Overclocking Intel Kaby Lake Core i3-7350K

Name: Intel Core i3-7350K
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 12:00 PM EDT

We used the same Gigabyte Z270X Gaming 9-based test bed for the Core i3-7350K, that was employed in our Core i7-7700K review. We simply popped out the Core i7-7700K, replaced it with the 7350K and ran our tests – with one exception. For the overclocking tests, which we’ll show you on the next page, we swapped the air-cooler for a Corsair H80i v2 closed-loop liquid cooling setup.

Before we get to the overclocking though, we want to show you where the Core i3-7350K stacks up versus an array of other processors in a variety of benchmarks. So, here goes...

The Core i3-7350K's general performance is somewhat of a mixed bag. On one hand, it is a dual-core chip with less cache than its more-powerful counterparts, so it trails in multi-threaded tests like the one in Cinebench or 3DMark's Physics test. On the other hand, it has a relatively high 4.2GHz frequency, so its single-thread performance is quite good. In out custom LAME benchmark in particular, which uses one or two threads, the Core i3-7350K performs quite well comparatively.

In terms of graphics performance, the HD 630 graphics engine in the Core i3-7350K is mostly unchanged versus the previous-gen HD 530. But back it up with only two CPU cores, and performance in 3DMark takes a dip. Same with Crysis. With the discrete GPU installed, however, the 7350K jumps up quite a bit and is actually able to overtake AMD's highest-end processor currently available -- Ryzen can't get here fast enough.

Tags: Intel, Overclocking, CPU, Core i3, (NASDAQ:INTC), kaby lake

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com