Intel Core i5-4670K Buyer's Guide
Positioning and generation
The Intel Core i5-4670K is a 4th Gen Core desktop processor from an older generation. In FrameScope's requirement tiers it sits in the very old / entry level band. It has 4 cores and 4 threads, which is few by today's standards, but it still reaches the official minimum requirements of a good number of games.
The chip includes integrated graphics, so it can output a picture even without a separate graphics card. Integrated graphics are limited, though, so for most games you will still want a dedicated graphics card.
If you already own this processor, it is best treated as a stopgap rather than a long-term gaming platform.
Key specs explained
The specs we hold are 4 cores and 4 threads. There is no simultaneous multithreading, so each core handles one thread at a time. For games, a low core count can become a bottleneck when a title needs to juggle many tasks at once, such as loading large open worlds, running NPC logic or simulating complex systems.
Integrated graphics mean the motherboard can show an image without a graphics card, which is useful for troubleshooting or as a backup. Their performance suits light games and 2D titles, not demanding 3D games with higher official requirements.
Other specifications such as clock speed, cache size and process node are not in our database, so we do not assess them here.
Suitable games and resolutions
Against official requirements, this processor can be judged for 416 of the 439 games in our catalogue that list requirements. It falls below the minimum in 98 of them, meets only the minimum in 118, meets the recommended tier in 143, and is well above the recommended tier in 57. In other words, it clears the recommended level in roughly half of the games, while a sizeable share sit right around the minimum line.
Titles that clear the recommended tier include Paralives, Timberborn, The Last Caretaker, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hello Kitty Island Adventure, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, Age of Mythology: Retold and Peglin. Most of these are simulation, strategy, indie or lighter 3D games. Titles that only meet the minimum include Big Ambitions, Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition and Yet Another Zombie Survivors, while Palworld, Scrap Mechanic and Gothic 1 Remake fall below the minimum.
For resolution, 1080p is the sensible target, since that is the baseline most official requirements assume. Higher resolutions mainly add load to the graphics card, but on a platform with this few cores you should still keep expectations modest on demanding settings.
Compared with similar hardware
In FrameScope's tiers, this processor shares a band with the Intel Core i7-3770 and sits just below the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X and Intel Core i5-4690K. This only describes their relative position in the requirement ranking, not the actual gap in performance.
On the slightly lower side are the Intel Core i7-2600K, Intel Core i5-4570 and Intel Core i3-6100, which fall into a similar entry-level range when compared with official requirements.
Overall, it sits close to its sibling, the i5-4690K. If your goal is gaming, you are usually better off putting your budget toward a newer platform than chasing other models in the same range.
Buying new or used
This processor uses the LGA1150 socket, so it needs a motherboard with the same socket. Check that the board's socket and chipset match before buying. This is a launch-generation processor for LGA1150, so older boards of this socket do not need a BIOS update for it.
The pins are in the motherboard socket, so take care not to touch them when installing it.
Its multiplier is unlocked, so it can be overclocked on a motherboard that supports overclocking.
When buying new, choose a seller with a full warranty. When buying used, check the chip for physical damage and ask for proof of purchase and warranty status so you know where it came from and how much support remains.
Upgrade advice
If most of your games only just reach the minimum requirements, an upgrade is usually worthwhile. Good targets to look at are the AMD Ryzen 5 2400G, Intel Core i3-8100 and Intel Core i5-7500, which sit clearly higher in FrameScope's tiers and belong to the same or a newer generation.
When upgrading the processor, balance it against the graphics card and memory. If your graphics card is much newer than the processor, a processor upgrade will bring limited gains; if the graphics card is already struggling with your games, a new processor alone may not help. Work out where your bottleneck actually is before deciding what to upgrade first.