Is Intel Core I5 6500 Still Good? CPU Test

Introduction

It’s well known that Intel is very good at making processors that last long. Intel Core I5 6500 is one of them itself. Although it has been 7 years since its release, this CPU is still holding very well even today in 2022.

There are a lot of questions about I5 6500 and not enough answers, so in order to help you, I will test one by myself and give you all the information you will need.

Let’s cut the story and jump into the article.!

Intel Core I5 6500 Specifications

Number of Cores	4 cores
Number of Threads	4 threads
Base Frequency	3.2 GHz
Boost Frequency	3.6GHz
Process Size	14nm
TDP	65W
Socket	LGA 1151

Best Intel Core I5 6500 Offer

Is Intel Core I5 6500 Still Good? Short Topic Answer

Intel Core I5 6500 is still a very capable CPU even 7 years after release. Although you will probably need more than 4 cores and 4 threads nowadays, I5 6500 will be a perfect fit for people who won’t use it for heavy gaming and tasks. It will work fine, especially when paired with a decent GPU.

Is Intel Core I5 6500 Good For Gaming?

Intel Core I5 6500 is a decent processor when it comes to gaming. It will work just fine in almost every game if you pair it with a good graphics card. Have in mind that I5 6500 has its limits. With 4 cores and 4 threads, you shouldn’t expect a perfect experience in every game on increased settings.

I will test this processor with both GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1070 so you can see the difference between the results. Keep reading and find out how good this CPU is for video gaming.

Intel Core I5 6500 And Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti – Gaming Test

For the first test, I wanted to try the Intel i5 6500 with a graphics card that is around the same age as the I5 6500 itself. That is why I used Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti, which is definitely not the best GPU for testing the processor.

I benchmarked them together in 5 different popular games. With the mixed settings, I tried to get you a realistic image of how good is Intel i5 6500 is when paired with a budget graphics card.

As expected, the gameplay felt good and games were definitely playable, but only 1 out of 5 games averaged more than 60 fps, which really shows that you will need the better components for gaming nowadays.

Of course, you can lower the video settings to Medium and Low or switch to 720p for higher fps, but your experience may suffer.

If you have GTX 1050 Ti and Intel I5 6500, you should first upgrade your graphics card to something newer and stronger first, and after that, you can upgrade the CPU.

Take a look at the table yourself.

Intel Core I5 6500 And Nvidia GTX 1070 – Gaming Test

For the second benchmark, I wanted to see how well would I5 6500 perform when paired with a GPU stronger than the previous time. I connected the Nvidia GTX 1070 OC to the testing build and tried different 5 games so you can see the difference the GPU makes.

Once again, the results weren’t perfect, but this time there was a clear difference since the GTX 1070 is a much stronger graphics card. Every game that I tested with this CPU-GPU combo averaged more than 60 fps, which is more than enough for a lot of people.

The CPU definitely isn’t strong enough to keep up with the GTX 1070, but it will do a job until you upgrade it one day.

Take a look at the table yourself!

Best Graphics Card To Pair With Intel Core I5 6500

If you want to get the most out of your processor, it’s important to pair it with a good graphics card. Since Intel I5 6500 is an older CPU, I will try to suggest to you the best graphics card that you can pair with it and still have a good PC when you upgrade the processor itself.

The Best Graphics card that you should pair with Intel I5 6500 is Nvidia GTX 1070. Not only that you will get good performance if you pair these two together, but you will also have an opportunity to upgrade your CPU in the future and still have a GPU powerful enough to keep up with better CPUs.

Best Nvidia GTX 1070 Offer

Best Processor To Upgrade From Intel Core I5 6500

Best Intel Processor To Upgrade From Intel Core I5 6500

The best Intel Processor to upgrade from I5 6500 is the Intel i5 9600k. Although it only has 6 cores and 6 threads, the Intel I5 9600k is stronger than most other 6 cores processors and it will be a decent upgrade from the Intel i5 6500 when it comes to performance in gaming and other tasks.

Best Intel I5 9600k Offer

Best AMD Processor To Upgrade From Intel Core I5 6500

The best AMD processor to upgrade from intel I5 6500 is AMD Ryzen 5 3600. AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is one of the most popular Ryzen CPUs ever released and that tells you a lot about this CPU. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it will be a huge upgrade from i5 6500 which has only 4 cores and 4 threads.

Best AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Offer

Is Intel Core I5 6500 Good For Editing And Streaming?

Intel I5 6500 is not the best processor when it comes to editing and streaming because of the lack of cores. Although the software for streaming and editing is getting more and more optimized as time passes, this CPU isn’t good enough for them if you want to do your job quickly and professionally.

Is Intel Core I5 6500 Future Proof?

Although the Intel I5 6500 is still a capable processor for the average user, you have to know that this processor is 7 years old and its time is slowly coming to an end. Intel I5 6500 has 4 cores which is okay for some people, but as time passes the minimum for the processors is starting to be 6 cores.

Conclusion

Intel Core I5 6500 will do a good job for everyone that knows its limits. With this CPU you can do a lot of work and gaming but you can’t expect from it to perform as well as new processors. If you want the best performance, upgrade your graphics card first, then you should take a look at the processors I suggested to you above.

I hope this helps you. Thanks for reading!