Intel Core i5-7400 Buyer's Guide
Positioning and generation
The Intel Core i5-7400 is a desktop processor based on the Kaby Lake architecture, part of the 7th Gen lineup. On our site it sits in the older mainstream band. By today's standards it is no longer new, but in official requirement comparisons it still handles a good number of games, which makes it a reasonable pick for a tight-budget gaming PC.
This chip has integrated graphics, so a system built around it can display an image without a separate graphics card. That is handy for office work or basic tasks. For gaming, though, the main graphics load should fall on a dedicated graphics card, and the integrated graphics only suit light or older titles.
It is a desktop part designed for ordinary desktop motherboards. If you are looking at laptops or other platforms, this guide does not fully apply.
Key specs explained
The Core i5-7400 has 4 cores and 4 threads, with no Hyper-Threading. For modern games, four physical cores can carry the basic workload, but titles that juggle many background tasks or heavy multithreaded work will feel the limit compared with newer chips that offer more cores.
The 7th Gen Kaby Lake architecture is one of Intel's earlier generations. Single-thread performance is enough for the main thread of most games, but if a title is demanding on the CPU, you will reach the bottleneck sooner.
Integrated graphics let it output a picture when no dedicated card is fitted, but its graphics ability is limited. It should not be treated as the main display solution for gaming.
Suitable games and resolutions
In official requirement comparisons, this processor can be assessed against 416 of the 439 catalogue games that list requirements. Of those, 146 reach the official recommended requirements and 98 sit well above them, while another 98 meet only the official minimum and 74 fall below the minimum. In other words, it copes steadily with roughly half of the catalogue or more, but will struggle noticeably with some CPU-heavy titles.
Games that clear the recommended tier include Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition, Timberborn, Farthest Frontier and Hollow Knight: Silksong. Titles that only meet the minimum include Big Ambitions, Yet Another Zombie Survivors and Fields of Mistria. Those below the minimum include Palworld, Scrap Mechanic and Gothic 1 Remake.
For resolution, 1080p is the sensible target. This processor pairs best with a low to mid-range dedicated graphics card at 1080p. If you want higher resolutions, check whether the graphics card is up to it first; the processor alone will not decide that.
Compared with similar hardware
On our tier scale, the Core i5-7400 sits close to the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, the Intel Core i7-4790K and the Intel Core i5-6600K, with the i5-6600K one step higher. These are broadly the same era of mainstream chips, so the choice among them often comes down to the motherboard platform and price you can get.
Below it are the Intel Core i7-4790, the Intel Core i5-6500 and the Intel Core i7-4770K. The i5-6500 sits noticeably lower, while the i7-4790 and i7-4770K belong to older generations.
Overall, the i5-7400 does not stand out in its class. Its advantages are the newer Kaby Lake generation and the fact that it is relatively easy to find a platform for it at this price level.
Buying new or used
Check the motherboard before you buy. This processor uses the LGA1151 socket and must be paired with a motherboard that supports that socket.
The multiplier is locked, so it cannot be manually overclocked. The boxed version includes a basic stock cooler; tray units do not.
This processor uses a land grid design: the pins are in the motherboard socket, so take care not to touch them when installing it.
If you buy used, inspect the chip carefully for physical damage, ask the seller for proof of purchase and check the warranty status.
Upgrade advice
An upgrade only makes sense if you are on an older processor and games are clearly limited by the CPU. Among the upgrade targets on our site, the AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, AMD Ryzen 3 3100 and AMD Ryzen 7 1800X all sit a clear tier higher and are of the same or a newer generation, so they are worth considering.
When you upgrade the processor, look at the graphics card and memory too. If the graphics card is already the main bottleneck, swapping the CPU will gain you little, and insufficient memory will hold back overall smoothness. Aim for a balance between CPU, GPU and RAM rather than spending the whole budget on a single part.