Intel Core i5-4590S vs Intel Core i5-4670S Comparison

The Intel Core i5-4670S and Intel Core i5-4590S are two low-power Haswell quad-cores that share nearly everything: the same 22 nm Intel process, the same 65 W TDP rating, the same Socket 1150, and the same 4-core, 4-thread configuration. The recorded data shows the i5-4670S winning every benchmark in the database, but the margins are small, and the i5-4590S holds its own in ways that matter for real-world buying decisions. This comparison breaks down where each chip wins, how they differ under the hood, and what the head-to-head numbers actually say.

Where Each One Wins

On paper, the i5-4670S sweeps the board: it takes all 8 benchmark wins across the recorded suite, including every Cinebench generation and both Geekbench tests. The clearest gap appears in single-threaded work. Geekbench single-core puts the i5-4670S at 1184 against 1126 for the i5-4590S, a 5.2 percent lead, and Cinebench R15 single-core shows a 3.3 percent advantage (63 versus 61). These deltas track the clock difference: 3.80 GHz boost versus 3.60 GHz, and 3.10 GHz base versus 2.90 GHz. For tasks that live on one thread, older games, lightly threaded applications, and general desktop responsiveness, the i5-4670S is the faster chip in the database.

Multi-core is far closer. Cinebench R20 multi-core favors the i5-4670S by 2.7 percent (1870 versus 1821), Cinebench R23 multi-core by the same 2.7 percent (4454 versus 4338), and Geekbench multi-core by just 0.3 percent (3300 versus 3289). That last figure is effectively a tie. In sustained all-core workloads the two chips are nearly indistinguishable, and the i5-4590S covers the distance whenever its thermal or power behavior lets cores hold clocks longer. Neither chip records a single benchmark win over the other in the i5-4590S's favor, so strictly by the data, the i5-4670S is the better all-round performer, but the i5-4590S is not meaningfully behind in anything multi-threaded.

Context matters here. Both CPUs sit at the 38th percentile against all processors in the database, and their average benchmark scores, 1526 for the i5-4670S and 1493 for the i5-4590S, place them in the same competitive neighborhood. The i5-4670S rubs shoulders with the Intel Core i5-7440HQ (average score 1527, a 0 percent delta), the Intel Pentium Gold G7400E (1524, 0.1 percent), the Intel Xeon E5-1428L v2 (1537, -0.7 percent), and the Intel Core i7-8665U (1513, 0.9 percent). The i5-4590S clusters with the AMD Opteron 6344 (1492, 0.1 percent), the Intel Core i7-3770S (1498, -0.4 percent), the Intel Core i3-8100T (1500, -0.4 percent), and the Intel Core i5-7500T (1483, 0.7 percent). In other words, both are mid-tier parts by current database standards, separated from each other by less than the spread within their own rival groups.

Architecture Differences

There is very little to separate these two architecturally, and that is the story. Both are Haswell designs, fabricated by Intel on a 22 nm process, with 1,400 million transistors packed into a 177 mm² die. Both are 4-core, 4-thread parts with an identical cache hierarchy: 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and a 6 MB shared L3. Neither supports Hyper-Threading-style extra threads, both carry locked multipliers, and both lack ECC memory support.

Platform features are likewise identical. Each supports DDR3 memory over a dual-channel bus, exposes PCI Express Gen 3, and integrates the same Intel HD 4600 graphics. The 65 W TDP rating is shared, which is the "S" suffix designation in action on both parts. Even the socket is the same, Intel Socket 1150, so the two are drop-in interchangeable on compatible motherboards.

The differences are confined to clocks and release timing. The i5-4670S launched first, with a release date of June 2013, and runs a 3.10 GHz base with a 3.80 GHz boost. The i5-4590S followed in April 2014 with 2.90 GHz base and 3.60 GHz boost, a uniform 200 MHz reduction at both ends. That 200 MHz gap, roughly 6 percent at base and about 5.5 percent at boost, is the entire performance story between them, and it shows up almost exactly in the single-core scores. The i5-4670S also carries a recorded part number, SR14K, while the database lists none for the i5-4590S.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Walking through the recorded results, the pattern is consistent and modest. In Cinebench R15, the i5-4670S scores 448 multi-core and 63 single-core against 437 and 61 for the i5-4590S, deltas of 2.5 and 3.3 percent respectively. Cinebench R20 follows suit: 1870 versus 1821 multi-core (2.7 percent) and 263 versus 257 single-core (2.3 percent). Cinebench R23 repeats the shape, 4454 versus 4338 in multi-core (2.7 percent) and 628 versus 612 in single-core (2.6 percent).

Geekbench is where the spread widens and narrows at the extremes. Geekbench single-core is the i5-4670S's biggest win of the entire suite: 1184 versus 1126, a 5.2 percent lead that aligns closely with the clock deficit. Geekbench multi-core is its smallest: 3300 versus 3289, a 0.3 percent gap that rounds to a dead heat. The benchmark spread tells a coherent story, single-threaded tests reward the i5-4670S's higher clocks most visibly, while heavily multi-threaded tests compress the difference to within measurement noise.

For perspective on scale, none of these gaps approach the distance to the rest of the database. Both chips sit at the 38th percentile, meaning roughly 62 percent of recorded CPUs outrank them. Against the i5-4670S's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-7440HQ at an average score of 1527 versus 1526, the delta is a flat 0 percent. The i5-4590S's nearest rival, the AMD Opteron 6344 at 1492 versus 1493, is a 0.1 percent match. A buyer moving between the two Haswell parts is choosing between chips that are statistically closer to each other than either is to most of the market.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster overall?

A: The Intel Core i5-4670S. It wins all 8 recorded benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 1526 versus 1493 for the i5-4590S, a gap of roughly 2 percent.

Q: How large is the biggest performance gap between them?

A: Geekbench single-core, where the i5-4670S scores 1184 against 1126, a 5.2 percent lead. The smallest gap is Geekbench multi-core, 3300 versus 3289, or 0.3 percent.

Q: Do they use the same socket and platform?

A: Yes. Both are Socket 1150 parts supporting DDR3 dual-channel memory, PCI Express Gen 3, and Intel HD 4600 integrated graphics, so they are interchangeable on the same motherboards.

Q: Why is the i5-4670S faster despite identical specifications elsewhere?

A: Clock speeds. The i5-4670S runs 3.10 GHz base and 3.80 GHz boost, versus 2.90 GHz and 3.60 GHz for the i5-4590S, a 200 MHz advantage at both ends with everything else equal.

Q: Are these chips good by modern standards?

A: The data places both at the 38th percentile against all CPUs in the database. They remain usable quad-cores, but the majority of recorded processors outperform them.

Q: Which launched first?

A: The i5-4670S, released in June 2013. The i5-4590S followed in April 2014.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the Intel Core i5-4670S is the pick between the two. It never loses a benchmark, it holds its largest edge exactly where responsiveness is felt most, in single-threaded work, and its weakest result, a 0.3 percent Geekbench multi-core margin, is still a win. Buyers choosing a primary processor for a Socket 1150 build should take the i5-4670S.

The i5-4590S case rests on context rather than benchmark wins, and the database provides some. It launched roughly ten months later, sits among rivals like the Intel Core i7-3770S and Intel Core i5-7500T at essentially identical average scores, and trails the i5-4670S by only about 2 percent on average. In sustained multi-core rendering work, the recorded deltas of 2.5 to 2.7 percent in Cinebench are small enough that workload and system conditions could matter more than the chip choice. If one is available and the other is not, the i5-4590S delivers nearly identical Haswell quad-core performance on the same platform.

Neither is a performance flagship today. Both sit at the 38th percentile of the database, both share a 65 W TDP, 6 MB of shared L3 cache, and locked multipliers, and neither supports ECC memory. The sensible summary: the i5-4670S is the faster chip in every measured test, the i5-4590S is the near-match that gives most of that performance back nowhere in particular, and the recorded gap between them is smaller than the gap separating either from the modern field.