Core i5 9th generation vs. Core i7 4th generation Intel Processor: Which will perform better?

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Core i5 9th generation vs. Core i7 4th generation Intel Processor: Which will perform better?

Today we will talk about a topic that comes to mind a lot when buying a computer. If you are confused about something, it will always work back on your mind later. It is important to have a clear idea about some things before buying a computer. Today's discussion is about these matters, which are a bit time-consuming to understand and require a lot of research, which is usually not done in a short time before buying a computer.

 

Let's first learn about some things, so that we can get an overall idea. Below are Intel's various processors, their release dates in the market, which generation and which RAM they support in which generation.

 

Intel Core Processor Generations: Overview

Generation

Release Year

Code Name

Socket

RAM Support

1st Gen

2010

Nehalem / Westmere

LGA 1156

DDR3

2nd Gen

2011

Sandy Bridge

LGA 1155

DDR3

3rd Gen

2012

Ivy Bridge

LGA 1155

DDR3

4th Gen

2013–2014

Haswell

LGA 1150

DDR3

5th Gen

2015

Broadwell

LGA 1150 / BGA

DDR3 / DDR3L

6th Gen

2015–2016

Skylake

LGA 1151

DDR3L / DDR4

7th Gen

2016–2017

Kaby Lake

LGA 1151

DDR3L / DDR4

8th Gen

2017–2018

Coffee Lake

LGA 1151 v2

DDR4

9th Gen

2018–2019

Coffee Lake Refresh

LGA 1151 v2

DDR4

10th Gen

2019–2020

Comet Lake / Ice Lake

LGA 1200 / BGA

DDR4 / LPDDR4x (mobile)

11th Gen

2020–2021

Rocket Lake / Tiger Lake

LGA 1200 / BGA

DDR4 / LPDDR4x

12th Gen

2021–2022

Alder Lake

LGA 1700

DDR4 / DDR5

13th Gen

2022–2023

Raptor Lake

LGA 1700

DDR4 / DDR5

14th Gen

2023–2024

Raptor Lake Refresh

LGA 1700

DDR4 / DDR5

 

A summary of the RAM types is mentioned below:

Summary by RAM Type:

RAM Type

Supported Generations

DDR2

Core 2 Duo / Quad era (Pre-2008)

DDR3

1st to 5th Gen

DDR3L

4th to 7th Gen (mainly laptops, some desktops)

DDR4

6th Gen and above

DDR5

12th Gen and above

 

So, let's compare Intel Core i5 9th Generation with Intel Core i7 4th Generation based on the above description. Below we compare the 2 processors, the differences of which are given here:

Performance Comparison

Feature

Core i5 9th Gen (e.g., i5-9400F)

Core i7 4th Gen (e.g., i7-4770)

Release Year

2018–2019

2013–2014

Architecture

Coffee Lake

Haswell

Cores / Threads

6 Cores / 6 Threads

4 Cores / 8 Threads

Base Clock

~2.9 – 3.1 GHz

~3.4 GHz

Turbo Boost

Yes (up to ~4.1 GHz)

Yes (up to ~3.9 GHz)

Process Node

14nm

22nm

Memory Support

DDR4 (faster, more efficient)

DDR3 only

Power Efficiency

Better

Older, less efficient

Integrated Graphics

Often optional (F-series has none)

Yes (HD Graphics 4600)

Motherboard Support

Newer (LGA 1151 v2, DDR4)

Older (LGA 1150, DDR3)

 

Now let's see which one will be ahead in real practical situations:

Gaming: Due to the modern architecture and improved GPU/CPU combination, the i5 9th Gen will easily be ahead of the i7 4th Gen and will perform better.

 

Multitasking & Productivity: Although the Core i7 has more threads, the new architecture and high efficiency of the Core i5 will still give better performance in most tasks.

 

Future-Proofing: The Core i5 9th Gen is ahead of the Core i7 in terms of modernity standards due to the new version of RAM and motherboard, which makes it more upgradeable and relevant.

 

Conclusion

When comparing Intel Core i5 9th Gen with Intel Core i7 4th Gen, the Core i5 9th Gen is clearly better and a wise choice in almost all real-world situations. Therefore, it would be better to buy the Core i5 9th Gen. Because it offers better performance per watt, supports DDR4 and a new chipset, has more modern features, and is capable of providing long-term support.

 

Core i5 9th generation vs. Core i7 8th generation Intel processor: What if?

When comparing an Intel Core i5 9th generation processor to an Intel Core i7 8th generation processor, the better performance depends on the specific model of each chip and the type of work you do or want to buy a PC for. "Newer generation is always better" may not be the case, nor can it be said straightforwardly.

 

But in short, for most demanding workloads (content creation, streaming, heavy multitasking), especially those that use multiple threads, the Core i7 8th generation processor (e.g., i7-8700 or i7-8700K) will generally perform better due to hyper-threading capabilities (more threads) and larger cache.

 

If your primary goal is gaming and you're on a tight budget, a Core i5 9th generation processor (especially a "K" model that can be overclocked) may offer comparable or slightly better performance in single-core gaming in some cases, but it will lag behind the Core i7 in multi-threaded tasks.

 

That said, you'll need to consider the CPU model and its proper benchmarks based on the type of work you're planning to do on your computer if you want to get the absolute best performance.

 

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