Core i5 3550
Intel desktop processor · Core i 3rd gen · launched April 2012
Check the price on AmazonAffiliate link. Street prices move; the figures on this page are launch prices.
Launch price in today's dollars
The Core i5 3550 launched at $205 in 2012. Adjusted with the U.S. Consumer Price Index, that is about $295 in 2026 dollars (7-month average), a 44% rise over 14 years. At its launch price that is 14 Blender points per $100.
Method: launch price × (CPI 2026 average ÷ CPI 2012 average), calendar-year averages of BLS series CPIAUCSL. 2026 covers 7 months so far.
Blender rendering score
Median score 28 (middle half of runs 27–39) across 7 community runs on Blender 4.x with the CPU backend. That is #280 of 290 desktop processors in our dataset with a score, and #9 of 12 in the Core i 3rd gen.
This is a rendering benchmark (samples per minute over the monster, junkshop and classroom scenes), not a gaming benchmark. It says how fast the part renders in Blender's Cycles engine and nothing about frame rates. Source: Blender Open Data, CC0, snapshot 2026-09-06.
Specifications
| Vendor | Intel |
|---|---|
| Series | Core i 3rd gen |
| Launched | April 2012 |
| Launch price | $205 (1,000-unit price) |
| Socket | LGA 1155 |
| Cores / threads | 4 / 4 |
| Base clock | 3.3 GHz |
| Boost clock | 3.7 GHz |
| L3 cache | 6 MB |
| Rated power | 77 W (TDP) |
| Integrated graphics | HD 2500 |
| Tier | 5-series |
The Intel 5-series over time
Intel desktop processors in the same tier around this one, oldest first, re-releases left out. Prices in launch dollars and in 2026 dollars; scores are Blender 4.x medians where they exist.
| Part | Year | Launch price | In 2026 $ | Blender |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i5 2310 | 2011 | $177 | $260 | — |
| Core i5 2405S | 2011 | $205 | $302 | — |
| Core i5 2320 | 2011 | $177 | $260 | — |
| Core i5 2380P | 2012 | $177 | $255 | — |
| Core i5 2450P | 2012 | $195 | $281 | — |
| Core i5 2550K | 2012 | $225 | $324 | — |
| Core i5 3450 | 2012 | $184 | $265 | 30 |
| Core i5 3450S | 2012 | $184 | $265 | — |
| Core i5 3550 | 2012 | $205 | $295 | 28 |
| Core i5 3550S | 2012 | $205 | $295 | — |
| Core i5 3570K | 2012 | $225 | $324 | 34 |
| Core i5 3570T | 2012 | $205 | $295 | — |
| Core i5 3470 | 2012 | $184 | $265 | 31 |
| Core i5 3470S | 2012 | $184 | $265 | — |
| Core i5 3470T | 2012 | $184 | $265 | — |
| Core i5 3475S | 2012 | $201 | $290 | — |
Compare with
- Core i5 2380P · 2012 · $177
- Core i5 2450P · 2012 · $195
- Core i5 2550K · 2012 · $225
- Core i5 3330 · 2012 · $182 · 27
- Core i5 3330S · 2012 · $177
- Core i5 3335S · 2012 · $194
- Core i5 3350P · 2012 · $177
- Core i5 3450 · 2012 · $184 · 30
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