Comparison of generations of intel processors. Seven facts about Kaby Lake. Testing a new generation of Intel processors

Almost always, under any publication that in one way or another touches on the performance of modern Intel processors, sooner or later several angry reader comments appear that progress in the development of Intel chips has long stalled and there is no point in switching from the “good old Core i7-2600K "to something new. In such remarks, most likely, there will be irritated mention of productivity gains at the intangible level of “no more than five percent per year”; about the low-quality internal thermal interface, which irreparably damaged modern Intel processors; or about the fact that in modern conditions buying processors with the same number of computing cores as several years ago is generally the lot of short-sighted amateurs, since they do not have the necessary reserves for the future.

There is no doubt that all such remarks are not without reason. However, it seems very likely that they are greatly exaggerating the existing problems. The 3DNews laboratory has been testing Intel processors in detail since 2000, and we cannot agree with the thesis that any development has come to an end, and what has been happening with the microprocessor giant in recent years can no longer be called anything other than stagnation. Yes, any drastic changes with Intel processors rarely occur, but nevertheless they continue to be systematically improved. Therefore, those Core i7 series chips that you can buy today are obviously better than the models offered several years ago.

Actually, this material is precisely a counterargument to arguments about the worthlessness of Intel’s chosen strategy for the gradual development of consumer CPUs. We decided to collect in one test the older Intel processors for mass platforms over the past seven years and see in practice how much the representatives of the Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake series have advanced relative to the “reference” Sandy Bridge, which over the years of hypothetical comparisons and mental contrasts have become in the minds of ordinary people a true icon of processor engineering.

⇡ What has changed in Intel processors from 2011 to the present

The starting point in the recent history of the development of Intel processors is considered to be microarchitecture SandyBridge. And this is not without reason. Despite the fact that the first generation of processors under the Core brand was released in 2008 based on the Nehalem microarchitecture, almost all the main features that are inherent in modern mass CPUs of the microprocessor giant came into use not then, but a couple of years later, when the next generation became widespread processor design, Sandy Bridge.

Now Intel has accustomed us to frankly leisurely progress in the development of microarchitecture, when innovations have become very few and they almost do not lead to an increase in the specific performance of processor cores. But just seven years ago the situation was radically different. In particular, the transition from Nehalem to Sandy Bridge was marked by a 15-20 percent increase in IPC (the number of instructions executed per clock), which was caused by a deep reworking of the logical design of the cores with an eye to increasing their efficiency.

Sandy Bridge laid down many principles that have not changed since then and have become standard for most processors today. For example, it was there that a separate zero-level cache appeared for decoded micro-operations, and a physical register file began to be used, which reduces energy costs when operating out-of-order instruction execution algorithms.

But perhaps the most important innovation was that Sandy Bridge was designed as a unified system-on-a-chip, designed simultaneously for all classes of applications: server, desktop and mobile. Most likely, public opinion placed him as the great-grandfather of modern Coffee Lake, and not some Nehalem and certainly not Penryn, precisely because of this feature. However, the total amount of all the alterations in the depths of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture also turned out to be very significant. Ultimately, this design lost all the old kinship with the P6 (Pentium Pro) that had appeared here and there in all previous Intel processors.

Speaking about the general structure, one cannot help but recall that a full-fledged graphics core was built into the Sandy Bridge processor chip for the first time in the history of Intel CPUs. This block went inside the processor after the DDR3 memory controller, shared by the L3 cache and the PCI Express bus controller. To connect the computing cores and all other “extra-core” parts, Intel engineers introduced into Sandy Bridge a new scalable ring bus at that time, which is used to organize interaction between structural units in subsequent mass-produced CPUs to this day.

If we go down to the level of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, then one of its key features is support for the family of SIMD instructions, AVX, designed to work with 256-bit vectors. By now, such instructions have become firmly established and do not seem unusual, but their implementation in Sandy Bridge required the expansion of some computing actuators. Intel engineers strived to make working with 256-bit data as fast as working with vectors of smaller capacity. Therefore, along with the implementation of full-fledged 256-bit execution devices, it was also necessary to increase the speed of the processor and memory. Logical execution units designed for loading and storing data in Sandy Bridge received double the performance, in addition, the throughput of the first level cache when reading was symmetrically increased.

It is impossible not to mention the fundamental changes made in Sandy Bridge in the operation of the branch prediction block. Thanks to optimizations in the applied algorithms and increased buffer sizes, the Sandy Bridge architecture made it possible to reduce the percentage of incorrect branch predictions by almost half, which not only significantly affected performance, but also made it possible to further reduce the power consumption of this design.

Ultimately, from today’s perspective, Sandy Bridge processors could be called an exemplary embodiment of the “tock” phase in Intel’s “tick-tock” principle. Like their predecessors, these processors continued to be based on a 32-nm process technology, but the performance increase they offered was more than convincing. And it was fueled not only by the updated microarchitecture, but also by clock frequencies increased by 10-15 percent, as well as the introduction of a more aggressive version of Turbo Boost 2.0 technology. Taking all this into account, it is clear why many enthusiasts still remember Sandy Bridge with the warmest words.

The senior offering in the Core i7 family at the time of the release of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture was the Core i7-2600K. This processor received a clock frequency of 3.3 GHz with the ability to auto-overclock at part load to 3.8 GHz. However, the 32-nm representatives of Sandy Bridge were distinguished not only by relatively high clock frequencies for that time, but also by good overclocking potential. Among the Core i7-2600K it was often possible to find specimens capable of operating at frequencies of 4.8-5.0 GHz, which was largely due to the use of a high-quality internal thermal interface - flux-free solder.

Nine months after the release of the Core i7-2600K, in October 2011, Intel updated the older offering in the lineup and offered a slightly accelerated Core i7-2700K model, the nominal frequency of which was increased to 3.5 GHz, and the maximum frequency in turbo mode was up to 3.9 GHz.

However, the life cycle of the Core i7-2700K turned out to be short - already in April 2012, Sandy Bridge was replaced by an updated design IvyBridge. Nothing special: Ivy Bridge belonged to the “tick” phase, that is, it represented a transfer of the old microarchitecture to new semiconductor rails. And in this regard, the progress was indeed serious - Ivy Bridge crystals were produced using a 22-nm process technology based on three-dimensional FinFET transistors, which were just coming into use at that time.

At the same time, the old Sandy Bridge microarchitecture at a low level remained practically untouched. Only a few cosmetic tweaks were made to speed up Ivy Bridge's division operations and slightly improve the efficiency of Hyper-Threading technology. True, along the way, the “non-nuclear” components were somewhat improved. The PCI Express controller gained compatibility with the third version of the protocol, and the memory controller increased its capabilities and began to support high-speed overclocking DDR3 memory. But in the end, the increase in specific productivity during the transition from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge was no more than 3-5 percent.

The new technological process did not provide serious reasons for joy either. Unfortunately, the introduction of 22 nm standards did not allow for any fundamental increase in Ivy Bridge clock frequencies. The older version of the Core i7-3770K received a nominal frequency of 3.5 GHz with the ability to overclock in turbo mode to 3.9 GHz, that is, from the point of view of the frequency formula, it turned out to be no faster than the Core i7-2700K. Only energy efficiency has improved, but desktop users traditionally care little about this aspect.

All this, of course, can be attributed to the fact that no breakthroughs should occur at the “tick” stage, but in some ways Ivy Bridge turned out to be even worse than its predecessors. We're talking about acceleration. When introducing carriers of this design to the market, Intel decided to abandon the use of flux-free gallium soldering of the heat distribution cover to the semiconductor chip during the final assembly of processors. Starting with Ivy Bridge, banal thermal paste began to be used to organize the internal thermal interface, and this immediately hit the maximum achievable frequencies. Ivy Bridge has definitely become worse in terms of overclocking potential, and as a result, the transition from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge has become one of the most controversial moments in the recent history of Intel consumer processors.

Therefore, for the next stage of evolution, Haswell, special hopes were placed. In this generation, belonging to the “so” phase, serious microarchitectural improvements were expected to appear, from which it was expected to be able to at least push forward stalled progress. And to some extent this happened. The fourth generation Core processors, which appeared in the summer of 2013, did acquire noticeable improvements in the internal structure.

The main thing: the theoretical power of Haswell actuators, expressed in the number of micro-operations executed per clock cycle, has increased by a third compared to previous CPUs. In the new microarchitecture, not only was the existing actuators rebalanced, but two additional execution ports appeared for integer operations, branch servicing, and address generation. In addition, the microarchitecture gained compatibility with an expanded set of vector 256-bit instructions AVX2, which, thanks to three-operand FMA instructions, doubled the peak throughput of the architecture.

In addition to this, Intel engineers reviewed the capacity of internal buffers and, where necessary, increased them. The planner window has grown in size. In addition, the integer and real physical register files were enlarged, which improved the processor's ability to reorder the execution order of instructions. In addition to all this, the cache memory subsystem has also changed significantly. L1 and L2 caches in Haswell received a twice wider bus.

It would seem that the listed improvements should be enough to significantly increase the specific performance of the new microarchitecture. But no matter how it is. The problem with Haswell's design was that it left the front end of the execution pipeline unchanged and the x86 instruction decoder retained the same performance as before. That is, the maximum rate of decoding x86 code in microinstructions remained at the level of 4-5 commands per clock cycle. And as a result, when comparing Haswell and Ivy Bridge at the same frequency and with a load that does not use the new AVX2 instructions, the performance gain was only 5-10 percent.

The image of the Haswell microarchitecture was also spoiled by the first wave of processors released on its basis. Based on the same 22nm process technology as Ivy Bridge, the new products were unable to offer high frequencies. For example, the older Core i7-4770K again received a base frequency of 3.5 GHz and a maximum frequency in turbo mode of 3.9 GHz, that is, there has been no progress compared to previous generations of Core.

At the same time, with the introduction of the next technological process with 14-nm standards, Intel began to encounter various kinds of difficulties, so a year later, in the summer of 2014, not the next generation of Core processors was launched onto the market, but the second phase of Haswell, which received the code names Haswell Refresh, or, if we talk about flagship modifications, then Devil's Canyon. As part of this update, Intel was able to significantly increase the clock speeds of the 22nm CPU, which really breathed new life into them. As an example, we can cite the new senior Core i7-4790K processor, which at its nominal frequency reached 4.0 GHz and received a maximum frequency taking into account turbo mode at 4.4 GHz. It is surprising that such a half-GHz acceleration was achieved without any process reforms, but only through simple cosmetic changes in the processor power supply and by improving the thermal conductivity properties of the thermal paste used under the CPU cover.

However, even representatives of the Devil’s Canyon family could not become especially complained about proposals among enthusiasts. Compared to the results of Sandy Bridge, their overclocking could not be called outstanding; moreover, achieving high frequencies required complex “scalping” - removing the processor cover and then replacing the standard thermal interface with some material with better thermal conductivity.

Due to the difficulties that plagued Intel when transferring mass production to 14 nm standards, the performance of the next, fifth generation of Core processors Broadwell, it turned out very crumpled. The company could not decide for a long time whether it was worth releasing desktop processors with this design onto the market, since when attempting to manufacture large semiconductor crystals, the defect rate exceeded acceptable values. Ultimately, Broadwell quad-core processors intended for desktop computers did appear, but, firstly, this happened only in the summer of 2015 - with a nine-month delay relative to the originally planned date, and secondly, just two months after their announcement, Intel presented the design next generation, Skylake.

Nevertheless, from the point of view of microarchitecture development, Broadwell can hardly be called a secondary development. And even more than that, desktop processors of this generation used solutions that Intel had never resorted to before or since. The uniqueness of desktop Broadwells was determined by the fact that they were equipped with a powerful integrated graphics core Iris Pro at the GT3e level. And this means not only that the processors of this family had the most powerful integrated video core at that time, but also that they were equipped with an additional 22-nm Crystall Well crystal, which is a fourth-level cache memory based on eDRAM.

The point of adding a separate fast integrated memory chip to the processor is quite obvious and is determined by the needs of a high-performance integrated graphics core in a frame buffer with low latency and high bandwidth. However, the eDRAM memory installed in Broadwell was architecturally designed specifically as a victim cache, and it could also be used by the CPU cores. As a result, Broadwell desktops have become the only mass-produced processors of their kind with 128 MB of L4 cache. True, the volume of the L3 cache located in the processor chip, which was reduced from 8 to 6 MB, suffered somewhat.

Some improvements have also been incorporated into the basic microarchitecture. Even though Broadwell was in the tick phase, the rework affected the front end of the execution pipeline. The window of the out-of-order command execution scheduler was enlarged, the volume of the second-level associative address translation table increased by one and a half times, and, in addition, the entire translation scheme acquired a second miss handler, which made it possible to process two address translation operations in parallel. In total, all the innovations have increased the efficiency of out-of-order execution of commands and prediction of complex code branches. Along the way, the mechanisms for performing multiplication operations were improved, which in Broadwell began to be processed at a significantly faster pace. As a result of all this, Intel was even able to claim that microarchitecture improvements increased the specific performance of Broadwell compared to Haswell by about five percent.

But despite all this, it was impossible to talk about any significant advantage of the first desktop 14-nm processors. Both the fourth level cache and microarchitectural changes only tried to compensate for Broadwell's main flaw - low clock speeds. Due to problems with the technological process, the base frequency of the senior representative of the family, Core i7-5775C, was set at only 3.3 GHz, and the frequency in turbo mode did not exceed 3.7 GHz, which turned out to be worse than the characteristics of Devil’s Canyon by as much as 700 MHz.

A similar story happened with overclocking. The maximum frequencies to which it was possible to heat up Broadwell desktops without using advanced cooling methods were in the region of 4.1-4.2 GHz. Therefore, it is not surprising that consumers were skeptical about the Broadwell release, and processors of this family remained a strange niche solution for those who were interested in a powerful integrated graphics core. The first full-fledged 14-nm chip for desktop computers, which was able to attract the attention of wide layers of users, was only the next project of the microprocessor giant - Skylake.

Skylake, like the previous generation processors, was produced using a 14 nm process technology. However, here Intel has already been able to achieve normal clock speeds and overclocking: the older desktop version of Skylake, Core i7-6700K, received a nominal frequency of 4.0 GHz and auto-overclocking in turbo mode to 4.2 GHz. These are slightly lower values ​​when compared to Devil’s Canyon, but the newer processors were definitely faster than their predecessors. The fact is that Skylake is “so” in Intel nomenclature, which means significant changes in the microarchitecture.

And they really are. At first glance, not many improvements were made in the Skylake design, but all of them were targeted and made it possible to eliminate existing weak points in the microarchitecture. In short, Skylake received larger internal buffers for deeper out-of-order execution of instructions and higher cache memory bandwidth. Improvements affected the branch prediction unit and the input part of the execution pipeline. The execution rate of division instructions was also increased, and the execution mechanisms for addition, multiplication and FMA instructions were rebalanced. To top it off, the developers have worked to improve the efficiency of Hyper-Threading technology. In total, this allowed us to achieve approximately a 10% improvement in performance per clock compared to previous generations of processors.

In general, Skylake can be characterized as a fairly deep optimization of the original Core architecture, so that there are no bottlenecks in the processor design. On the one hand, by increasing the decoder power (from 4 to 5 microoperations per clock) and the speed of the microoperations cache (from 4 to 6 microoperations per clock), the rate of instruction decoding has significantly increased. On the other hand, the efficiency of processing the resulting micro-operations has increased, which was facilitated by the deepening of out-of-order execution algorithms and the redistribution of the capabilities of execution ports, along with a serious revision of the execution rate of a number of regular, SSE and AVX commands.

For example, Haswell and Broadwell each had two ports for performing multiplications and FMA operations on real numbers, but only one port for additions, which did not correspond well to real program code. In Skylake, this imbalance was eliminated and additions began to be performed on two ports. In addition, the number of ports capable of working with integer vector instructions has increased from two to three. Ultimately, all this led to the fact that for almost any type of operation in Skylake there are always several alternative ports. This means that the microarchitecture has finally successfully eliminated almost all possible causes of pipeline downtime.

Noticeable changes also affected the caching subsystem: the bandwidth of the second and third level cache memory was increased. In addition, the associativity of the second level cache was reduced, which ultimately made it possible to improve its efficiency and reduce the penalty when processing misses.

Significant changes have also occurred at a higher level. Thus, in Skylake, the throughput of the ring bus, which connects all processor units, has doubled. In addition, the CPU of this generation has a new memory controller, which is compatible with DDR4 SDRAM. And in addition to this, a new DMI 3.0 bus with doubled bandwidth was used to connect the processor to the chipset, which made it possible to implement high-speed PCI Express 3.0 lines also through the chipset.

However, like all previous versions of the Core architecture, Skylake was another variation on the original design. This means that in the sixth generation of the Core microarchitecture, Intel developers continued to adhere to the tactics of gradually introducing improvements at each development cycle. Overall, this is an underwhelming approach that doesn't allow you to see any significant changes in performance right away when comparing CPUs from neighboring generations. But when upgrading old systems, it’s not difficult to notice a noticeable increase in productivity. For example, Intel itself willingly compared Skylake with Ivy Bridge, demonstrating that processor performance has increased by more than 30 percent in three years.

And in fact, this was quite serious progress, because then everything became much worse. After Skylake, any improvement in the specific performance of processor cores stopped completely. Those processors that are currently on the market still continue to use the Skylake microarchitectural design, despite the fact that almost three years have passed since its introduction in desktop processors. The unexpected downtime occurred because Intel was unable to cope with the implementation of the next version of the semiconductor process with 10nm standards. As a result, the whole “tick-tock” principle fell apart, forcing the microprocessor giant to somehow get out and engage in repeated re-release of old products under new names.

Processors generation KabyLake, which appeared on the market at the very beginning of 2017, became the first and very striking example of Intel’s attempts to sell the same Skylake to customers for the second time. The close family ties between the two generations of processors were not particularly hidden. Intel honestly said that Kaby Lake is no longer a “tick” or “so”, but a simple optimization of the previous design. At the same time, the word “optimization” meant certain improvements in the structure of 14-nm transistors, which opened up the possibility of increasing clock frequencies without changing the thermal package. A special term “14+ nm” was even coined for the modified technical process. Thanks to this production technology, the senior mainstream desktop processor Kaby Lake, called Core i7-7700K, was able to offer users a nominal frequency of 4.2 GHz and a turbo frequency of 4.5 GHz.

Thus, the increase in Kaby Lake frequencies compared to the original Skylake was approximately 5 percent, and that was all, which, frankly, cast doubt on the legitimacy of classifying Kaby Lake as the next generation Core. Until this point, each subsequent generation of processors, no matter whether it belonged to the “tick” or “tock” phase, provided at least some increase in the IPC indicator. Meanwhile, in Kaby Lake there were no microarchitectural improvements at all, so it would be more logical to consider these processors simply as the second Skylake stepping.

However, the new version of the 14-nm process technology was still able to show itself in some positive ways: the overclocking potential of Kaby Lake compared to Skylake increased by about 200-300 MHz, thanks to which the processors of this series were quite warmly received by enthusiasts. True, Intel continued to use thermal paste under the processor cover instead of solder, so scalping was necessary to fully overclock Kaby Lake.

Intel also failed to cope with the commissioning of 10-nm technology by the beginning of this year. Therefore, at the end of last year, another type of processors built on the same Skylake microarchitecture was introduced to the market - CoffeeLake. But talking about Coffee Lake as the third guise of Skylake is not entirely correct. Last year was a period of radical paradigm shift in the processor market. AMD returned to the “big game”, which was able to break established traditions and create demand for mass processors with more than four cores. Suddenly, Intel found itself playing catch-up, and the release of Coffee Lake was not so much an attempt to fill the pause until the long-awaited arrival of 10nm Core processors, but rather a reaction to the release of six- and eight-core AMD Ryzen processors.

As a result, Coffee Lake processors received an important structural difference from their predecessors: the number of cores in them was increased to six, which happened for the first time on a mass Intel platform. However, no changes were reintroduced at the microarchitecture level: Coffee Lake is essentially a six-core Skylake, assembled on the basis of exactly the same internal design of computing cores, which are equipped with an L3 cache increased to 12 MB (according to the standard principle of 2 MB per core ) and are united by the usual ring bus.

However, despite the fact that we so easily allow ourselves to say “nothing new” about Coffee Lake, it is not entirely fair to say about the complete absence of any changes. Although nothing has changed in the microarchitecture, Intel specialists had to spend a lot of effort to ensure that six-core processors could fit into a standard desktop platform. And the result was quite convincing: the six-core processors remained true to the usual thermal package and, moreover, did not slow down at all in terms of clock frequencies.

In particular, the senior representative of the Coffee Lake generation, Core i7-8700K, received a base frequency of 3.7 GHz, and in turbo mode it can accelerate to 4.7 GHz. At the same time, the overclocking potential of Coffee Lake, despite its more massive semiconductor crystal, turned out to be even better than that of all its predecessors. Core i7-8700K are often taken by their ordinary owners to reach the five-gigahertz mark, and such overclocking can be real even without scalping and replacing the internal thermal interface. And this means that Coffee Lake, although extensive, is a significant step forward.

All this became possible solely thanks to another improvement in the 14nm process technology. In the fourth year of using it for mass production of desktop chips, Intel was able to achieve truly impressive results. The introduced third version of the 14-nm standard (“14++ nm” in the manufacturer’s designations) and the re-arrangement of the semiconductor crystal made it possible to significantly improve performance per watt spent and increase the total computing power. With the introduction of six-cores, Intel was perhaps able to take an even more significant step forward than any of the previous microarchitecture improvements. And today Coffee Lake looks like a very tempting option for upgrading older systems based on previous Core microarchitecture media.

⇡ Processors and platforms: specifications

To compare the seven latest generations of Core i7, we took the older representatives in the respective series - one from each design. The main characteristics of these processors are shown in the following table.

It is curious that in the seven years since the release of Sandy Bridge, Intel has not been able to significantly increase clock speeds. Despite the fact that the technological production process has changed twice and the microarchitecture has been seriously optimized twice, today's Core i7 has made almost no progress in its operating frequency. The latest Core i7-8700K has a nominal frequency of 3.7 GHz, which is only 6 percent higher than the frequency of the Core i7-2700K released in 2011.

However, such a comparison is not entirely correct, because Coffee Lake has one and a half times more computing cores. If we focus on the quad-core Core i7-7700K, then the increase in frequency still looks more convincing: this processor has accelerated relative to the 32-nm Core i7-2700K by a fairly significant 20 percent in megahertz terms. Although this can still hardly be called an impressive increase: in absolute terms, this is converted into an increase of 100 MHz per year.

There are no breakthroughs in other formal characteristics. Intel continues to provide all its processors with an individual L2 cache of 256 KB per core, as well as a common L3 cache for all cores, the size of which is determined at the rate of 2 MB per core. In other words, the main factor in which the greatest progress has occurred is the number of computing cores. The development of Core began with four-core CPUs and came to six-core ones. Moreover, it is obvious that this is not the end and in the near future we will see eight-core variants of Coffee Lake (or Whiskey Lake).

However, as is easy to see, for seven years Intel’s pricing policy has hardly changed. Even the six-core Coffee Lake has risen in price by only six percent compared to previous quad-core flagships. However, other older processors of the Core i7 class for the mass platform have always cost consumers about $330-340.

It is curious that the biggest changes have occurred not even with the processors themselves, but with their support for RAM. The bandwidth of dual-channel SDRAM has doubled since the release of Sandy Bridge until today: from 21.3 to 41.6 GB/s. And this is another important circumstance that determines the advantage of modern systems compatible with high-speed DDR4 memory.

And in general, all these years, along with the processors, the rest of the platform has evolved. If we talk about the main milestones in the development of the platform, then, in addition to the increase in the speed of compatible memory, I would also like to note the appearance of support for the PCI Express 3.0 graphical interface. It seems that high-speed memory and a fast graphics bus, along with progress in processor frequencies and architectures, are significant reasons why modern systems have become better and faster than past ones. Support for DDR4 SDRAM appeared in Skylake, and the PCI Express processor bus was transferred to the third version of the protocol in Ivy Bridge.

In addition, the system logic sets accompanying processors have received noticeable development. Indeed, today's Intel chipsets of the three hundredth series can offer much more interesting capabilities in comparison with the Intel Z68 and Z77, which were used in LGA1155 motherboards for Sandy Bridge generation processors. This is easy to see from the following table, in which we have summarized the characteristics of Intel's flagship chipsets for the mass platform.

Modern logic sets have significantly improved the ability to connect high-speed storage media. The most important thing: thanks to the transition of chipsets to the PCI Express 3.0 bus, today in high-performance assemblies you can use high-speed NVMe drives, which, even compared to SATA SSDs, can offer noticeably better responsiveness and higher read and write speeds. And this alone can become a compelling argument in favor of modernization.

In addition, modern system logic sets provide much richer possibilities for connecting additional devices. And we’re not just talking about a significant increase in the number of PCI Express lanes, which ensures the presence of several additional PCIe slots on boards, replacing conventional PCI. Along the way, today's chipsets also have native support for USB 3.0 ports, and many modern motherboards are also equipped with USB 3.1 Gen2 ports.

Intel has come a very long way from a small chip manufacturer to a world leader in processor production. During this time, many processor production technologies have been developed, and the technological process and device characteristics have been highly optimized.

Many performance indicators of processors depend on the arrangement of transistors on the silicon chip. The technology of transistor arrangement is called microarchitecture or simply architecture. In this article we will look at which Intel processor architectures have been used throughout the company's development and how they differ from each other. Let's start with the most ancient microarchitectures and look all the way to new processors and plans for the future.

As I already said, in this article we will not consider the bit capacity of processors. By the word architecture we will understand the microarchitecture of the microcircuit, the arrangement of transistors on the printed circuit board, their size, distance, technological process, all this is covered by this concept. We will not touch the RISC and CISC instruction sets either.

The second thing you need to pay attention to is the generation of the Intel processor. You've probably already heard many times - this processor is the fifth generation, that one is the fourth, and this one is the seventh. Many people think that this is designated i3, i5, i7. But in fact there is no i3, and so on - these are processor brands. And the generation depends on the architecture used.

With each new generation, the architecture improved, processors became faster, more economical and smaller, they generated less heat, but at the same time they were more expensive. There are few articles on the Internet that would describe all this completely. Now let's look at where it all began.

Intel processor architectures

I’ll say right away that you shouldn’t expect technical details from the article; we’ll only look at the basic differences that will be of interest to ordinary users.

First processors

First, let's take a brief look at history to understand how it all began. Let's not go too far and start with 32-bit processors. The first was the Intel 80386, it appeared in 1986 and could operate at frequencies up to 40 MHz. Old processors also had a generation countdown. This processor belongs to the third generation, and the 1500 nm process technology was used here.

The next, fourth generation was 80486. The architecture used in it was called 486. The processor operated at a frequency of 50 MHz and could execute 40 million instructions per second. The processor had 8 KB of L1 cache, and was manufactured using a 1000 nm process technology.

The next architecture was P5 or Pentium. These processors appeared in 1993, the cache was increased to 32 KB, the frequency was up to 60 MHz, and the process technology was reduced to 800 nm. In the sixth generation P6, the cache size was 32 KB, and the frequency reached 450 MHz. The tech process has been reduced to 180 nm.

Then the company began producing processors based on the NetBurst architecture. It used 16 KB of first-level cache per core, and up to 2 MB of second-level cache. The frequency increased to 3 GHz, and the technical process remained at the same level - 180 nm. Already here 64-bit processors appeared that supported addressing more memory. Many command extensions were also introduced, as well as the addition of Hyper-Threading technology, which allowed the creation of two threads from one core, which increased performance.

Naturally, each architecture improved over time, the frequency increased and the technical process decreased. There were also intermediate architectures, but everything has been simplified here a little since that is not our main topic.

Intel Core

NetBurst was replaced by the Intel Core architecture in 2006. One of the reasons for the development of this architecture was the impossibility of increasing the frequency in NetBrust, as well as its very high heat dissipation. This architecture was designed for the development of multi-core processors, the size of the first level cache was increased to 64 KB. The frequency remained at 3 GHz, but the power consumption was greatly reduced, as well as the process technology, to 60 nm.

Processors based on the Core architecture supported hardware virtualization Intel-VT, as well as some instruction extensions, but did not support Hyper-Threading, since they were developed based on the P6 architecture, where this feature did not yet exist.

First generation - Nehalem

Next, the numbering of generations was started from the beginning, because all the following architectures are improved versions of Intel Core. The Nehalem architecture replaced Core, which had some limitations, such as the inability to increase the clock speed. She appeared in 2007. It uses a 45 nm technology process and has added support for Hyper-Therading technology.

Nehalem processors have a 64 KB L1 cache, 4 MB L2 cache and 12 MB L3 cache. The cache is available to all processor cores. It also became possible to integrate a graphics accelerator into the processor. The frequency has not changed, but the performance and size of the printed circuit board have increased.

Second generation - Sandy Bridge

Sandy Bridge appeared in 2011 to replace Nehalem. It already uses a 32 nm process technology, it uses the same amount of first-level cache, 256 MB of second-level cache and 8 MB of third-level cache. Experimental models used up to 15 MB of shared cache.

Also, now all devices are available with a built-in graphics accelerator. The maximum frequency has been increased, as well as overall performance.

Third generation - Ivy Bridge

Ivy Bridge processors are faster than Sandy Bridge, and they are manufactured using a 22 nm process technology. They consume 50% less energy than previous models and also provide 25-60% higher performance. The processors also support Intel Quick Sync technology, which allows you to encode video several times faster.

Fourth generation - Haswell

The Intel Haswell generation of processor was developed in 2012. The same technical process was used here - 22 nm, the cache design was changed, power consumption mechanisms were improved and performance was slightly improved. But the processor supports many new connectors: LGA 1150, BGA 1364, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 technology, and so on. The main advantage of Haswell is that it can be used in portable devices due to its very low power consumption.

Fifth generation - Broadwell

This is an improved version of the Haswell architecture, which uses the 14 nm process technology. In addition, several improvements have been made to the architecture, which improve performance by an average of 5%.

Sixth generation - Skylake

The next architecture of intel core processors, the sixth generation Skylake, was released in 2015. This is one of the most significant updates to the Core architecture. To install the processor on the motherboard, the LGA 1151 socket is used; DDR4 memory is now supported, but DDR3 support is retained. Thunderbolt 3.0 is supported, as well as DMI 3.0, which gives twice the speed. And by tradition, there was increased productivity, as well as reduced energy consumption.

Seventh generation - Kaby Lake

The new, seventh generation Core - Kaby Lake was released this year, the first processors appeared in mid-January. There weren't many changes here. The 14 nm process technology is retained, as well as the same LGA 1151 socket. DDR3L SDRAM and DDR4 SDRAM memory sticks, PCI Express 3.0 buses, and USB 3.1 are supported. In addition, the frequency was slightly increased, and the transistor density was reduced. Maximum frequency 4.2 GHz.

Conclusions

In this article, we looked at the Intel processor architectures that were used in the past, as well as those that are used now. Next, the company plans to switch to the 10 nm process technology and this generation of Intel processors will be called CanonLake. But Intel is not ready for this yet.

Therefore, in 2017 it is planned to release an improved version of SkyLake under the code name Coffe Lake. It is also possible that there will be other Intel processor microarchitectures until the company fully masters the new process technology. But we will learn about all this over time. I hope you found this information helpful.

About the author

Founder and site administrator, I am passionate about open source software and the Linux operating system. I currently use Ubuntu as my main OS. In addition to Linux, I am interested in everything related to information technology and modern science.

Labeling, positioning, use cases

This summer, Intel released to the market a new, fourth generation of Intel Core architecture, codenamed Haswell (processor markings begin with the number “4” and look like 4xxx). Intel now sees increasing energy efficiency as the main direction of development for Intel processors. Therefore, the latest generations of Intel Core do not show such a strong increase in performance, but their overall energy consumption is constantly decreasing - due to both the architecture, the technical process, and the effective management of component consumption. The only exception is integrated graphics, whose performance increases noticeably from generation to generation, albeit at the expense of worsening energy consumption.

This strategy predictably brings to the fore those devices in which energy efficiency is important - laptops and ultrabooks, as well as the nascent (because in its previous form it could only be attributed to the undead) class of Windows tablets, the main role in the development of which should be played by new processors with reduced energy consumption.

We remind you that we recently published brief overviews of the Haswell architecture, which are quite applicable to both desktop and mobile solutions:

Additionally, the performance of quad-core Core i7 processors was examined in an article comparing desktop and mobile processors. The performance of the Core i7-4500U was also examined separately. Finally, you can check out reviews of Haswell laptops, including performance testing: MSI GX70 on the most powerful Core i7-4930MX processor, HP Envy 17-j005er.

In this material we will talk about the Haswell mobile line as a whole. IN first part We will look at the division of Haswell mobile processors into series and lines, the principles of creating indexes for mobile processors, their positioning and the approximate level of performance of different series within the entire line. In second part- Let’s take a closer look at the specifications of each series and line and their main features, and also move on to conclusions.

For those who are not familiar with the Intel Turbo Boost algorithm, we have provided a brief description of this technology at the end of the article. We recommend using it before reading the rest of the material.

New letter indices

Traditionally, all Intel Core processors are divided into three lines:

• Intel Core i3
• Intel Core i5
• Intel Core i7

Intel's official position (which company representatives usually voice when answering the question of why there are both dual-core and quad-core models among the Core i7) is that the processor is assigned to one or another line based on its overall performance level. However, in most cases there are architectural differences between processors of different lines.

But already in Sandy Bridge, and in Ivy Bridge, another division of processors became full - into mobile and ultra-mobile solutions, depending on the level of energy efficiency. Moreover, today this classification is the basic one: both the mobile and ultramobile lines have their own Core i3/i5/i7 with very different levels of performance. At Haswell, on the one hand, the division deepened, and on the other, they tried to make the line more slender, less misleading by duplicating indices. In addition, another class has finally taken shape - ultra-ultramobile processors with the index Y. Ultramobile and mobile solutions are still marked with the letters U and M.

So, in order not to get confused, let’s first look at what letter indices are used in the modern line of fourth-generation Intel Core mobile processors:

• M - mobile processor (TDP 37-57 W);
• U - ultramobile processor (TDP 15-28 W);
• Y - processor with extremely low consumption (TDP 11.5 W);
• Q - quad-core processor;
• X - extreme processor (top solution);
• H - processor for BGA1364 packaging.

Since we mentioned TDP (thermal package), let’s look at it in a little more detail. It should be taken into account that the TDP in modern Intel processors is not “maximum”, but “nominal”, that is, it is calculated based on the load in real tasks when operating at the standard frequency, and when Turbo Boost is turned on and the frequency increases, the heat dissipation goes beyond the declared nominal heat package - There is a separate TDP for this. The TDP when operating at the minimum frequency is also determined. Thus, there are as many as three TDPs. In this article, the tables use the nominal TDP value.

• The standard nominal TDP for mobile quad-core Core i7 processors is 47 W, for dual-core processors - 37 W;
• The letter X in the name raises the thermal package from 47 to 57 W (there is currently only one such processor on the market - 4930MX);
• Standard TDP for U-series ultramobile processors is 15 W;
• Standard TDP for Y-series processors is 11.5 W;

Digital indexes

The indices of the fourth generation Intel Core processors with Haswell architecture begin with the number 4, which precisely indicates that they belong to this generation (for Ivy Bridge the indices began with 3, for Sandy Bridge - with 2). The second digit indicates the processor line: 0 and 1 - i3, 2 and 3 - i5, 5–9 - i7.

Now let's look at the last numbers in the processor names.

The number 8 at the end means that this processor model has an increased TDP (from 15 to 28 W) and a significantly higher nominal frequency. Another distinctive feature of these processors is the Iris 5100 graphics. They are aimed at professional mobile systems that require stable high performance in any conditions for constant work with resource-intensive tasks. They also have overclocking using Turbo Boost, but due to the greatly increased nominal frequency, the difference between the nominal and maximum is not too great.

The number 2 at the end of the name indicates that the TDP of the processor from the i7 line has been reduced from 47 to 37 W. But you have to pay for lower TDP with lower frequencies - minus 200 MHz to the base and boost frequencies.

If the second from the end digit in the name is 5, then the processor has a GT3 graphics core - HD 5xxx. Thus, if the last two digits in the processor name are 50, then the graphics core GT3 HD 5000 is installed in it, if 58 is installed, then Iris 5100, and if 50H, then Iris Pro 5200, because Iris Pro 5200 is only available in processors BGA1364.

For example, let's look at a processor with the 4950HQ index. The processor name contains H - which means BGA1364 packaging; contains 5 - which means the graphics core is GT3 HD 5xxx; a combination of 50 and H gives Iris Pro 5200; Q - quad core. And since quad-core processors are only available in the Core i7 line, this is the mobile Core i7 series. This is confirmed by the second digit of the name - 9. We get: 4950HQ is a mobile quad-core eight-thread processor of the Core i7 line with a TDP of 47 W with GT3e Iris Pro 5200 graphics in BGA design.

Now that we have sorted out the names, we can talk about dividing processors into lines and series, or, more simply, about market segments.

4th generation Intel Core series and lines

So, all modern Intel mobile processors are divided into three large groups depending on power consumption: mobile (M), ultramobile (U) and “ultramobile” (Y), as well as three lines (Core i3, i5, i7) depending on productivity. As a result, we can create a matrix that will allow the user to select the processor that best suits his tasks. Let's try to summarize all the data into a single table.

For example: a buyer needs a laptop with high processor performance and a moderate cost. Since it’s a laptop, and a powerful one at that, an M-series processor is needed, and the requirement for moderate cost forces us to choose the Core i5 line. We emphasize once again that first of all you should pay attention not to the line (Core i3, i5, i7), but to the series, because each series may have its own Core i5, but the performance level of Core i5 from two different series will be significantly differ. For example, the Y-series is very economical, but has low frequencies, and the Y-series Core i5 processor will be less powerful than the U-series Core i3 processor. And the Core i5 mobile processor may well be more productive than the ultramobile Core i7.

Approximate performance level depending on the line

Let's try to go a step further and create a theoretical rating that would clearly demonstrate the difference between processors of different lines. For 100 points, we will take the weakest processor presented - the dual-core, four-threaded i3-4010Y with a clock frequency of 1300 MHz and a 3 MB L3 cache. For comparison, we take the highest-frequency processor (at the time of writing) from each line. We decided to calculate the main rating by overclocking frequency (for those processors that have Turbo Boost), in brackets - the rating for the nominal frequency. Thus, a dual-core, four-thread processor with a maximum frequency of 2600 MHz will receive 200 conditional points. Increasing the third level cache from 3 to 4 MB will bring it a 2-5% (data obtained based on real tests and research) increase in conditional points, and increasing the number of cores from 2 to 4 will accordingly double the number of points, which is also achievable in reality with good multi-threaded optimization.

Once again, we strongly emphasize that the rating is theoretical and is based largely on the technical parameters of processors. In reality, a large number of factors come together, so the performance gain relative to the weakest model in the line will almost certainly not be as large as in theory. Thus, you should not directly transfer the resulting relationship to real life - final conclusions can only be drawn based on the results of testing in real applications. However, this assessment allows us to roughly estimate the processor’s place in the lineup and its positioning.

So, some preliminary notes:

• Core i7 U-series processors will be about 10% faster than Core i5 thanks to slightly higher clock speeds and more L3 cache.
• The difference between Core i5 and Core i3 U-series processors with a TDP of 28 W without taking into account Turbo Boost is about 30%, i.e., ideally, performance will also differ by 30%. If we take into account the capabilities of Turbo Boost, the difference in frequencies will be about 55%. If we compare Core i5 and Core i3 U-series processors with a TDP of 15 W, then with stable operation at maximum frequency, Core i5 will have a frequency 60% higher. However, its nominal frequency is slightly lower, i.e. when operating at the nominal frequency, it may even be slightly inferior to the Core i3.
• In the M-series, the presence of 4 cores and 8 threads in the Core i7 plays a big role, but we must remember that this advantage only manifests itself in optimized software (usually professional). Core i7 processors with two cores will have slightly higher performance due to higher overclocking frequencies and a slightly larger L3 cache.
• In the Y series, the Core i5 processor has a base frequency of 7.7% and a boost frequency of 50% higher than the Core i3. But even in this case, there are additional considerations - the same energy efficiency, noise level of the cooling system, etc.
• If we compare processors of the U and Y series with each other, then only the frequency gap between the U- and Y-processors Core i3 is 54%, and for Core i5 processors it is 63% at the maximum overclocking frequency.

So, let's calculate the score for each line. Let us remind you that the main score is calculated based on maximum overclocking frequencies, the score in brackets is calculated based on nominal frequencies (i.e., without overclocking using Turbo Boost). We also calculated the performance factor per watt.

¹ max. - at maximum acceleration, nom. - at rated frequency
² coefficient - conditional performance divided by TDP and multiplied by 100
³ overclocking TDP data for these processors is unknown

From the table above, the following observations can be made:

• The dual-core Core i7 U and M series processors are only slightly faster than the Core i5 processors of similar series. This applies to comparisons for both base and boost frequencies.
• Core i5 processors of the U and M series, even at base frequency, should be noticeably faster than Core i3 of similar series, and in Boost mode they will go far ahead.
• In the Y series, the difference between the processors at minimum frequencies is small, but with Turbo Boost overclocking, the Core i5 and Core i7 should go far ahead. Another thing is that the magnitude and, most importantly, stability of overclocking is very dependent on the cooling efficiency. And with this, given the orientation of these processors towards tablets (especially fanless ones), there may be problems.
• The Core i7 U series is almost equal in performance to the Core i5 M series. There are other factors involved (it is more difficult to achieve stability due to less efficient cooling, and it costs more), but overall this is a good result.

As for the relationship between power consumption and performance rating, we can draw the following conclusions:

• Despite the increase in TDP when the processor switches to Boost mode, energy efficiency increases. This is because the relative increase in frequency is greater than the relative increase in TDP;
• Processors of different series (M, U, Y) are ranked not only by decreasing TDP, but also by increasing energy efficiency - for example, Y-series processors show greater energy efficiency than U-series processors;
• It is worth noting that with an increase in the number of cores, and therefore threads, energy efficiency also increases. This can be explained by the fact that only the processor cores themselves are doubled, but not the accompanying DMI, PCI Express and ICP controllers.

An interesting conclusion can be drawn from the latter: if the application is well parallelized, then a quad-core processor will be more energy efficient than a dual-core processor: it will finish calculations faster and return to idle mode. As a result, multi-core may be the next step in the fight to improve energy efficiency. In principle, this trend can be noted in the ARM camp.

So, although the rating is purely theoretical, and it is not a fact that it accurately reflects the real balance of power, it even allows us to draw certain conclusions regarding the distribution of processors in the line, their energy efficiency and the relationship between these parameters.

Haswell vs Ivy Bridge

Although Haswell processors have been on the market for quite some time, the presence of Ivy Bridge processors in ready-made solutions even now remains quite high. From the consumer’s point of view, there were no special revolutions during the transition to Haswell (although the increase in energy efficiency for some segments looks impressive), which raises questions: is it necessary to choose the fourth generation or can you get by with the third?

It is difficult to directly compare fourth-generation Core processors with the third, because the manufacturer has changed the TDP limits:

• the M series of the third generation Core has a TDP of 35 W, and the fourth - 37 W;
• the U series of the third generation Core has a TDP of 17 W, and the fourth - 15 W;
• the Y series of the third generation Core has a TDP of 13 W, and the fourth - 11.5 W.

And if for ultramobile lines TDP has decreased, then for the more productive M series it has even increased. However, let's try to make a rough comparison:

• The top-end quad-core Core i7 processor of the third generation had frequencies of 3 (3.9) GHz, the fourth generation had the same 3 (3.9) GHz, that is, the difference in performance can only be due to architectural improvements - no more than 10%. Although, it is worth noting that with heavy use of FMA3, the fourth generation will be 30-70% ahead of the third.
• The top dual-core Core i7 processors of the third generation M-series and U-series had frequencies of 2.9 (3.6) GHz and 2 (3.2) GHz, respectively, and the fourth - 2.9 (3.6) GHz and 2. 1(3.3) GHz. As we can see, if the frequencies have increased, then only slightly, so the level of performance can increase only minimally, due to optimization of the architecture. Again, if the software knows about FMA3 and knows how to actively use this extension, then the fourth generation will receive a solid advantage.
• The top dual-core Core i5 processors of the third generation M-series and U-series had frequencies of 2.8 (3.5) GHz and 1.8 (2.8) GHz, respectively, and the fourth - 2.8 (3.5) GHz and 1.9(2.9) GHz. The situation is similar to the previous one.
• The top-end dual-core Core i3 processors of the third generation M-series and U-series had frequencies of 2.5 GHz and 1.8 GHz, respectively, and the fourth - 2.6 GHz and 2 GHz. The situation is repeating itself again.
• The top dual-core processors Core i3, i5 and i7 of the third generation Y-series had frequencies of 1.4 GHz, 1.5 (2.3) GHz and 1.5 (2.6) GHz, respectively, and the fourth - 1.3 GHz, 1.4(1.9) GHz and 1.7(2.9) GHz.

In general, clock speeds in the new generation have practically not increased, so a slight gain in performance is achieved only by optimizing the architecture. The fourth generation of Core will gain a noticeable advantage when using software optimized for FMA3. Well, don’t forget about the faster graphics core - optimization there can bring a significant increase.

As for the relative difference in performance within the lines, the third and fourth generations of Intel Core are close in terms of this indicator.

Thus, we can conclude that in the new generation Intel decided to reduce TDP instead of increasing operating frequencies. As a result, the increase in operating speed is lower than it could have been, but it was possible to achieve increased energy efficiency.

Suitable tasks for different fourth generation Intel Core processors

Now that we have figured out performance, we can roughly estimate what tasks this or that fourth-generation Core line is best suited for. Let's summarize the data in a table.

This table also clearly shows that first of all you should pay attention to the processor series (M, U, Y), and only then to the line (Core i3, i5, i7), since the line determines the ratio of processor performance only within the series, and Performance varies noticeably between series. This is clearly seen in the comparison of the i3 U-series and i5 Y-series: the first in this case will be more productive than the second.

So, what conclusions can be drawn from this table? Core i3 processors of any series, as we have already noted, are interesting primarily for their price. Therefore, it’s worth paying attention to them if you are short on funds and are willing to accept a loss in both performance and energy efficiency.

The mobile Core i7 stands apart due to its architectural differences: four cores, eight threads and noticeably more L3 cache. As a result, it is able to work with professional resource-intensive applications and show an extremely high level of performance for a mobile system. But for this, the software must be optimized for the use of a large number of cores - it will not reveal its advantages in single-threaded software. And secondly, these processors require a bulky cooling system, i.e. they are installed only in large laptops with great thickness, and they do not have much autonomy.

Core i5 mobile series provide a good level of performance, sufficient to perform not only home-office, but also some semi-professional tasks. For example, for processing photos and videos. In all respects (power consumption, heat generation, autonomy), these processors occupy an intermediate position between the Core i7 M-series and the ultramobile line. Overall, this is a balanced solution suitable for those who value performance over a thin and light body.

Dual-core mobile Core i7s are approximately the same as the Core i5 M-series, only slightly more powerful and, as a rule, noticeably more expensive.

Ultramobile Core i7s have approximately the same level of performance as mobile Core i5s, but with caveats: if the cooling system can withstand prolonged operation at high frequencies. And they get quite hot under load, which often leads to strong heating of the entire laptop body. Apparently, they are quite expensive, so their installation is justified only for top models. But they can be installed in thin laptops and ultrabooks, providing a high level of performance in a thin body and good battery life. This makes them an excellent choice for frequently traveling professional users who value energy efficiency and light weight, but often require high performance.

Ultramobile Core i5s show lower performance compared to the “big brother” of the series, but cope with any office workload, have good energy efficiency and are much more affordable in price. In general, this is a universal solution for users who do not work in resource-intensive applications, but are limited to office programs and the Internet, and at the same time would like to have a laptop/ultrabook suitable for travel, i.e. lightweight, lightweight and long-lasting batteries

Finally, the Y-series also stands apart. In terms of performance, its Core i7, with luck, will reach the ultra-mobile Core i5, but, by and large, no one expects this from it. For the Y series, the main thing is high energy efficiency and low heat generation, which allows the creation of fanless systems. As for performance, the minimum acceptable level that does not cause irritation is sufficient.

Briefly about Turbo Boost

In case some of our readers have forgotten how Turbo Boost overclocking technology works, we offer you a brief description of its operation.

Roughly speaking, the Turbo Boost system can dynamically increase the processor frequency above the set one due to the fact that it constantly monitors whether the processor goes beyond its normal operating modes.

The processor can only operate in a certain temperature range, i.e. its performance depends on heat, and heat depends on the ability of the cooling system to effectively remove heat from it. But since it is not known in advance which cooling system the processor will work with in the user’s system, two parameters are indicated for each processor model: operating frequency and the amount of heat that must be removed from the processor at maximum load at this frequency. Since these parameters depend on the efficiency and proper operation of the cooling system, as well as external conditions (primarily ambient temperature), the manufacturer had to lower the frequency of the processor so that it would not lose stability even under the most unfavorable operating conditions. Turbo Boost technology monitors the internal parameters of the processor and allows it, if external conditions are favorable, to operate at a higher frequency.

Intel originally explained that Turbo Boost technology uses the "temperature inertia effect." Most of the time in modern systems, the processor is idle, but from time to time, for a short period, it is required to perform at its maximum. If at this moment you greatly increase the frequency of the processor, it will cope with the task faster and return to the idle state sooner. At the same time, the processor temperature does not increase immediately, but gradually, so during short-term operation at a very high frequency, the processor will not have time to heat up enough to go beyond safe limits.

In reality, it quickly became clear that with a good cooling system, the processor is capable of operating under load even at an increased frequency indefinitely. Thus, for a long time, the maximum overclocking frequency was absolutely operational, and the processor returned to the nominal only in extreme cases or if the manufacturer made a poor-quality cooling system for a particular laptop.

In order to prevent overheating and failure of the processor, the Turbo Boost system in its modern implementation constantly monitors the following parameters of its operation:

• chip temperature;
• current consumption;
• power consumption;
• number of loaded components.

Modern Ivy Bridge systems are capable of operating at higher frequencies in almost all modes, except for simultaneous heavy load on the central processor and graphics. As for Intel Haswell, we do not yet have sufficient statistics on the behavior of this platform under overclocking.

Note author: It is worth noting that the temperature of the chip indirectly affects power consumption - this influence becomes clear upon closer examination of the physical structure of the crystal itself, since the electrical resistance of semiconductor materials increases with increasing temperature, and this in turn leads to an increase in electricity consumption. Thus, a processor at a temperature of 90 degrees will consume more electricity than at a temperature of 40 degrees. And since the processor “heats up” both the PCB of the motherboard with the tracks, and the surrounding components, their loss of electricity to overcome higher resistance also affects energy consumption. This conclusion is easily confirmed by overclocking both “in the air” and extreme. All overclockers know that a more efficient cooler allows you to get additional megahertz, and the effect of superconductivity of conductors at temperatures close to absolute zero, when electrical resistance tends to zero, is familiar to everyone from school physics. That is why when overclocked with liquid nitrogen cooling it is possible to achieve such high frequencies. Returning to the dependence of electrical resistance on temperature, we can also say that to some extent the processor also heats itself: as the temperature rises and the cooling system cannot cope, the electrical resistance also increases, which in turn increases power consumption. And this leads to an increase in heat generation, which leads to an increase in temperature... In addition, do not forget that high temperatures shorten the life of the processor. Although manufacturers claim fairly high maximum temperatures for chips, it is still worth keeping the temperature as low as possible.

By the way, it is quite likely that “spinning” the fan at higher speeds, when it increases the system’s power consumption, is more profitable in terms of power consumption than having a processor with a high temperature, which will entail losses of electricity due to increased resistance.

As you can see, temperature may not be a direct limiting factor for Turbo Boost, that is, the processor will have a completely acceptable temperature and will not throttle, but it indirectly affects another limiting factor - power consumption. Therefore, you should not forget about temperature.

To summarize, Turbo Boost technology allows, under favorable external operating conditions, to increase the processor frequency above the guaranteed nominal and thereby provide a much higher level of performance. This property is especially valuable in mobile systems, where it allows for a good balance between performance and heat.

But it should be remembered that the other side of the coin is the inability to evaluate (predict) the pure performance of the processor, since it will depend on external factors. This is probably one of the reasons for the appearance of processors with “8” at the end of the model name - with “raised” nominal operating frequencies and an increased TDP because of this. They are intended for those products where consistent high performance under load is more important than energy efficiency.

The second part of the article provides a detailed description of all modern series and lines of Intel Haswell processors, including technical characteristics of all available processors. And also conclusions were drawn about the applicability of certain models.

· 02/16/2017

Everyone knows what a processor (CPU) is, as well as its importance. The phrase that this is the “brain” of any computer stuck in my teeth. However, this is true, and the capabilities of a laptop or desktop PC are largely determined by this component. When planning to buy a new computer, you need to understand that one of the main characteristics is the processor. Each model indicates the name of the CPU used and the main characteristics. How can you determine at first glance which one is faster and which one is slower, which one to prefer if you often have to work autonomously, and which processor is better for games? This material is a kind of small guide in which I will tell you what Intel processor markings exist, how to decipher it, determine the generation and series of the processor, and give the main characteristics. Let's go.

Main characteristics of processors

In addition to the name, each processor has its own set of characteristics, reflecting the possibility of using it for a particular job. Among them the main ones can be noted:

• Number of cores. Shows how many physical processors are hidden inside the chip. Most laptops, especially those with “U” version processors, have 2 cores. More powerful options have 4 cores.
• Hyper-Threading. A technology that allows you to divide the resources of the physical core into several threads (usually 2) running simultaneously in order to increase performance. Thus, a 2-core processor in the system will appear as a 4-core processor.
• Clock frequency. Measured in gigahertz. In general, we can say that the higher the frequency, the more powerful the processor. Let’s immediately make a reservation that this is far from the only criterion that reflects the performance of the CPU.
• Turbo Boost. A technology that allows you to increase the maximum processor frequency under high loads. The i3 versions do not have automatic frequency change, while the i5 and i7 have this technology.
• Cache. A small (usually 1 to 4 MB) amount of high-speed memory that is part of the processor. Allows you to speed up the processing of frequently used data.
• TDP (Thermal Design Power). A value indicating the maximum amount of heat that must be removed from the processor to ensure normal temperature conditions for its operation. Typically, the higher the value, the more powerful the processor and the hotter it is. The cooling system must cope with this power.

Intel processor markings

The first thing that catches your eye is the marking, consisting of letters and numbers.

What the name is is clear. The manufacturer produces its processors under this trade name. This can be not only “Intel Core”, but also “Atom”, “Celeron”, “Pentium”, “Xeon”.

The name is followed by the processor series identifier. This can be "i3", "i5", "i7", "i9" if we are talking about "Intel Core", or the characters "m5", "x5", "E" or "N" can be specified.

After the hyphen, the first digit indicates the processor generation. At the moment, the newest is the 7th generation Kaby Lake. The previous generation Skylake had serial number 6.

The next 3 digits are the serial number of the model. In general, the higher the value, the more powerful the processor. So, i3 has a value of 7100, I5 – 7200, i7 is marked as 7500.

The last character (or two) indicates the processor version. These may be "U", "Y", "HQ", "HK" or others.

Processor series

With the exception of budget models of laptops or desktop PCs, the rest use processors of the Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 series. The higher the number, the more powerful the CPU. For most everyday work applications, an i5 processor will be optimal. A more productive one is needed if the computer is used as a gaming computer, or if it requires special computing power to work in “heavy” applications.

Processor generation

Intel updates generations of its processors approximately every year and a half, although this interval tends to increase to 2-3 years. From the “Tick-Tock” scheme they switched to the “Tick-Tock-Tock” release scheme. Let me remind you that this processor release strategy implies that in the “Tick” step there is a transition to a new technical process, and the changes made to the processor architecture are minimal. In the “So” step, a processor with an updated architecture is produced using an existing technical process.

The transition to a thinner technical process allows you to reduce power consumption and improve processor performance.

Processor version

This indicator may turn out to be almost more important than simply comparing, say, i3 with i5. If we talk about laptops, in most cases 4 versions of Intel Core processors are used, which have different TDP values ​​(from 4.5 W in the Y version to 45 W for the HQ), and, accordingly, different performance and power consumption. Long battery life depends not only on the processor, but also on the inherent capacity of the battery used.

I will give the versions of Intel Core processors, starting with the most low-power ones.

"Y" / "Core m" - low performance and passive cooling

Used in portable devices and small laptops. Passive cooling allows you to make your computer silent. However, it is not suitable for serious tasks. At the same time, even taking into account the TDP of 4.5 W, the compactness of the devices does not allow for a large battery, which negates all the advantages of low power consumption.

In general, if the task is not to buy something like the Apple MacBook 12 or ASUS ZENBOOK UX305CA, then you should give preference to more powerful processors.

"U" - for everyday use

“U” series processors are the best choice for a laptop for every day. This is the best combination of performance, energy consumption and cost. A TDP of 15 W allows you to achieve both the ability to cope with almost any task and get good battery life.

There are modifications of the 7th generation processors with a TDP of 28 W, which use an improved Intel Iris Plus 640 or 650 graphics subsystem.

It is not possible to get by with passive cooling, but this is compensated by performance. The difference from more powerful versions is the presence of only 2 cores, even in the “i7” series.

Examples of processors in the table.

"HQ" / "HK" - quad-core, high-performance

The best choice if you are looking for a laptop for gaming or working with resource-intensive applications. The “HQ” version has 4 cores, which in combination with Hyper-Threading technology gives 8 threads. Power consumption (TDP) of 45 W is bad for battery life. In order for the laptop to withstand several hours on battery power, it is advisable to choose batteries with a larger capacity, for example, with 6 cells.

“HK” differs from “HQ” in that it has an unlocked multiplier, which makes it possible to engage in “overclocking” by manually increasing the operating frequency of the processor. Similar versions of 7th generation processors were announced only in January 2017, so at the moment almost all laptop models are based on processors of the “HK” and “HQ” versions of the previous, 6th generation. However, we obviously won’t have to wait long for new models.

Examples of processors in the table.

Xeon E – for high-performance workstations

These processors are used in powerful laptops that serve as high-performance workstations. This technique is aimed primarily at those who are engaged in 3D modeling, animation, design, and perform complex calculations where high power is required. The processors have 4 cores and Hyper-Threading technology.

Usually there is no need to talk about the ability to work on batteries for a long time. Autonomy is not the strong point that laptops using such processors have.

Examples of processors in the table.

Now I will list the remaining processors that can be found in laptops, but which are not part of the “Intel Core” family.

“Celeron” / “Pentium” - for those who are economical and not in a hurry

You should forget about games (except for very simple), difficult tasks. The destiny of laptops with such processors is leisurely office work and surfing the Internet. You can only give preference to models with a CPU of this level if price is one of the main selection criteria, or if you plan to use Linux or OS from Google. Unlike Windows, the hardware requirements are noticeably lower.

Celeron processors have power consumption ranging from 4 to 15 watts, with those models starting with the letter “N” (for example, N3050, N3060, etc.) consuming between 4 and 6 watts. Models with the letter “U” at the end (for example, 2957U, 3855U, etc.) are more productive and their power already reaches 15 W. There is usually no gain in battery life when using the Celeron Nxxxx, since budget laptop models also save on batteries.

Pentium processors are more productive than Celeron, but still belong to the budget segment. Their TDP is at the same level. Battery life can last for several hours, which, while the performance is not as dull as that of the Celeron, allows you to get a very decent office laptop.

These processors come in both dual-core and quad-core variants.

Examples of processors in the table.

"Atom" - long battery life and dismal performance

Examples of processors in the table.

Integrated Graphics

All processors have a built-in video card, which is labeled as “Intel HD Graphics”. For 7th generation processors, the video core marking begins with “6” (for example, HD Graphics 610), for the 6th generation – with “5” (for example, HD Graphics 520). Some top-end processors have a more powerful built-in video card, labeled “Iris Plus”. Thus, the i7-7600U processor has an Intel HD Graphics 620 video card on board, and the i7-7660U has an Iris Plus 640.

We are not talking about serious competition with solutions from NVidia or AMD, however, for everyday work, watching videos, simple games or at low settings, you will still be able to have some fun. For more serious gaming requests, a discrete graphics card is required.

UPD. 2018. It's time to add to what has been said. Recently, models have appeared in the line of Intel processors that are marked with the letter “G” at the end. For example, i5-8305G, i7-8709G and others. What's special about them? To begin with, I will say that these CPUs are aimed at use in laptops and netbooks.

Their peculiarity is the use of a “built-in” graphics video processor produced by AMD. This is the joint creativity of two sworn competitors. It’s not for nothing that I put the word “built-in” in quotation marks. Although it is considered one with the processor, physically it is a separate chip, although located on the same substrate as the CPU. AMD supplies ready-made graphics solutions, and Intel only installs them on its processors. Friendship is friendship, but the chips are still apart.

“In short, Sklifosovsky!”

“So which processor is best for me,” many will probably ask. A lot has been written, you can get lost in the varieties, characteristics, etc., but you need to choose something. Well, for the impatient, I’ll put everything in one table, which will rank the processors according to their applicability for certain purposes.

Upd. 2018. Time does not stand still and after the emergence of the new, 8th generation of processors, we have to significantly reconsider the applicability of processors for certain tasks. In particular, particularly noticeable changes have occurred in the segment of energy-efficient “U” processors. In the 8th generation, these are finally full-fledged 4-core “stones” with significantly better performance than their predecessors, while maintaining the same TDP value. Therefore, I don’t see the point in choosing something like i7 7500U, i5 7200U, etc.

The only argument that can influence the decision to prefer these particular CPUs is a significant discount on laptops with them on board. In other cases, the old Us have no chance against new processors.

I’ll say right away that this is an average classification that does not take into account financial costs or the need to choose one option or another. And overall performance depends not only on the processor. Even a powerful “stone” may not reach its potential if a small amount of memory is installed, a budget hard drive is used, and programs that are “hungry” for hardware resources are used.

You may also be interested...

189 comments

The next 3 digits are the serial number of the model. In general, the higher the value, the more powerful the processor. So, i3 has a value of 7100, I5 – 7200, i7 is marked as 750; what does this mean? Why are the 7th generation processors listed?

1. Hi all!
   I wanted to know about Intel processors. I have long noticed that when buying a newly released processor, the year is indicated on its cover, but the year does not correspond to the year of purchase, for example, the processor was presented in 2018, but the Intel processor is ’13.
   Is this the year of development?

2. Andrey, hello. help me choose a laptop for playing Dota 2. The amount is up to 70 thousand. Tomorrow I will go for a laptop, I still haven’t decided which one I want) I read a lot which one to get, etc. But since I don’t know much about this, it gave me almost nothing)) please help with advice, thanks in advance.

3. Hello. And I have this one on my desktop PC
   asustek computer inc motherboard M4A785T-M (AM3)
   amd phenom iix4 965 deneb 45nm technology. Is it possible to find a replacement motherboard?

4. Good article, informative :)
   But there is one remark and, subsequently, a question. The article does not contain a description of the T, K, S markings. There are also G-series Pentiums, but that doesn’t matter)
   And the next one is about marking k. As far as I know, k means the unlocked multiplier, i.e. The processor can be overclocked, is that true?
   Does k-multiplier have anything to do with Hyper-Threading technology?
   I can’t understand why the i7-3770k has 4 cores and 8 threads, and the similar performance i5-3570k has 4 cores and 4 threads, although both are labeled k.

5. Hello. I'm looking for a laptop to work with AutoCad 2016. Please help me with advice on which one to choose. There is a lot of information, but it’s impossible to put it all together. Thanks in advance.

6. Good afternoon. Super article. I have been interested for a long time and have a question... just about the letter M... I saw that you answered about mobility... but I would like to know whether the difference with U and HQ/HK is significant. What percentage, say, in terms of games and working with graphic editors?

7. Please tell me what is better: lenovo i5-7200U+mx130 8ram ddr4-2133 or acer i3-8130U+mx150 8ram ddr4-2133? Does it make sense to overpay for a more expensive Acer?

8. Hello, I have a laptop Acer Aspire 7750g intel core i5 2450M 2.50GHz +turbo boost I want to install an external video card via EXP GDC
   does it make sense and what is the optimal video card to take for games thanks

9. Hello!
   There are still questions.....
   I found three interesting options with an i7 8750H with a GTX 1070...and one with an i7 7700HQ with a GTX 1080.
   i7 7700HQ with GTX 1070 many options and lower price.
   Generally stuck with the choice of Acer, Asus or Del. All very cool (in my opinion)…..in the same price niche.
   With a cool card it's ASUS ROG GL702VI.....does it make sense?
   Plus I found an option with an i7 7820HK processor (it seemed to be very popular before).
   And how much operational intelligence is better for this matter?
   I take it mainly for games... what do you recommend?
   Until now I have used simpler technology. Muchooo.
   It’s not possible to change often, I want to spare. Thank you.

10. Good evening, thank you for providing some clarification on this topic, if it’s not too much trouble, can you recommend several gaming laptops in a budget of up to 45 thousand, I’ve looked at the HP 15-bs105ur 2PP24EA, but would like to hear your options.
    Thank you in advance.

11. Good afternoon Please tell me I need a laptop for programming. We are considering options like Aser swift 5 with 16 Gb of RAM and Intel Core i7 8550U. I know that ultrabooks limit the processor frequency to reduce overheating. Do you think this will greatly affect the operation of the laptop? Or is it better to consider heavier, but air-cooled laptop options?

12. Andrey, good evening. Thanks for the article, very informative. I would be grateful if you could clarify one point. I roughly narrowed the circle, taking into account my needs (diagonal 17, not for games, for AutoCAD 3D? budget up to 65tr) to ACER Aspire A717. But then I got confused in the modifications. There are two similar modifications with the only difference being the series. The first cheaper screen: 17.3″; screen resolution: 1920×1080; processor: Intel Core i5 7300HQ; frequency: 2.5 GHz (3.5 GHz, Turbo mode); memory: 8192 MB, DDR4; HDD: 1000 GB, 5400 rpm; SSD: 128 GB; nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 - 2048 MB second more expensive by 6tr (65tr) Intel Core i7 7700HQ; frequency: 2.8 GHz (3.8 GHz, in Turbo mode); memory: 8192 MB, DDR4; HDD: 1000 GB, 5400 rpm; SSD: 128 GB; nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 - 2048 MB;
    Is it worth overpaying for the series? and generally normal hardware for my requirements? I’m also puzzled by the fact that these prices are relevant, provided that the Linux operating system on Windows will be 7-10 thousand more expensive.

    • Hello.
      Linux is, consider it, without an operating system. They don't charge money for it. And licensed Windows costs at least several thousand.
      AutoCAD loves processors with higher frequencies. In general, the i7 is better, but there is one thing - cooling. It’s not a fact that the laptop will cope with cooling the i7 under prolonged load. I mean, he can handle it, but how much faster the i7 will work in this mode compared to the i5 is a question. And it would be better to have more memory. I would still put in 16 GB of memory. There's probably no need for more. Although you can upgrade it yourself later if necessary. SSD is a must. 240-256 GB would be better, 128 is still not enough. I think i5 will be enough.
      Why a laptop? Wouldn't a hospital be better for such tasks? It’s easier to upgrade, and there are no problems with cooling.

      • Thank you very much. The specifics of the work are such that a laptop is more convenient. with cooling, I’ll buy a stand so that I don’t have to worry)) can I buy it cheaper without an ssd, but do I have to remove the entire back cover to add an ssd? which is fraught with loss of warranty, and modifications with higher capacity come with more expensive components. There is a separate window for a regular hard drive, maybe you can put a hybrid hhd+ssd version there? It’s also very interesting how much worse or better is the 8th generation processor but with the U series (2 cores) than the 7th series processor with the HQ series?

13. The modification indicated on the box is NH.GTVER.006. I don’t see such an assembly at all on the manufacturer’s website. The city link doesn’t say anything about the matrix, but the phone managers say it’s ips. I looked in other stores, they also write ips. In any case, I will try to return or exchange, insisting that within 7 days I have the right by law and contract)

14. Hello, could you comment on this unit:

    Dell Vostro 5568 (Intel i5-7200U 2500MHz / 8192MB / SSD 256GB / nVidia GeForce 940MX / gold)

15. Good day, Andrey!

    I'm looking for advice on choosing a laptop.

    Budget - up to 50-55. But if you can get it cheaper, then it’s much better.

    The main goal is to connect to a 4K TV and be able to view content (video) in this format. Games are not relevant, but the ability to run them (in 4K, or FullHD) would be a good addition. Working with documents, surfing.

    Nominees:
    1. Acer Aspire A715-71G-51J1 NX.GP8ER.008
    2. ASUS FX553VD-DM1225T 90NB0DW4-M19860
    3. Dell G3-3579 G315-7152 Blue

    Keep in mind that we will increase the HDD and SSD on our own, and we will install additional RAM in the future.

    Thanks in advance!

    PS From your publication and responses to comments, I found out that it is necessary to select a laptop without an OS. This significantly reduces its final cost.

16. Hello.
    Please tell me. The choice of laptop is for Asus and MSI models.
    Which model would be preferable?
    The main thing is computing power and RAM. For example, for working with data programs.

17. Hello. I'm looking for a gaming laptop in the price category up to 70,000:
    In stores they advise
    — Asus VivoBook 15 K570UD
    — Lenovo IdeaPad 330 Series 330-15ICH
    Please rate and tell me which other models may be suitable. The company is preferable to Asus, but I won’t turn my nose up at others. I would like to choose the optimal selection of processor (i5 8300H/ i7 8550U/ i7 8750H and higher) and video card (GeForce® GTX 1050/ GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti and higher) + SSD. Screen 17 is preferable.
    Thanks in advance.

    P.S. Is it true that the i5 8300H will discharge faster and overheat the laptop? Should I focus on it or the i7 line within my budget?

18. Good afternoon. Please recommend a laptop for: development (with IDE - no problem), photoshop, illustrator. It is advisable to have ssd + hdd (but you can also just have a hdd, with the possibility of adding an ssd), 8GB of RAM (more is possible). I'm confused about the options...
    The previous one had a 2nd generation i5, 6 GB of RAM and an integrated + discrete video card. I want no worse, budget 50k.
    Thank you!

19. Hello, Andrey! I understand that the article is about processors, but I see that you are also helping with choosing a laptop. I will make the same request. I've already broken my head - I've read a lot of information, watched videos... everything is mixed up.)) The laptop is needed for use at home, mainly for my daughter for studying, but sometimes my husband and I will use it - for him to make presentations, for me - for working with photos, watching movies . My daughter has vision problems - we are only considering a 17-inch screen with good resolution. We are not gamers - we do not plan to play tanks. Maybe if only for light games, and even then for children. Budget up to $1500. Well +\- $200. We are considering the companies Asus, Aser and Dell. We give preference to the latter. We are not considering HP, there are no arguments, we just don’t intuitively want to. I would also like a metal laptop. The weight doesn't bother me - we'll only use it at home. Please recommend several models that you think are suitable for our family. Thank you so much in advance!

20. Hello.
    I'm looking for a laptop for work. I do accounting and look at the screen a lot. Budget about $850. I wanted to choose a laptop with a good 15.6-inch screen and the ability to sometimes play games (at medium and low settings, but modern games). Of all the models for this money, I liked the Acer Aspire 7 A715-72G-513X NH.GXBEU.010 Black Laptop and the Lenovo IdeaPad 330-5ICH 81FK00FMRA Onyx Black Laptop (https://ktc.ua/goods/noutbuk_lenovo_ideapad_330_15ich_81fk00fmra_onyx_black. html, https:/ /ktc.ua/goods/noutbuk_acer_aspire_7_a715_72g_513x_nh_gxbeu_010_black.html). The filling seems to be the same. I can't decide. Help me make a choice. Maybe I missed something? Maybe there is a more interesting model? I'll install the OS myself. Can an SSD be delivered to any laptop or does it require a special connector?

21. Hello! Could you recommend a reliable laptop in the region under 40,000? Needed for watching movies, listening to music, Internet. I don’t play games. I previously looked at the HP 15-bw065ur 2BT82EA Laptop, but it’s very confusing that there aren’t very good reviews about this company. (cooling problem). Now I’m looking at the ASUS R542UF-DM536T laptop. But what’s confusing about it now is that it has a 2.2 GHz Core i3-8130U processor. As I understand it, if the letter is U, then you shouldn’t take it. In general, I'm confused about the characteristics and don't know which one to choose. Please advise.

22. Hello from Kyrgyzstan, and I would like to know if I have a choice between an i5 8265U with 8 GB RAM, a 4 GB mx130 video card and an i5 7300HQ with 8 GB RAM, a GTX 1050 Ti video card. What to choose (the purpose of the purchase is programming and maybe toys to play with in the future), given that the second option is sold used? The price of the first is 43.5k, and the second is sold for 45k soms (at the rate of som and rubles almost 1 to 1). I will be grateful for your answer)

23. Good day!
    Please advise on budget RAM.
    I bought a laptop with 4GB RAM soldered on board. I checked the availability of a free slot for an additional bracket.
    In terms of volume and frequency, I will buy additional DDR4 2133 8GB.
    A search found the following brands:
    1. Apacer
    2. Goodram
    3. Foxline

    Which manufacturer? is it better to give preference? The price for all is around 3300-3700 rubles. Or maybe there are other manufacturers?
    Thanks in advance!

24. Hello. Tell me which laptop to choose for working and watching movies. I need an inexpensive one, so far I have looked at two options: Laptop ASUS F540BA-GQ193T (AMD A6 2.6GHz/15.6”/1366x768/4GB/500GB HDD/AMD Radeon R4/DVD no/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Win10 Home x64) and Laptop Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15AST (81D600FQRU) (AMD A4-9125 2.3GHz/15.6”/1366x768/4GB/500GB HDD/AMD Radeon 530/DVD no/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Win10 Home x64). And also, what is the difference in two almost identical laptop models, but only different letters: Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15AST (81D6002GRU) and Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15AST Laptop (81D600FQRU). Designation in brackets. Info from the websites of two well-known retail chains. I would really appreciate your answer. Thank you.

Choosing a processor is quite a serious task, which should be approached only after you have thoroughly familiarized yourself with all the nuances and characteristics. Much can be learned from the name of the processor, its markings, which contain information about the main characteristics of this model. You can read what these characteristics mean in this article, and in this article we will talk about how to decipher the processor markings.

Intel processor markings

1. Intel processor series
   • I7 – top processors that support all Intel technologies, have 4 cores, and are equipped with an 8 MB L3 cache.
   • I5 – mid-price segment processors, can have from 2 to 4 cores. Equipped with L3 cache memory with a capacity of 3 to 6 MB. There is no support for Trusted Execution, Hyper-Threading and Virtualization Technology.
   • I3 is a budget series of processors that has 2 cores and a 3 MB L3 cache.
2. Indicates the generation of the Core i-x series of processors. SandyBridje is marked with the number 2, IvyBridge is marked with the number 3.
3. Indicates position in the series. The higher the number, the faster the processor runs. Depends on the clock frequency.
4. Processor version
   • K – this processor has an unlocked multiplier, which means it can be overclocked.
   • M – processor used in mobile devices (smartphone, tablet).
   • P – processor without automatic overclocking.
   • S – such processors have power consumption reduced to 65 W.
   • T – these processors have reduced power consumption to 45/35 W.

xsoid.ru

Intel processor markings

Marking of intel processors and determination of the generation of processors of the intel core I3/I5/i7 series.

Marking of old processors for socket Lga 775.

Celeron is a modification of budget processors. (Still released on new platforms).

The number is the model range; the higher the number, the better the processor.

In new processors, everything is very unclear about the model number, so it is better to look for information about these processors on the intel page.

Processors labeled Core 2 Duo

Core 2 Duo E8400 and Core 2 Duo X6800

Core 2 duo modification of the processor.

E8400 model number, the higher the better. (If compared with the same line of processors).

But do not forget about the characteristics of the processor itself.

The letter X on some processors means that the processor is Extreme Edition. With an unlocked multiplier.

Processors labeled Pentium Dual-Core (released on new platforms) are also a modification of the processor better than Celeron.

Example E5700 is a model range; the higher the number, the more powerful the processor.

In new processors, how they are marked is unclear; you cannot determine on which core it was made; we look for information about these processors on the intel page.

Modifier Core 2 Quad processors are the first of four core processors.

Q6600 letter Q means that the processor is 4-core (quad).

Some processors are designated QX9650; the letter X indicates that the processor is an Extreme Edition. (unlocked multiplier)

Low power consumption are designated by the letter suffix S

In terms of numbers, as everywhere else, the higher the better.

also see the table Characteristics of INTEL processors (LGA 775)

We got to the latest intel processors codenamed core I3, core I5, core I7.

Core i3, i5, i7 of the first generation did not have a generation number, so they have three-digit designations.

Core I3 550, Core I5 ​​670, Core I7 920.

Intel® Core™ processor numbers 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th use a four-digit value.

You can find out the Intel Core generation by the first digit of the four-digit sequence indicates the generation of the processor, the next three digits are the processor code or model number and a letter suffix depending on the processor.

Using the first digit we determine the generation of the processor; if there are only 3 digits, this means it is the first generation.

The model range or processor code means that the higher the numbers, the more powerful the processor; also, do not forget about suffixes.

All suffixes related to energy consumption mean frequencies lower than usual.

An example is the i7 4770 (3.50 GHz) and i7 4770T (2.50 GHz). Hence the conclusion is that the i7 4770 is simply better than the i7 4770T in terms of performance.

Existing suffixes

We also read tables with processor parameters

First generation Core I3 (specifications), First generation Core I5 ​​(specifications), First generation Core I7 (specifications)

Core i3 second generation (characteristics), Core I5 ​​Second generation (characteristics), Core I7 Second generation (characteristics)

Core i3 Third generation (specifications), Core i5 Third generation (specifications), Core I7 Third generation (specifications)

Core i3 Fourth Generation (specs), Core i5 Fourth Gen (specs), Core i7 Fourth Gen (specs)

atlant-pc.ru

How to choose the best processor

At a certain point, every computer user faces the problem of upgrading the system or buying a new machine. As a rule, financial resources for this are limited, but you need to assemble a productive configuration.

Each has its own requirements for the system, which means that each needs its own processor (CPU) corresponding to the level of tasks performed. Based on CPU performance, CPUs are usually divided into categories - beginner, intermediate, or basic, and advanced.

• Processor selection criteria
• Intel processor
• Processor prices

Manufacturer. There are only two of them - Intel and AMD, and each has models worthy of attention. The main strength of the first is low power consumption combined with high performance, the second is built-in powerful graphics cards, and stones with more than four cores.

Type of processor socket, otherwise known as socket. It partly determines the generation of the processor and the model of motherboard with which it is compatible. When choosing, you need to pay attention to this, and not take an outdated platform that has no prospect of modernization (for example, Intel 1155, and AMDFM1).

Number of cores. A characteristic that directly affects performance, but is in demand only in resource-intensive applications and 3D games. Office tasks and watching movies do not use all the computing power.

Clock frequency. The performance characteristic, measured in gigahertz, reflects the number of simple calculations per second. The higher the frequency, the higher the performance.

Cache memory. Participates in the exchange of data between the processor and RAM. Has several levels. The larger its size and the greater the number of such levels, the more productive the CPU.

Data bus frequency. Characterizes the speed of information exchange between the processor and the computer system bus. System performance directly depends on its frequency.

Built-in graphics. Almost all new CPUs come with an integrated video card. Its main purpose is to be an alternative to inexpensive discrete graphics, although some models are capable of showing decent performance in not the most complex games (see Which video card is best for gaming). AMD processors have a relatively powerful integrated graphics core.

Intel processor

Processor markings consist of numbers. The first determines the generation, for example, Corei3 3245 belongs to the third. Sometimes there are letters after the numbers that mean:

• K – accelerates;
• S and T – the core has reduced heat generation and power consumption. These features come at the cost of reduced performance;
• R – speaks of a powerful built-in video core.

You should also outline the differences between the Corei3, i5 and i7 lines. The first ones have two cores, but have Hyper-Treading, i.e. process four data streams and are visible in the system as quad-core. The i5 series has four cores and TurboBoost technology, which increases the frequency of the CPU, giving an additional boost in performance. The seventh series has all the features of the previous lines.

Hyper-Treading means that the processor physically has one core, but due to the technology, the second core (logical) is created virtually, i.e. the number of physical ones is multiplied by two.

Processor prices

The best budget processors are the Celeron G1620 and PentiumG3450. Their socket is on the aging 1155 platform, but the price/performance ratio makes it worth the purchase. Both have dual cores, Level III cache and extremely low power consumption.

Perfect for office programs, watching good quality videos and listening to music (see Why there is no sound on a computer or laptop). When working together with a discrete video card, most games can be played, although not at high graphics settings.

An alternative from competitors - A4-7300, A6-7400K on the current FM2+ platform is slightly slower in terms of characteristics, there is no Level III cache, but they are cheaper and have a strong integrated video card.

The middle level is characterized by a large number of options, and the purpose of using computers in this price niche varies from office tasks and multimedia centers to productive gaming machines.

The best inexpensive solution for this is the new sixth-generation Core i3-6300 chip, operating at a 3.7 GHz clock frequency.

Like all members of this family, it has two cores, but uses four data streams and Hyper Threading technology. If the buyer, due to the fact that the new product is still rare on the shelves, does not have the opportunity to purchase it, an excellent alternative would be the 4th generation stone Corei3-4160, which has similar characteristics, but with an older, although still relevant, socket1150.

The more powerful Corei5-4590 also belongs to the middle level. An alternative from AMD would be the AthlonX4 860K, A8-7600, FX-8320, which combine lower cost with excellent performance.

Powerful gaming processors for a computer based on Intel Corei7-4790K or Corei7-6700K will show the best performance in games with maximum graphics settings, as well as in resource-intensive applications associated with multi-threaded computing, large amounts of data and 3D rendering.

At AMD, this processor will be the eight-core FX-9590, which is inferior in speed to its competitors, but has a lower price.

The best CPU models in different price ranges, depending on the price-quality ratio:

• Budget Intel Celeron G1620, Pentium G3450, AMD A4-7300, A6-7400K
• Mid-level Intel Core i3-6300, Core i3-4160, Core i5-4590, AMD Athlon X4 860K, A8-7600, FX-8320
• High-performance systems IntelCorei7-4790K, Corei7-6700K, AMDFX-9590

More recently, 6th generation Intel processors with the Skylake core (6xxx) began to appear on sale, which will gradually replace the 4th generation Haswell (4xxx). They are produced at 14 nm. technologies with a number of innovative solutions, and will be used in both stationary and mobile systems.

When buying a new product, you should know that its performance will be 10-15% higher than its previous analogues, and the price will be significantly higher.

Based on this logic, it is up to the buyer to decide whether to spend money on a new product, buy an older platform, or wait for a price reduction.

Laptop processors differ from those used in desktop computers due to their reduced power consumption technologies. And although they are removable, the operation of replacing the CPU in mobile devices is extremely rare, so the frequent question is “How to choose a processor for a laptop?” Sounds wrong.

You have to choose a whole device with a number of other parameters. But the principle of choice is this: it is advisable to take Intel as it is cooler, which will help avoid breakdowns and problems with turning on the laptop. The rest is similar to computers.

Budget systems are Celeron, Pentium; optimal Core i3, i5; gaming Core i5, i7, the marking of which should be “4xxx”, this means a 4th generation stone, which guarantees high speed.

Remember a few rules:

1. Depending on the packaging, there will be a different warranty period for the same model. Thus, BOX has a three-year warranty, while OEM has only a year.
2. The CPU cooler is supplied based on the nominal thermal package. Overclocking enthusiasts need to take care of purchasing a powerful cooling system.
3. The built-in video core will allow you not to spend money on buying a video card, unless the task is to play complex 3D games that, in addition to video cards, also require capacious hard drives.
4. All processors have a specific platform, and this determines the different connectors on motherboards. When making a purchase, you need to pay attention to its model and the motherboard for which it is intended.
5. High-power CPUs are very power hungry, consuming between 100 and 200 watts of electricity per hour.

When buying a computer, you need to remember that the processor sets the calculation speed, but the speed of the entire system depends not only on it.

There may be some components that will become a bottleneck.

So, with a powerful processor and a slow hard drive, the computer will be slow, the same goes for the video card, memory, etc. The productive system will always be balanced. Following this principle, you can assemble a powerful computer for relatively little money.