Intel Core i3-4100U vs Intel Core i7-6850K

Last updated:
cpumonkey @ x @cpumonkey

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i3-4100U CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-6850K
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i7-6850K

CPU comparison

Intel Core i3-4100U or Intel Core i7-6850K - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core i3-4100U has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.80 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-4100U was released in Q3/2013.

The Intel Core i7-6850K has 6 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.80 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-6850K was released in Q2/2016.
Intel Core i3 (205) Family Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition (24)
Intel Core i 4000U (26) CPU group Intel Core i 6000 (24)
4 Generation 6
Haswell U Architecture Skylake S
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-4100U is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.80 GHz. The Intel Core i7-6850K has 6 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.60 GHz (3.80 GHz).
Intel Core i3-4100U Characteristic Intel Core i7-6850K
2 Cores 6
4 Threads 12
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? Yes
1.80 GHz Frequency 3.60 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.80 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (All Cores) --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.
Intel Core i3-4100U Characteristic Intel Core i7-6850K
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU no iGPU
0.20 GHz GPU frequency --
1.00 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
7.5 GPU Generation --
22 nm Technology
3 Max. displays
20 Compute units --
160 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory --
11.1 DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU no iGPU
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
Decode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i3-4100U supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-6850K can connect up to 128 GB of memory in 4 memory channels.
Intel Core i3-4100U Characteristic Intel Core i7-6850K
LPDDR3-1600, DDR3-1600 Memory DDR4-2400
16 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
3.00 MB L3 Cache 15.00 MB
2.0 PCIe version 3.0
12 PCIe lanes 40
6.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 39.4 GB/s

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core i3-4100U has a TDP of 15 W, that of the Intel Core i7-6850K is 140 W.
Intel Core i3-4100U Characteristic Intel Core i7-6850K
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 140 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i3-4100U has a 3.00 MB cache, while the Intel Core i7-6850K cache has a total of 15.00 MB.
Intel Core i3-4100U Characteristic Intel Core i7-6850K
22 nm Technology 14 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
BGA 1168 Socket LGA 2011-3
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q3/2013 Release date Q2/2016
-- Release price 628 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i3-4100U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-6850K to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-4100U (39%)
Intel Core i7-6850K (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-4100U (15%)
Intel Core i7-6850K (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
432 (39%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
1116 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
993 (15%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
6711 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
1711 (15%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
11397 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
1302 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
6214 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
Intel HD Graphics 4400 @ 1.00 GHz
320 (100%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
279.7 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
3480 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
73 (100%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100U
2C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
184 (100%)
Intel Core i7-6850K Intel Core i7-6850K
6C 12T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor
Intel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i7-6850K
Unknown Unknown

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. Intel Celeron 1007UIntel Core i3-4100U Intel Celeron 1007U vs Intel Core i3-4100U
2. Intel Core i3-4100UAMD FX-7500 Intel Core i3-4100U vs AMD FX-7500
3. Intel Core i3-4100MIntel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4100M vs Intel Core i3-4100U
4. AMD A6-5200Intel Core i3-4100U AMD A6-5200 vs Intel Core i3-4100U
5. Intel Core i3-4100UIntel Pentium G3220T Intel Core i3-4100U vs Intel Pentium G3220T
6. Intel Core i5-4210UIntel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i5-4210U vs Intel Core i3-4100U
7. Intel Core i3-4010UIntel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4010U vs Intel Core i3-4100U
8. Intel Core i3-4100UIntel Core i3-3210 Intel Core i3-4100U vs Intel Core i3-3210
9. Intel Core i3-4030UIntel Core i3-4100U Intel Core i3-4030U vs Intel Core i3-4100U
10. Intel Core i3-4100UIntel Core i3-3227U Intel Core i3-4100U vs Intel Core i3-3227U


back to index