Gaming: BioShock: Infinite, Metro Redux, Thief
Benchmarking BioShock Infinite with a GeForce GTX 980 shows minimal frame rate variation between the processors. The Core i5 and Core i7 were close enough to call even while the i3-4350 matched them at 1080p. In fact, the i7-4790 was just 3% faster than the i3-4160.
Running the same test but with the GTX 960 delivered similar margins between the processors. This time the Core i7-4790 only matched the i3-4160 while it was 1% slower than the i5-4690.
Metro: Redux is one of the few games that will show the Core i7 easily outperforming a Core i5. Here the i7-4790 was 8% faster than the i5-4690 at 1080p and 30% faster than the i3-4160.
The huge performance margins that were seen when testing with the GTX 980 in Metro: Redux have shrunk with the GTX 960. That said, while the Core i7 and i5 are now matched they were still 7% faster than the i3-4160 at 1080p.
The Core i5-4690 and i7-4790 delivered similar performance at 1080p at 12% faster than the i3-4160.
Despite seeing a variation in performance with the GTX 980 when testing Thief, we see almost no difference with the GTX 960.