Benchmarks: Gaming
Moving on to high-quality, full-HD gaming, we can see that Intel platforms remain the go-to choice for optimum performance. Though, with a discrete GeForce GTX 680 flexing its muscles, the choice of Intel processor makes hardly any difference - if gaming's your primary interest, there's little reason to consider the Core i7-3770K over the last-generation's popular Core i5-2500K.
We've also included IGP results simply because we could, though, as shown above, you wouldn't want to rely on an IGP from either Intel or AMD for your high-quality gaming needs.
DX11 title Batman: Arkham City tells us more of the same; if you're using a discrete GPU, the Core i7-3770K won't feel like a step up from similar Sandy Bridge parts. In these graphically-demanding situations, CPU bottlenecks aren't much of an issue.
Turning our attention to IGP performance, we've re-run both games but this time at a lower 720p resolution with reduced image-quality settings.
At these settings, AMD's A8-3870K - with its HD 6550D IGP - is able to deliver a smooth gameplay experience and an average framerate of 44.7.
Intel's Core i7-3770K and its integrated HD 4000 graphics processor is almost 40 per cent faster than HD 3000, but it remains comfortably beaten by AMD's soon-to-be last-gen solution.
Batman: Arkham City at reduced quality settings reiterates our findings; the AMD chip is closer to delivering a smooth gameplay experience, whereas the Intel HD 4000 IGP only stutters along.
Intel still has some way to go if it's to catch AMD in the gaming-with-integrated-graphics department, but HD 4000 is a solid step up from HD 3000 and it should be sufficient for less-intensive titles.
