Core i5-2550K vs Core i3-1110G4

The Core i5-2550K packs 4 cores / 4 threads, while the Core i3-1110G4 offers 2 cores / 4 threads — the Core i5-2550K has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.8 GHz on the Core i5-2550K versus 3.9 GHz on the Core i3-1110G4 — a 2.6% clock advantage for the Core i3-1110G4 (base: 3.4 GHz vs 1.8 GHz). The Core i5-2550K uses the Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) architecture (32 nm), while the Core i3-1110G4 uses Tiger Lake-UP4 (2020−2021) (10 nm SuperFin). In PassMark, the Core i5-2550K scores 4,228 against the Core i3-1110G4's 4,160 — a 1.6% lead for the Core i5-2550K. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 707 vs 1,491, a 71.3% lead for the Core i3-1110G4 that directly translates to higher frame rates. L3 cache: 6144 kB (total) on the Core i5-2550K vs 6 MB (total) on the Core i3-1110G4.

The Core i5-2550K uses the LGA1155 socket (PCIe 2.0), while the Core i3-1110G4 uses FCBGA1598 (PCIe 4.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR3-1600 on the Core i5-2550K versus LPDDR4x-4267 on the Core i3-1110G4 — the Core i3-1110G4 supports 28.6% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. Both support up to 32 GB of RAM. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i5-2550K) vs 4 (Core i3-1110G4) — the Core i5-2550K offers 12 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Only the Core i3-1110G4 supports AVX-512 instructions — important for machine learning and scientific applications. Virtualization support: Yes (Core i5-2550K) vs VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i3-1110G4). The Core i3-1110G4 includes integrated graphics (UHD Graphics Xe G4 (48 EU)), while the Core i5-2550K requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i3-1110G4 targets Thin & Light Laptop. Direct competitor: Core i3-1110G4 rivals Ryzen 3 4300U.