Intel i5 third generation. Third generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors

Processor or abbreviated CPU is the central part of the computer. Other components are selected for the processor: motherboard, video card, RAM, etc. The performance of the processor affects the speed of the entire computer.

When choosing a processor, you need to take into account its technical characteristics and manufacturer.

There are two companies - Intel (Intel) and AMD (AMD) - manufacturers of computer processors. The first company is a market leader and develops cutting-edge technologies. Intel Core i9 onmoment of the first quarter of 2018, is the most powerful processor in the Intel Core line for desktop computers, Intel Core i7 are top-end processors ideal for the latest generation gaming computers and professional workstations. Intel Core i5 offers high performance and is one of the most popular models for mid-range gaming PCs. Processors Intel Core i3 is a combination of low price and average performance for office desktops and nettops.

Inexpensive Intel Celeron and Intel Pentium processors are classic, reliable processors for entry-level computers and mobile devices.

The second company produces processors at more reasonable prices. In the briefcase AMD There are multi-core processors for desktop PCs for various purposes.

Hybrid processors AMD Athlon X4, AMD A-series - for office solutions, online games, playback of high-resolution multimedia files. AMD FX - powerful processors for the most demanding games. AMD Ryzen - for enthusiasts and professional users. AMD Ryzen 5 has become the most anticipated processor of 2017.

Number of Cores– this indicator affects the number of programs that can be run on a PC without losing its performance. Modern processors have up to 14 cores.

Number of threads can be from 2 to 36. Hyper-threading technology allows each processor core to process 2 data streams, which significantly increases performance. A processor with 2 cores and support for Hyper-treading is close to 4-core in performance, and with 4 cores and Hyper-treading - to 8-core.

CPU frequency greatly affects performance. For surfing the Internet, 2 GHz is enough, for a basic gaming PC - 3.5 GHz, for a gaming computer we recommend 4 GHz.

Processors can be with or without integrated video (built-in graphics processor). Integrated graphics allows you to save money on purchasing a video card, but is only suitable for office or multimedia PCs that do not require a high level of graphics.

CPU heat dissipation (TDP) shows how hot it gets and what kind of cooling system is installed. Try to choose a processor with a lower TDP.

Modern central processors are not easy to understand even for a specialist: many different models are produced, and their names seem to be specifically designed to confuse the buyer.

And if a lot has been written about the Core and Core 2 series in almost five years since their appearance, then there is practically no systematic information about the chips of the three newest families of Core i3, i5 and i7, addressed to the consumer, and not to the expert.

What are the architectural features of the new processors, the differences from their predecessors?
Finally, how are they better than the still quite current Core 2 Duo and Quad?

All processors of the “i” family are built on the latest Nehalem microarchitecture, which replaced Core at the end of 2008.
The architecture, named after one of the Indian tribes, is an evolutionary development of the Core and differs from it in several fundamental innovations: the placement of all cores on one chip, a built-in two- or three-channel DDR3 RAM controller, QPI or DMI system buses that replaced the FSB, cache -third-level memory, common to all cores, as well as the ability to integrate a graphics core into the chip.

Nehalem is the first to implement the SSE 4.2 instruction set; their power consumption is 30% less than their Core counterparts with comparable performance.
In addition, Hyper-Threading technology has returned to the new chips, allowing one physical core to be represented as two virtual ones.
The first Nehalem were produced using 45-nanometer technology, and in 2010 a gradual transition to a 32-nanometer process began.
To install processors, a motherboard with LGA1156 or LGA1366 sockets is required.

Based on the Nehalem architecture, four types of desktop processors are currently produced, known under the code names Bloomfield, Clarkdale, Gulftown and Lynnfield.
Of these, Clarkdale are dual-core and produced using 32 nm technology, Bloomfield and Lynnfield are quad-core and produced using 45 nm technology, and Gulftown are 32 nm six-core chips.

The bulk of dual-core i3 and i5 are Clarkdale, quad-core i5 are Lynnfield, quad-core i7 are Bloomfield and Lynnfield, and the six-core i7 (there is only one so far, this is the 980X) is Gulftown.

Lynnfield processor block diagram

What is the difference between Bloomfield and Lynnfield quad core?
First of all, Bloomfield has a built-in three-channel memory controller, while Lynnfield has a two-channel one, which significantly affects the price.
Bloomfield implements a high-speed QPI system bus (25.6 Gbit/s), which is used to communicate with the northbridge, which provides the PCI Express 2.0 interface to which graphics accelerators are connected.

Lynnfield uses a DMI bus (2 Gbit/s), and the PCI Express 2.0 graphics bus controller is built into the processor itself, which eliminates the fundamental need for a north bridge and allows the use of a single-chip system logic set - this was done in the Intel P55 Express chipset.
Finally, Lynnfield chips are designed to be installed in the “mainstream” LGA1156 socket, and Bloomfield chips are designed for installation in the LGA1366 socket, reserved for high-end systems.

By the way, about the Intel P55 Express chipset: this set of system logic was designed specifically for Lynnfield, and the LGA1156 processor socket also appeared at the same time.
P55 motherboards work without problems with dual-core Core i3/i5 (Clarkdale), but there is one caveat: this chipset does not support the graphics core built into the processor (more on that below), meaning in any case you will have to use a discrete video accelerator.

The H57, H55 and Q57 chipsets, introduced simultaneously with Clarksdale processors, work with the integrated graphics core.
The main characteristics of all four sets of logic can be found in the table.

Nehalem processors have a rather confusing labeling system, and even the name of the family does not say much about a specific chip, since they may have different architectures and capabilities.
Therefore, let's take a closer look at their capabilities and functionality.

Dual-core Core i3 and i5, quad-core and six-core Core i5 and i7 processors differ from their predecessors primarily in that, like AMD chips, they have built-in DDR3 RAM controllers and an external bus operating at a speed of 133 MHz.
For comparison, Core 2 Duo (socket LGA775) is compatible with both DDR3 and DDR2 memory, since the memory controller is implemented at the system logic level.

In addition, dual-core Core i3 and i5 have GMA HD graphics accelerators built into the chip.
Their capabilities can be briefly described as follows: if you just want to watch HD video and are not interested in the latest 3D computer games, then the performance of the graphics core built into the processor will be quite enough.

According to experts, GMA HD is somewhat faster than previous generations of Intel GMA graphics cores built into chipsets.

The GMA HD core allows simultaneous decoding of two HD video streams (for example, for picture-in-picture or picture-and-picture modes) and simultaneous transmission to different digital outputs.
Supports 36-bit color depth and xvYCC extended color space, and provides the ability to transmit Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio audio streams.

Declared support for DirectX 10 (Shader Model 3.0) and Open GL 2.1 software interfaces.
Up to 1.7 GB (!) of system memory can be allocated for the frame buffer.
The graphics are fully compatible with the Universal Digital Interface HDMI 1.3.

Make your choice: Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7, don’t worry, in this article we will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of these processors and help you make the right choice.

Architecture

Cores

Hyper-Threading

Clock frequency

Turbo mode

Models with the letter "K"

Integrated Graphics

How to find out the characteristics?

Which processor to choose?

It's been almost a month since Intel introduced the Coffee Lake family of processors, and the past weeks have clearly demonstrated that they were released somewhat hastily. There are a lot of indicators of poor preparation of an announcement. The availability of new products in retail is extremely limited, and prices are noticeably inflated by sellers due to shortages. The situation with motherboards is also not ideal: on the shelves there is a fairly wide selection of LGA1151 motherboards based on the Z370 logic set compatible with Coffee Lake, but many of them cause serious complaints from users due to constantly revealing flaws in the firmware.

However, despite all the existing problems, platforms based on Coffee Lake are assessed by the community as purely positive. By adding additional processing cores to the new processors, Intel has done exactly what users have long wanted from it. The performance of mainstream Intel processors has made a noticeable leap, and as a result, representatives of the new family have become very good candidates for inclusion in modern desktops, even despite all the “childhood diseases” and the existence of competing AMD Ryzen processors.

We have already expressed our own opinion about Coffee Lake in the review: testing then showed that Intel was able to quickly catch up with the emerging gap from the competitor in certain aspects. However, for all its advantages, the Core i7-8700K is not very suitable for the mass user. Not only that, with the transition to the Coffee Lake design, Intel increased its appetite and priced its new flagship mainstream processor more expensive than before, raising the recommended price of the Core i7-8700K from the usual $339 to $359. In addition, real retail prices go far beyond this line. For example, in the largest North American online stores they will ask for at least $410 for this chip (subject to availability in the warehouse), and domestic retail is not constrained by such limits.

It’s clear that not everyone is ready to buy a mass-produced processor for more than $400. Therefore, we decided to pay attention to new products of a lower class, which belong to the Core i5 family, and not the Core i7. As before, such CPUs differ from their older brothers in the lack of support for Hyper-Threading technology, that is, they retain a six-core structure. This means that in terms of price and performance, Coffee Lake in the guise of Core i5 may be even more attractive than Core i7. They are also capable of offering an increased number of computing cores compared to their predecessors, but even according to the official price list, their cost is lower than that of the Core i7, by at least $100.

In the past, we've often recommended unlocked Core i5 processors for mid-range desktops, primarily for gaming. Now, it seems, having acquired a couple of additional cores, this series offers an even better combination of consumer characteristics. That's why we decided to conduct detailed testing of the older Coffee Lake Core i5 series and try to evaluate whether this option is much worse compared to the Hyper-Threading Core i7 processor and how it stands up to competing offerings from the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 series, which, despite The modernization of the model range carried out by Intel continues to have superiority in the number of threads, and sometimes cores.

Core i5-8600K in detail

The Core i5-8600K processor, like the Core i7-8700K, can be described as a typical representative of the Coffee Lake family - it has six processing cores at its disposal. The main difference from its older brother is the disabled Hyper-Threading technology: this is what desktop Core i5 has always been different from Core i7 since the appearance of these brands in 2011. Intel's commitment to this principle makes today's Core i5-8600K especially attractive - compared to its predecessor, the Kaby Lake generation, the computing power of the new product has increased significantly: it not only has one and a half times more cores, but also increased operating frequencies. All this is clearly visible when comparing the specifications.

There are no improvements at the microarchitectural level in Coffee Lake, that is, with a single-threaded load and at the same clock frequency, the new processors are identical in performance to Kaby Lake. However, for the production of new products, an improved 14++ nm technological process is used. While Intel is unable to begin producing large processor chips using the more advanced 10-nm technology, the start of which has been pushed back to the manufacture of desktop processors until at least the second half of 2018, engineers are optimizing the old 14-nm process technology. And not without success. Today's 14++ nm technology, compared to the original process technology, was able to provide a significant reduction in leakage currents, which resulted in a 52 percent reduction in heat dissipation at the same level of performance. It is thanks to this achievement that the Core i5-8600K has one and a half times more cores, and the maximum frequency in turbo mode has increased from 4.2 GHz to 4.3 GHz.

True, some concerns are caused by a decrease in the base frequency characteristics: for the Core i5-8600K it is set at 3.6 GHz, which is 200 MHz less than the corresponding Kaby Lake. However, this lag should be compensated by the aggressive Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, which in Coffee Lake can increase the processor frequency much more than before. Even with a load on all six cores, if the power consumption and heat dissipation of the Core i5-8600K remains within the established limits, the operating frequency of the processor can increase to 4.1 GHz. As a result, taking into account the active turbo mode, the Core i5-8600K should always be ahead of its quad-core predecessor.

In addition to increased frequencies and additional cores, the Core i5-8600K can offer a 3 MB increase in L3 cache, as well as official support for dual-channel DDR4-2666 with a bandwidth of up to 42.7 GB/s versus DDR4-2400 with a bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s. With.

True, to get all the benefits provided by the new product, you will need a new motherboard based on the Intel Z370 chipset. The new version of LGA1151, which is used by Coffee Lake processors, adds additional power lines, and in older LGA1151 boards based on Z270 or Z170 (and other chipsets of previous generations), 8000-series processors do not work. But without exception, all new motherboards compatible with the Core i5-8600K can provide overclocking. It, like the Core i7-8700K, has an unlocked multiplier, so with a couple of manipulations in the motherboard BIOS, its operating frequency can be easily increased, as well as the frequency at which the L3 cache and system memory operate. At the same time, for overclocking LGA1151 processors of the Coffee Lake family, compliance with a 95-watt thermal package is declared, which means that theoretically their moderate overclocking is quite possible without the use of bulky air or liquid cooling systems.

There is no doubt that the Core i5-8600K is better than its Kaby Lake generation predecessor, the Core i5-7600K, in all respects. However, this processor now needs to be compared not only with internal competitors, but also with those processors that AMD offers in the same price segment. The actual retail price of the Core i5-8600K today is about $300, and for this amount you can buy an eight-core Ryzen 7 1700. If you focus on official prices, then the direct competitor to the older Core i5 is the six-core Ryzen 5 1600X. Let's compare the Core i5-8600K's specs to both AMD alternatives.

From the point of view of formal characteristics, AMD's proposals continue to look attractive, even despite the fact that Intel has significantly increased the number of processing cores in its Coffee Lake processors. Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 continue to outperform their competitors in at least the number of executed threads and cache memory sizes. However, Coffee Lake has the leadership in clock frequencies, plus we should not forget that modern Intel processor cores have a clear advantage in terms of IPC - the number of instructions executed per clock.

As our previous tests have shown, in resource-intensive applications, the six-core Core i7-8700K performs at least no worse than the eight-core Ryzen 7 1700X. But the gap in the characteristics of the Core i5-8600K and Ryzen 7 1700 is more significant: while Intel blocks Hyper-Threading in new mid-range processors, SMT technology in Ryzen is present not only in the eight-core Ryzen 7, but in the six-core Ryzen 5. Which means that the situation in the mid-price segment may remain ambiguous even after updating the Intel processor lineup.

Naturally, detailed tests will dot the “t”, but it’s too early to move on to them.

We were deceived: features of the turbo mode in Coffee Lake

When we first got acquainted with the Coffee Lake generation processors and tested it, we noted that its real frequency always corresponds to the maximum allowed turbo frequency for the corresponding load. This had a positive effect on performance: indeed, the Core i7-8700K with a nominal frequency of 3.7 GHz, even with maximum AVX load on all six cores, “splashed” at 4.3 GHz, leaving no doubt about the superiority of the new processor technology design and 14++ nm. True, the thermal and electrical indicators caused some confusion. The fact is that while the thermal package of the Core i7-8700K is set at 95 W, and the maximum permissible temperature is 100 degrees, its actual consumption under maximum load reached 140-145 W, and the temperature with the highly efficient Noctua NH-U14S cooler - up to 88 degrees. It is very doubtful that this mode of CPU operation can be considered normal.

Even bigger questions regarding the correct operation of Coffee Lake processors in turbo mode began to arise when we began to get acquainted with the Core i5-8600K sample. This time we had a serial CPU in our hands, and it was no longer possible to attribute the oddities observed with consumption and temperatures to the peculiarities of the engineering sample. And the reasons for surprise only increased. The fact is that in nominal mode with a full AVX load, which we traditionally created using the LinX 0.8.0 utility, the temperature went beyond all reasonable limits.

As you can see from the above screenshot, the processor frequency under full load in LinX 0.8.0 is 4.1 GHz - this is the maximum possible frequency of the Core i5-8600K when all six cores are used. At the same time, CPU consumption reaches the already familiar 145 W, and the temperature reaches the maximum allowed by the specification - 99 degrees. And this is with the Noctua NH-U14S cooler, which there is not the slightest reason to accuse of its inability to withstand the high thermal power of the chip! It is clear that such a high temperature is largely due to the low efficiency of the internal thermal interface used in Intel processors, but at the same time it is quite obvious that there should still be no critical heating of the Core i5-8600K in nominal mode.

Therefore, we turned to Intel engineers for clarification, who gave a very discouraging comment: on many LGA1151 motherboards based on the Z370 chipset, Turbo Boost 2.0 technology is not implemented correctly. In an attempt to squeeze maximum efficiency out of new processors, board manufacturers deliberately ignore the established limits on processor power consumption, and this can actually lead to overheating. Unfortunately, the ASUS Strix Z370-F Gaming motherboard we used turned out to be a prime example of a board with an incorrectly configured turbo mode. Therefore, it is not surprising that when tested on this platform, the Core i7-8700K and Core i5-8600K demonstrated sky-high temperatures and power consumption.

In fact, processors from the Coffee Lake family, when turbo mode is activated, should not operate at the maximum frequencies specified for the load on a particular number of cores. This is just an upper limit, and there are some other conditions attached to it. The main one is: processor consumption over long periods of time should not exceed the established TDP limits (that is, beyond 95 W for the Core i7-8700K and Core i5-8600K) and can only reach 120 W for a short time. However, many motherboard manufacturers have blocked checking these additional conditions at the BIOS level, and Intel is now working with partners to ensure that Turbo Boost 2.0 technology functions correctly.

It is clear that this will entail a slight decrease in the performance of the new processors under high computing load, but the temperature regime of Coffee Lake will finally not cause any concern. And Intel representatives have already been able to achieve some success in mentoring board manufacturers. For example, in the latest BIOS versions for our ASUS Strix Z370-F Gaming board (0419 and 0420), the implementation of turbo mode is already quite consistent with the norm. After updating the firmware, the frequency of the Core i5-8600K, when tested in LinX 0.8.0, no longer remains at 4.1 GHz and drops to 3.5 GHz, due to which the temperature and consumption remain within acceptable limits: 95 W and 72 degrees respectively.

As for performance, the transition of the motherboard to working correctly with the multiplier expectedly led to a 10% decrease in performance in the Linpack test (from 330 to 300 Gflop). However, in this case, the maximum underclocking occurs, since Linpack uses extremely energy-intensive AVX2 instructions. For example, when tested in Prime95 with AVX instructions deactivated, the operating frequency of the Core i5-8600K is already 3.9 GHz, which is noticeably closer to the maximum set for full load, but still does not reach it.

Nevertheless, one cannot help but pay attention to the fact that due to incorrect support for turbo mode on motherboards, the results of Coffee Lake performance measurements made at the time or before the announcement of processors of this family turned out to be somewhat overestimated (this applies not only to ours, but also to the vast majority reviews available on the Internet). In fact, the performance of Coffee Lake in nominal mode under heavy multi-threaded loads will be somewhere 3-7 percent lower than that obtained in initial tests, but in reality they will now be able to operate at a more adequate temperature and demonstrate much more moderate power consumption.

Such operation of processors with multipliers, when under heavy computing load the frequency drops noticeably, and sometimes even below the basic passport value, was previously typical exclusively for the HEDT platform, where processors have a significant number of computing cores. However, with the introduction of the Coffee Lake design, regular mainstream models also became multi-core, so it is not strange that the multiplication factor now dynamically adjusts to consumption in the LGA1151 platform.

That is why Intel decided to stop describing in detail the values ​​of the turbo frequency at different loads, limiting itself to indicating only the general maximum - the details now do not make much sense. The fact is that the frequencies inherent in the turbo mode may be unattainable in reality. It all depends on the current level of power consumption, and it is not only determined by the nature of the load, but can also vary for different instances of processors depending on the quality of the semiconductor crystal and the rated voltage VID.

The processor is the brain of the computer, but it takes a lot of your own brain to understand the differences between processors! Intel hasn't made it easy for consumers with its weird naming schemes, and the question most often asked is: what's the difference between an i3, i5, or i7 processor? Which one should I buy?

It's time to demystify it. In this article, I won't touch on other Intel processors like the Pentium series or the new Core M series laptop. They're good in their own right, but the Core series is the most popular and confusing, so let's just focus on that.

Understanding Model Numbers

Honestly, it's very simple. Intel Core i7 is better than Core i5, which in turn is better than Core i3. The problem is knowing what to expect from each processor.

First of all, i7 does not mean seven-core processor! These are just names to indicate relative performance.

Typically, the Core i3 series uses only dual-core processors, while the Core i5 and Core i7 series use dual-core and quad-core processors. Quad-core processors are usually better than dual-core processors, but don't worry about that for now.

Intel releases families of chipsets such as the new generation of Skylake processors for the 6th generation Skylake family. Each family, in turn, has its own line of Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

You can determine which generation the processor belongs to the first digit in the four-digit model name. For example, Intel Core i3- 5 200 refers to 5 -th generation. Remember that the new generations of Intel will not support Windows 7, but since Windows 10 is a free upgrade anyway, use the newest generation.

Advice. Here's a useful rule of thumb. The other three numbers are Intel's assessment of how the processor compares to others in its own line. For example, the Intel Core i3-5350 is superior to the Core i3-5200 because 350 is more than 200.

Last letters: U, Q, H, K

Things have changed since we last looked at Intel's processor list. Decoding a list of processors. The model number is usually followed by one or a combination of the following letters: U, Y, T, Q, H, and K. Here's what they mean:

• U: Ultra low power. U rating is for laptop processors only. They use less power and are better for battery life.
• Y: Low power. Typically used for laptops and older generation mobile processors.
• T:Power Optimized for desktop processors.
• Q: Quad-core processor. The Q rating is only for processors with four physical cores.
• H: High-performance graphics. The chipset has one of the best graphics units from Intel.
• K: Unlocked. This means that you can overclock the processor yourself.

Understanding these letters and the numbering system above will help you know what the processor offers just by looking at the model number, without having to read the actual specifications.

You can find the meaning of other letters in the Intel manuals for processor numbers.

Hyper-Threading: i7 > i3 > i5

As you can see above, Intel specifically writes U and Q for the number of physical cores. Well, what other kernels are there, you ask? The answer is virtual cores activated using Hyper-Threading technology.

In layman's terms, hyperthreading allows one physical core to act as two virtual cores, thereby performing many tasks simultaneously without activating the second physical core (which will require more power from the system).

If both processors are active and using hyperthreading, these four virtual cores will compute faster. However, note that physical cores are faster than virtual cores. A quad-core processor will perform much better than a dual-core CPU with hyperthreading!

The Intel Core i3 series has hyper-threading. The Intel Core i7 series also supports hyperthreading. Intel Core i5 series does not support it.

Turbo Boost: i7 > i5 > i3

On the other hand, the Intel Core i3 series does not support Turbo Boost. The Core i5 series uses Turbo Boost to speed up your tasks, just like the Core i7.

Turbo Boost is a patented technology to intelligently increase the processor clock speed if the application requires it. For example, if you're playing a game and your system requires some extra power, Turbo Boost will kick in to compensate.

Turbo Boost is useful for those who use resource-intensive software such as video editors or video games, but it's not a big deal if you're only going to surf the web and use Microsoft Office.

Besides Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost, one of the main differences in the Core line is the cache size. The cache is the processor's own memory and acts as its personal RAM - and it's one of the little-known features that can slow down your PC.

Just like with RAM, the larger the cache size, the better. Therefore, if the processor performs one task over and over again, it will store that task in its cache. If the processor can store more tasks in its private memory, it can make them faster if they appear again.

The Core i3 series typically contains up to 3 MB of cache. The Core i5 series has between 3MB and 6MB cache. The Core i7 series has 4MB to 8MB cache.

Since graphics have been integrated into the processor chip, this has become an important consideration when purchasing processors. But as with everything else, Intel made the system a little confusing.

There are now typically three tiers of graphics devices: Intel HD, Intel Iris, and Intel Iris Pro. You'll see a model name like Intel HD 520 or Intel Iris Pro 580... and that's where the confusion begins.

Here's a quick example of how overwhelming it can be. Intel HD 520 is the main graphics chipset. The Intel Iris 550 is better than the Intel HD 520, but also basic. But Intel HD 530 is a high performance graphics unit and is better than Intel Iris 550. However, Intel Iris Pro 580 is also a high performance graphics unit and is better than Intel HD 530.

Best advice on how to interpret them? Just don't. Instead, rely on the Intel naming system. If the processor model ends with H, you know it is a high-end module.

Comparison of i3, i5, i7 cores

Simply put, here's who each processor type is best for:

• Core i3: main users. Economic choice. Convenient for browsing the Internet, using Microsoft Office, video calls and social networks. Not for gamers or professionals.
• Core i5: Intermediate users. Those who want a balance between performance and price. Good for gaming if you buy an HQ processor or a Q processor with a dedicated GPU.
• Core i7: Professionals. This is the best Intel can do right now.

How did you choose?

This article is a basic guide for those who want to buy a new Intel processor but are confused between Core i3, i5 and i7. But even after understanding all this, when it's time to make a decision, you may need to choose between two processors from different generations.

What other advice do you have for others who are similarly stuck buying a PCU and need to make a choice?