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3DMARK RESULTS
3DMark is Futuremark’s latest in computer benchmarking. It includes tests for different performance levels, but we’re really only interested in the Fire Strike tests, which are for gaming PCs.
Fire Strike can be run at default settings or Extreme settings. We tested with default. You can also use custom settings, but the Extreme preset maxes out most options. The default settings run at a resolution of 1920×1080, with low to middling quality settings.
Finally we can see where this CPU does well, it’s barely held back in Firestrike by it’s lower core count once it’s overclocked, and is around 20% slower than the i7.
WINRAR DECOMPRESSION TEST
Winrar is a very popular and often used application for compressing and decompressing files and is an application I have installed in every system I build. 
And as you can see here the Pentium comes in very close to the i7, I would imagine the i7 pulls ahead due to the larger L3 cache but it’s so close you can barely tell the difference between the two.
ADOBE PREMIERE CC
Next up we have Adobe’s award winning video editing application Adobe Premiere, used by professionals everywhere
As you may have know video editing applications love high core counts and it shows here, falls in line with what I expected, though the overclock did more than I expected for the pentium chip shaving almost 2 full minutes off, pretty useful.
PHOTOSHOP CC
Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo editing software. The software has always been on the cutting edge from being one of the first supporters of CUDA to their more recent OpenCL Support. The Benchmark is a widely available Benchmark that you can see Here (Link to benchmark)
And again we see how Productivity apps love higher core counts, the i7 finishes the benchmark in less than half the time, the overclock makes a solid difference again, so for those who would use this chip in a cheap workstation, overclocking will serve you well.
BATTLEFIELD 4 MULTIPLAYER BENCHMARK
Battlefield 4 is the twelfth installment in the Battlefield Series developed by DICE and is one of the most popular games on the market today. The Benchmark takes place on a 10 minute run on the Flood Zone map on 64 player conquest. Although this is not a benchmark that can be easily replicated at home, multiplayer performance is paramount to this game, and this is something we do a bit differently from other sites.
As we can see here Battlefield 4’s multiplayer really shows what the i7 can do. The Pentium does try it’s best here, sadly it’s not up to this reviewers standards with frame drops below 40 being fairly constant and lows in the 20s.
CRYSIS 3
the third installment of Crytek’s Crysis is one of the most beautiful and graphically intensive games available. The Crysis series has a long track record of being incredibly demanding which makes them perfect for benchmarking.
Here we see how the CPU performs in a gaming scenario, although it’s a game that is very demanding, Crysis 3 is in the minority of games that can really take advantage of systems with 4 cores or more and here it shows, although the 4GHz Pentium has a higher max fps and average, it’s the clock speed showing off, but this CPU can play this game decently on medium settings if combined with the proper GPU.
Review Overview
Performance
Overclocking
Price
Features
Warranty
Very solid Bang for the Buck
Although it has its flaws, The Pentium Anniversary is one of the best budget CPUs available especially with the addition of non Z97 overclocking, It performs well in lightly threaded tasks and most games.
Nice review fggt
This review helped a bunch thanks!
Sweet review! I agree with spending the extra $30 and going AMD.
Thank’s a lot of the comment. and have a great day!
Err, that last sentence on the first page. I have to say, the FX 6300 may be more expensive, but it leaves that Pentium in the dust on multi-threaded applications. The comparable chip to the Pentium would be the 760K or 860K, which are only $10-$20 more.
The reason I mention the FX 6300 is that it does much a better job at what it does, the 760K or 860K don’t have upgrade options. Thanks for your feedback and have a wonderful day!
I went from intel to amd and back to intel, and the biggest difference to me was reliability and responsiveness. I don’t think ill ever go back to amd processors, you pay for what you get rings true for me on this occasion
‘Responsiveness’
This one is a bit confusing to me, as I know what the word means but don’t completely understand your meaning. I’d consider all modern processors to be quite “responsive” in day to day tasks, and unless you’re doing heavy workloads, it is difficult to tell one processor from another. If we’re talking about performance, the Intel’s generally do win-out, but for an added price, which usually goes without saying.
‘Reliability’
This one is also odd, while I understand how stressful computer-related issues can be, I have found in my experience that they are very linked to the processor. Unless your CPU (any CPU) is overheating due to insufficient cooling, or is unstable due to heavy overclocking, it is rare for it to be unreliable. What i mean by that is, for the most part a processor either works as it should or doesn’t work at all.
With all that said, if you’ve had better experiences with Intel and prefer what they offer, by all means you should definitely stick with what you know. But, I would never count any single company out of the occasion based on an anecdotal experience.