Intel Core i5-5575R vs Intel Core i7-3770S Comparison

The Intel Core i7-3770S and Intel Core i5-5575R present a stark contrast in design philosophy and benchmark behavior. Despite both occupying the same 65 W TDP envelope and sharing a 38th percentile ranking among all CPUs, their performance profiles diverge sharply depending on the workload. The i7-3770S, an Ivy Bridge part from 2012, dominates Cinebench across all versions, while the i5-5575R, a Broadwell part from 2015, delivers a decisive victory in Geekbench. This split is not a minor statistical variation; it represents fundamental architectural differences that manifest as a 20% gap in one suite and a 30-40% gap in the other.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking pattern in the head-to-head data is the uniformity of the i7-3770S's Cinebench advantage. Across all six Cinebench tests — R15, R20, and R23, both multi-core and single-core — the i7-3770S wins with a deltaPct that barely moves. In Cinebench R15 multi-core, the i7-3770S scores 529 against 435 for the i5-5575R, a 21.6% lead. The single-core R15 test shows an identical margin: 74 versus 61, a 21.3% advantage. This consistency continues into R20, where multi-core results are 2205 versus 1816 (21.4% delta) and single-core is 311 versus 256 (21.5% delta). The R23 results follow the same script: 5251 versus 4324 in multi-core (21.4%) and 741 versus 610 in single-core (21.5%).

The near-constant deltaPct across every Cinebench iteration is telling. It suggests that the i7-3770S's advantage is not workload-specific but rather a systemic edge in the rendering engine's execution path. The i7-3770S's higher base clock of 3.10 GHz and boost clock of 3.90 GHz, compared to 2.80 GHz and 3.30 GHz for the i5-5575R, likely contribute to this, but the sheer consistency of the margin points to a broader architectural advantage in how the Ivy Bridge core handles Cinebench's instruction mix.

The Geekbench results invert the narrative completely. In Geekbench multi-core, the i5-5575R scores 3247 against 2220 for the i7-3770S, a 31.6% victory. The single-core Geekbench test is even more lopsided: 1072 versus 655, a 38.9% margin in favor of the i5-5575R. This is not a marginal win; it is a rout. The i5-5575R's Geekbench single-core score exceeds the i7-3770S's by more than 400 points, a gap larger than the entire score of many entry-level CPUs.

The Geekbench results are particularly noteworthy because they show the i5-5575R winning despite having fewer threads (4 versus 8) and a lower clock speed. The Broadwell architecture's newer design, built on a 14 nm process versus 22 nm for Ivy Bridge, appears to deliver dramatically better per-clock efficiency in Geekbench's test suite. The i5-5575R's average benchmark score of 1478 is only marginally lower than the i7-3770S's 1498, but the distribution of those scores is almost opposite across the two suites.

Where Each One Wins

The i7-3770S is the clear choice for any workload that resembles Cinebench. This includes 3D rendering, ray tracing, and other compute-heavy tasks that stress the CPU's floating-point and multi-threaded capabilities. The data shows a 21% advantage in every Cinebench test, which is substantial for professional rendering work. The i7-3770S's 8 threads, enabled by Hyper-Threading, provide a significant edge in multi-core scenarios, but the single-core Cinebench wins (21.3% to 21.5%) demonstrate that its advantage is not solely dependent on thread count. The higher boost clock of 3.90 GHz likely drives much of this single-core performance.

The i5-5575R wins decisively in Geekbench, which is a more general-purpose benchmark covering a wider range of tasks including encryption, compression, memory operations, and integer workloads. The 31.6% multi-core and 38.9% single-core advantages suggest that the Broadwell architecture's improved instruction scheduling, larger execution resources, or superior memory subsystem give it a fundamental efficiency edge. The i5-5575R's memory bandwidth of 29.9 GB/s, which is not listed for the i7-3770S, may play a role in memory-intensive Geekbench tests.

For users running mixed workloads, the choice is less clear. The i7-3770S's consistent Cinebench dominance makes it the safer pick for content creation, while the i5-5575R's Geekbench superiority indicates better responsiveness in general computing tasks, web browsing, and office applications. The i5-5575R also integrates Iris Pro Graphics 6200, a more capable iGPU than the i7-3770S's Intel HD 4000, which could matter for systems without a discrete GPU, though the benchmark scores do not directly measure graphics performance.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster in Cinebench R23 multi-core?

A: The Intel Core i7-3770S scores 5251 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, which is 21.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-5575R's score of 4324.

Q: Why does the i5-5575R win Geekbench by such a large margin?

A: The i5-5575R scores 3247 in Geekbench multi-core and 1072 in single-core, beating the i7-3770S by 31.6% and 38.9% respectively. This is despite having only 4 threads versus 8 and lower clock speeds, indicating a significant architectural efficiency advantage in the Broadwell core.

Q: Do both CPUs have the same TDP?

A: Yes, both the Intel Core i7-3770S and the Intel Core i5-5575R have a TDP of 65 W, making them comparable in power draw despite their different architectures and performance profiles.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each CPU?

A: The i7-3770S has an average benchmark score of 1498, while the i5-5575R has an average score of 1478. The difference of 20 points is minimal, but the distribution of scores across individual tests is very different.

Q: Which CPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i7-3770S has a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, which is 0.60 GHz higher than the i5-5575R's boost clock of 3.30 GHz.

Q: How do these CPUs compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The i7-3770S averages 1498, placing it 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-4590S (1493) and 1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-7500T (1483). The i5-5575R averages 1478, which is 0.4% behind the i5-7500T and 0.9% behind the Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 (1465).

Specification Differences

The two CPUs differ in several key specifications that help explain their divergent benchmark results. The i7-3770S features 4 cores and 8 threads, while the i5-5575R has 4 cores and 4 threads — the i7-3770S's Hyper-Threading capability doubles its thread count. Clock speeds favor the i7-3770S as well: its base clock is 3.10 GHz versus 2.80 GHz, and its boost clock is 3.90 GHz versus 3.30 GHz.

The socket is a major differentiator. The i7-3770S uses Intel Socket 1155, a traditional LGA socket for desktop motherboards, while the i5-5575R uses Intel BGA 1364, a ball-grid-array package that is soldered directly to the board. This makes the i5-5575R non-upgradeable and typically found in all-in-one or compact desktop systems.

Cache configuration also differs significantly. The i7-3770S has 8 MB of shared L3 cache, while the i5-5575R has only 4 MB of shared L3 cache. Both have 64 KB of L1 cache per core and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. The i5-5575R lists a memory bandwidth of 29.9 GB/s, a figure not provided for the i7-3770S. The integrated graphics differ as well: the i7-3770S has Intel HD 4000, while the i5-5575R has the more advanced Iris Pro Graphics 6200.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two CPUs spans two Intel microarchitectures and two manufacturing process nodes. The i7-3770S is built on the Ivy Bridge architecture using a 22 nm process node, with 1,400 million transistors on a 160 mm² die. The i5-5575R uses the newer Broadwell architecture on a 14 nm process node, with a die size of 182 mm² (transistor count not listed). The 14 nm node is a significant shrink from 22 nm, allowing for denser logic and potentially lower power leakage.

The generation labels reflect this: the i7-3770S is from the Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) generation, while the i5-5575R is from the Core i5 (Broadwell) generation. Both use dual-channel DDR3 memory support and PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes (CPU only), and neither supports ECC memory. Neither CPU has an unlocked multiplier.

The process node difference likely explains the Geekbench results. Broadwell's 14 nm transistors offer better switching characteristics and lower latency, which can translate into higher instructions-per-clock (IPC). The i5-5575R's superior Geekbench performance, despite lower clocks and fewer threads, is consistent with a significant IPC advantage. However, the i7-3770S's Cinebench dominance suggests that Ivy Bridge's older architecture still handles that specific workload more efficiently, or that the higher clock speeds and additional threads overcome any IPC deficit.

The i5-5575R's production status is listed as "Active," while no production status is given for the i7-3770S, and the i5-5575R has a launch MSRP of $265. The release dates show the i7-3770S launching on 2012-04-28 and the i5-5575R on 2015-05-14, placing over three years of architectural development between them. Despite this, the benchmark data shows that the older i7-3770S remains highly competitive in rendering workloads, while the newer i5-5575R excels in general-purpose computing tasks.