- GPU Usage: 35%
- VRAM Usage: 6.0GB
- GPU Power: 68W
- GPU Temperature: 38°C
Core i3 14100F
- Average FPS: 73
- Minimum FPS: 59
- Frame Time: 11.9 ms
- CPU Usage: 84%
- Power Consumption: 48W
- Temperature: 47°C
- Memory Usage: 12.1GB
- GPU Usage: 44%
- VRAM Usage: 6.1GB
- GPU Power: 178W
- GPU Temperature: 44°C
In this game, the Core i3-14100F platform has a 16% lower CPU usage, equal memory usage, and 9% higher GPU usage. The average FPS is 42 higher (about 2.4 times), the minimum FPS is 35 higher (about 2.5 times), and the frame time is approximately 41% of that of the Core i7-3770.
5. Testing Conclusion
The comparison results are clear and stable: the Core i3-14100F nearly doubles the performance metrics of the Core i7-3770, aligning well with benchmark scores and prior estimates. Notably, while the Core i3-14100F shows a performance increase of about twofold, its power consumption remains roughly equal to that of the Core i7-3770, with slightly lower temperatures.
Despite the performance gap, the Core i7-3770 holds up admirably, with no game averaging below 30 FPS. Some games exhibit higher frame times and latency, indicating better-than-expected actual performance.
Additionally, both the Core i7-3770 and Core i3-14100F show performance bottlenecks when paired with the GeForce RTX 4090, with the former hitting a maximum GPU usage of around 40% and the latter below 70%. While it’s impractical to pair these CPUs with such a high-end GPU, this setup tests their performance limits.
In conclusion, the Core i3-14100F offers about double the performance of the Core i7-3770, meaning upgrading from the i7-3770 to the i3-14100F can yield significant performance gains. However, the extreme performance disparities often imagined are not substantiated.
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