Intel Core is a line of streamlined midrange consumer, workstation and enthusiast computer
central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s (CPUs) marketed by
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series ...
. These processors displaced the existing mid- to high-end
Pentium
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium processor from which the brand took its name was first released on March 22, 1993. After that, the Pentium II and Pe ...
processors at the time of their introduction, moving the Pentium to the entry level. Identical or more capable versions of Core processors are also sold as
Xeon
Xeon ( ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same arc ...
processors for the
server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
and
workstation
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...
markets.
The lineup of Core processors includes the
Intel Core i3
The following is a list of Intel Core i3 brand microprocessors. These processors are designed with cheap price points, while still retaining the power of the Intel Core line. As such they (along with Intel's i5 series) are often found in laptop ...
,
Intel Core i5
The following is a list of Intel Core i5 brand microprocessors. Introduced in 2009, the Core i5 line of microprocessors are intended to be used by mainstream users.
Desktop processors
Nehalem microarchitecture (1st generation)
"Lynnf ...
,
Intel Core i7
The following is a list of Intel Core i7 brand microprocessors. Introduced in 2008, the Core i7 line of microprocessors are intended to be used by high-end users.
Desktop processors
Nehalem microarchitecture (1st generation)
"Bloomfield" ...
, and
Intel Core i9
The following is a list of Intel Core i9 brand microprocessors. They were introduced in May 2017 for LGA 2066 chips, also known as Intel Core X-series processors. With their high number of cores, high power draw, high thermal output, and high pe ...
, along with the X-series of Intel Core CPUs.
Outline
Although Intel Core is a brand that promises no internal consistency or continuity, the processors within this family have been, for the most part, broadly similar.
The first products receiving this designation were the Core Solo and Core Duo Yonah processors for mobile from the
Pentium M
The Pentium M is a family of mobile 32-bit single-core x86 microprocessors (with the modified Intel P6 microarchitecture) introduced in March 2003 and forming a part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then new Centrino brand. The '' ...
design tree, fabricated at 65 nm and brought to market in January 2006. These are substantially different in design than the rest of the Intel Core product group, having derived from the
Pentium Pro
The Pentium Pro is a sixth-generation x86 microprocessor developed and manufactured by Intel and introduced on November 1, 1995. It introduced the P6 microarchitecture (sometimes termed i686) and was originally intended to replace the original P ...
lineage that predated
Pentium 4
Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 2000 ...
.
The first Intel Core desktop processor—and typical family member—came from the Conroe iteration, a 65 nm dual-core design brought to market in July 2006, based on the
Intel Core microarchitecture
The Intel Core microarchitecture (provisionally referred to as Next Generation Micro-architecture, and developed as Merom) is a multi-core processor microarchitecture launched by Intel in mid-2006. It is a major evolution over the Yonah, the ...
with substantial enhancements in micro-architectural efficiency and performance, outperforming Pentium 4 across the board (or near to it), while operating at drastically lower clock rates. Maintaining high
instructions per cycle
In computer architecture, instructions per cycle (IPC), commonly called instructions per clock is one aspect of a processor's performance: the average number of instructions executed for each clock cycle. It is the multiplicative inverse of cycl ...
out-of-order execution
In computer engineering, out-of-order execution (or more formally dynamic execution) is a paradigm used in most high-performance central processing units to make use of instruction cycles that would otherwise be wasted. In this paradigm, a proce ...
engine has remained a constant fixture of the Intel Core product group ever since.
The new substantial bump in microarchitecture came with the introduction of the 45 nm Bloomfield desktop processor in November 2008 on the Nehalem architecture, whose main advantage came from redesigned I/O and memory systems featuring the new
Intel QuickPath Interconnect
The Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) is a point-to-point microprocessor, processor electrical connection, interconnect developed by Intel which replaced the front-side bus (FSB) in Xeon, Itanium, and certain desktop platforms starting in 2008. I ...
and an integrated
memory controller
The memory controller is a digital circuit that manages the flow of data going to and from the computer's main memory. A memory controller can be a separate chip or integrated into another chip, such as being placed on the same die or as an int ...
supporting up to three channels of
DDR3
Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR3 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) with a high bandwidth ("double data rate") interface, and has been in use since 2007. It is the higher-speed ...
memory.
Subsequent performance improvements have tended toward making additions rather than profound changes, such as adding the
Advanced Vector Extensions
Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were proposed by Intel in March 2008 and first supported by Intel with the Sandy Bridge ...
instruction set extensions to
Sandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge is the codename for Intel's 32 nm microarchitecture used in the second generation of the Intel Core processors (Core i7, i5, i3). The Sandy Bridge microarchitecture is the successor to Nehalem and Westmere microarchitecture ...
, first released on 32 nm in January 2011. Time has also brought improved support for
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
and a trend toward higher levels of system integration and management functionality (and along with that, increased performance) through the ongoing evolution of facilities such as
Intel Active Management Technology
Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware for remote out-of-band management of select business computers, running on the Intel Management Engine, a microprocessor subsystem not exposed to the user, intended for monitorin ...
.
Since 2019, the Core brand has been based on four product lines, consisting of the entry level i3, the mainstream i5, the high-end i7, and the "enthusiast" i9.
Comparison
Vulnerabilities
In early 2018, news reports indicated that security flaws, referred to as "
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
" and "
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
", were found "in virtually all Intel processors ade in the past two decadesthat will require fixes within Windows, macOS and Linux". The flaw also affected cloud servers. At the time, Intel was not commenting on this issue. According to a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' report, "There is no easy fix for Spectre ... as for Meltdown, the software patch needed to fix the issue could slow down computers by as much as 30 percent".
In mid 2018, the majority of Intel Core processors were found to possess a defect (the Foreshadow vulnerability), which undermines the
Software Guard Extensions Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) is a set of security-related instruction codes that are built into some Intel central processing units (CPUs). They allow user-level and operating system code to define protected private regions of memory, ca ...
(SGX) feature of the processor. In March 2020, computer security experts reported another Intel chip security flaw, besides the
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
and
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
flaws, with the systematic name (or, " Intel CSME Bug", referencing the Converged Security and Management Engine). This newly found flaw is not fixable with a firmware update, and affects nearly "all Intel chips released in the past five years".
Overview
Origins
Core
The original ''Core'' brand refers to
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
's
32-bit
In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
mobile
dual-core
A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
Pentium M
The Pentium M is a family of mobile 32-bit single-core x86 microprocessors (with the modified Intel P6 microarchitecture) introduced in March 2003 and forming a part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then new Centrino brand. The '' ...
branded processors. The processor family used an enhanced version of the Intel
P6 microarchitecture
The P6 microarchitecture is the sixth-generation Intel x86 microarchitecture, implemented by the Pentium Pro microprocessor that was introduced in November 1995. It is frequently referred to as i686. It was succeeded by the NetBurst microarch ...
Pentium 4
Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 2000 ...
brand, and was a precursor of the 64-bit
Core microarchitecture
The Intel Core microarchitecture (provisionally referred to as Next Generation Micro-architecture, and developed as Merom) is a multi-core processor microarchitecture launched by Intel in mid-2006. It is a major evolution over the Yonah, the p ...
of Core 2 branded CPUs. The Core brand had two branches: the ''Duo'' (dual-core) and ''Solo'' (Duo with one disabled core, which replaced the Pentium M brand of single-core mobile processor).
Intel launched the Core brand on January 6, 2006, with the release of the
32-bit
In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
dual-core
A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
mobile (low-power) processor. Its dual-core layout closely resembled two interconnected
Pentium M
The Pentium M is a family of mobile 32-bit single-core x86 microprocessors (with the modified Intel P6 microarchitecture) introduced in March 2003 and forming a part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then new Centrino brand. The '' ...
branded CPUs packaged as a single
die
Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life.
Die may also refer to:
Games
* Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers
Manufacturing
* Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...
(piece) silicon chip ( IC). Hence, the 32-bit microarchitecture of Core branded CPUs contrary to its name had more in common with Pentium M branded CPUs than with the subsequent
64-bit
In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
Core microarchitecture of
Core 2
Intel Core 2 is the processor family encompassing a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single- die, whereas the quad-cor ...
branded CPUs. Despite a major
rebranding
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
effort by
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
starting January 2006, some companies continued to market computers with the Yonah core marked as Pentium M.
The Core series is also the first Intel processor used as the main CPU in an
Apple Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
computer. The Core Duo was the CPU for the first generation MacBook Pro, while the Core Solo appeared in Apple's
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
began branding the Yonah core CPUs intended for mainstream ''mobile'' computers as
Pentium Dual-Core
The Pentium Dual-Core brand was used for mainstream x86-architecture microprocessors from Intel from 2006 to 2009 when it was renamed to Pentium. The processors are based on either the 32-bit '' Yonah'' or (with quite different microarchitectur ...
, not to be confused with the ''desktop'' 64-bit Core microarchitecture CPUs also branded as Pentium Dual-Core.
September 2007 and January 4, 2008, marked the discontinuation of a number of ''Core'' branded CPUs including several Core Solo, Core Duo, Celeron and one Core 2 Quad chip.
Core Solo
Intel Core Solo (product code 80538) uses the same two-core die as the Core Duo, but features only one ''active'' core. Depending on demand, Intel may also simply disable one of the cores to sell the chip at the Core Solo price—this requires less effort than launching and maintaining a separate line of CPUs that physically only have one core. Intel had used the same strategy previously with the 486 CPU in which early 486SX CPUs were in fact manufactured as
486DX
The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the Intel 386. The i486 was introduced in 1989. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the ...
Intel Core Duo (product code 80539) consists of two cores on one die, a 2 MB L2 cache shared by both cores, and an arbiter bus that controls both L2 cache and FSB (front-side bus) access.
Core 2
The successor to Core is the mobile version of the
Intel Core 2
Intel Core 2 is the processor family encompassing a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single-die, whereas the quad-core ...
line of processors using cores based upon the Intel Core microarchitecture, released on July 27, 2006. The release of the mobile version of Intel Core 2 marks the reunification of Intel's desktop and mobile product lines as Core 2 processors were released for desktops and notebooks, unlike the first Intel Core CPUs that were targeted only for notebooks (although some small form factor and all-in-one desktops, like the
iMac
iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.
In it ...
and the
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
, also used Core processors).
Unlike the Intel Core, Intel Core 2 is a 64-bit processor, supporting
Intel 64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mod ...
. Another difference between the original Core Duo and the new Core 2 Duo is an increase in the amount of
Level 2 cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...
. The new Core 2 Duo has tripled the amount of on-board cache to 6 MB. Core 2 also introduced a quad-core performance variant to the single- and dual-core chips, branded Core 2 Quad, as well as an enthusiast variant, Core 2 Extreme. All three chips are manufactured at a 65 nm
lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
, and in 2008, a 45 nm lithography and support Front Side Bus speeds ranging from 533 MHz to 1600 MHz. In addition, the 45 nm die shrink of the Core microarchitecture adds
SSE4.1
SSE4 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 4) is a SIMD CPU instruction set used in the Intel Core microarchitecture and AMD K10 (K8L). It was announced on September 27, 2006, at the Fall 2006 Intel Developer Forum, with vague details in a white paper; mor ...
support to all Core 2 microprocessors manufactured at a 45 nm lithography, therefore increasing the calculation rate of the processors.
Core 2 Solo
The Core 2 Solo, introduced in September 2007, is the successor to the Core Solo and is available only as an ultra-low-power mobile processor with 5.5 Watt thermal design power. The original U2xxx series "Merom-L" used a special version of the Merom chip with
CPUID
In the x86 architecture, the CPUID instruction (identified by a CPUID opcode) is a processor supplementary instruction (its name derived from CPU IDentification) allowing software to discover details of the processor. It was introduced by Intel i ...
number 10661 (model 22, stepping A1) that only had a single core and was also used in some Celeron processors.
The later SU3xxx are part of Intel's
CULV
Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) is a computing platform developed by Intel.
The majority of the desktop and mobile Core 2 processor variants are Core 2 Duo with two processor cores on a single Merom, Conroe, Allendale, Penryn, or Wolfdale chip. These come in a wide range of performance and power consumption, starting with the relatively slow ultra-low-power Uxxxx (10 W) and low-power Lxxxx (17 W) versions, to the more performance oriented Pxxxx (25 W) and Txxxx (35 W) mobile versions and the Exxxx (65 W) desktop models. The mobile Core 2 Duo processors with an 'S' prefix in the name are produced in a smaller μFC-BGA 956 package, which allows building more compact laptops.
Within each line, a higher number usually refers to a better performance, which depends largely on core and front-side bus clock frequency and amount of second level cache, which are model-specific. Core 2 Duo processors typically use the full L2 cache of 2, 3, 4, or 6 MB available in the specific stepping of the chip, while versions with the amount of cache reduced during manufacturing are sold for the low-end consumer market as
Celeron
Celeron is Intel's brand name for low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers.
Celeron processors are compatible with IA-32
IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ...
or
Pentium Dual-Core
The Pentium Dual-Core brand was used for mainstream x86-architecture microprocessors from Intel from 2006 to 2009 when it was renamed to Pentium. The processors are based on either the 32-bit '' Yonah'' or (with quite different microarchitectur ...
processors. Like those processors, some low-end Core 2 Duo models disable features such as
Intel Virtualization Technology
x86 virtualization is the use of hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities on an x86/x86-64 CPU.
In the late 1990s x86 virtualization was achieved by complex software techniques, necessary to compensate for the processor's lack of hardware-as ...
.
Core 2 Quad
Core 2 Quad processors are
multi-chip module
A multi-chip module (MCM) is generically an electronic assembly (such as a package with a number of conductor terminals or "pins") where multiple integrated circuits (ICs or "chips"), semiconductor dies and/or other discrete components are int ...
s consisting of two dies similar to those used in Core 2 Duo, forming a quad-core processor. This allows twice the performance of a dual-core processors at the same clock frequency in ideal conditions.
Initially, all Core 2 Quad models were versions of Core 2 Duo desktop processors, Kentsfield derived from Conroe and
Yorkfield
Yorkfield is the code name for some Intel processors sold as Core 2 Quad and Xeon.
In Intel's Tick-Tock cycle, the 2007/2008 "Tick" was Penryn microarchitecture, the shrink of the Core microarchitecture to 45 nanometers as CPUID model 23, repla ...
from Wolfdale, but later Penryn-QC was added as a high-end version of the mobile dual-core Penryn.
The Xeon 32xx and 33xx processors are mostly identical versions of the desktop Core 2 Quad processors and can be used interchangeably.
Core 2 Extreme
Core 2 Extreme processors are enthusiast versions of Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors, usually with a higher clock frequency and an unlocked
clock multiplier
In computing, the clock multiplier (or CPU multiplier or bus/core ratio) sets the ratio of an internal CPU clock rate to the externally supplied clock. A CPU with a 10x multiplier will thus see 10 internal cycles (produced by PLL-based frequency ...
, which makes them especially attractive for
overclocking
In computing, overclocking is the practice of increasing the clock rate of a computer to exceed that certified by the manufacturer. Commonly, operating voltage is also increased to maintain a component's operational stability at accelerated spe ...
. This is similar to earlier
Pentium
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium processor from which the brand took its name was first released on March 22, 1993. After that, the Pentium II and Pe ...
processors labeled as Extreme Edition. Core 2 Extreme processors were released at a much higher price than their regular version, often $999 or more.
1st generation (Nehalem)
With the release of the
Nehalem microarchitecture
Nehalem is the codename for Intel's 45 nm microarchitecture released in November 2008. It was used in the first-generation of the Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, and succeeds the older Core microarchitecture used on Core 2 processors. The ...
in November 2008, Intel introduced a new naming scheme for its Core processors. There are three variants, Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7, but the names no longer correspond to specific technical features like the number of cores. Instead, the brand is now divided from low-level (i3), through mid-range (i5) to high-end performance (i7), which correspond to three, four and five stars in Intel's Intel Processor Rating following on from the entry-level Celeron (one star) and Pentium (two stars) processors. Common features of all Nehalem based processors include an integrated
DDR3
Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR3 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) with a high bandwidth ("double data rate") interface, and has been in use since 2007. It is the higher-speed ...
PCI Express
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common ...
and
Direct Media Interface
In computing, Direct Media Interface (DMI) is Intel's proprietary link between the northbridge and southbridge on a computer motherboard. It was first used between the 9xx chipsets and the ICH6, released in 2004. Previous Intel chipsets had us ...
on the processor replacing the aging quad-pumped
Front Side Bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
used in all earlier Core processors. All these processors have 256 KB L2 cache per core, plus up to 12 MB shared L3 cache. Because of the new I/O interconnect, chipsets and mainboards from previous generations can no longer be used with Nehalem-based processors.
Core i3
Intel intended the Core i3 as the new low end of the performance processor line from
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
, following the retirement of the
Core 2
Intel Core 2 is the processor family encompassing a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single- die, whereas the quad-cor ...
brand.
The first Core i3 processors were launched on January 7, 2010.
The first Nehalem based Core i3 was Clarkdale-based, with an integrated
GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
and two cores. The same processor is also available as Core i5 and Pentium, with slightly different configurations.
The Core i3-3xxM processors are based on
Arrandale
Arrandale is the code name for a family of mobile Intel processors, sold as mobile Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 as well as Celeron and Pentium. It is closely related to the desktop Clarkdale processor; both use dual-core dies based on the '' Westme ...
, the mobile version of the Clarkdale desktop processor. They are similar to the Core i5-4xx series but running at lower clock speeds and without
Turbo Boost
Intel Turbo Boost is Intel's trade name for central processing units (CPUs) dynamic frequency scaling feature that automatically raises certain versions of its operating frequency when demanding tasks are running, thus enabling a higher resulting ...
. According to an Intel FAQ they do not support Error Correction Code (ECC) memory. According to motherboard manufacturer Supermicro, if a Core i3 processor is used with a server chipset platform such as Intel 3400/3420/3450, the CPU supports ECC with UDIMM. When asked, Intel confirmed that, although the Intel 5 series chipset supports non-ECC memory only with the Core i5 or i3 processors, using those processors on a motherboard with 3400 series chipsets it supports the ECC function of ECC memory. A limited number of motherboards by other companies also support ECC with Intel Core ix processors; the Asus P8B WS is an example, but it does not support ECC memory under Windows non-server operating systems.
Core i5
Lynnfield was the first Core i5 processors using the Nehalem microarchitecture, introduced on September 8, 2009, as a mainstream variant of the earlier Core i7. Lynnfield Core i5 processors have an 8 MB
L3 cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which ...
, a DMI bus running at 2.5
GT/s
In computer technology, transfers per second and its more common secondary terms gigatransfers per second (abbreviated as GT/s) and megatransfers per second (MT/s) are informal language that refer to the number of operations transferring data that ...
and support for dual-channel DDR3-800/1066/1333 memory and have
Hyper-threading
Hyper-threading (officially called Hyper-Threading Technology or HT Technology and abbreviated as HTT or HT) is Intel's proprietary simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multip ...
disabled. The same processors with different sets of features (Hyper-threading and other clock frequencies) enabled are sold as Core i7-8xx and Xeon 3400-series processors, which should not be confused with high-end Core i7-9xx and Xeon 3500-series processors based on Bloomfield. A new feature called Turbo Boost Technology was introduced which maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match the workload.
After Nehalem received a 32 nm Westmere die shrink,
Arrandale
Arrandale is the code name for a family of mobile Intel processors, sold as mobile Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 as well as Celeron and Pentium. It is closely related to the desktop Clarkdale processor; both use dual-core dies based on the '' Westme ...
, the dual-core mobile Core i5 processors and its desktop counterpart Clarkdale was introduced in January 2010, together with Core i7-6xx and Core i3-3xx processors based on the same architecture. Arrandale processors have integrated graphics capability. Core i3-3xx does not support for
Turbo Boost
Intel Turbo Boost is Intel's trade name for central processing units (CPUs) dynamic frequency scaling feature that automatically raises certain versions of its operating frequency when demanding tasks are running, thus enabling a higher resulting ...
, L3 cache in Core i5-5xx processors is reduced to 3 MB, while the Core i5-6xx uses the full cache, Clarkdale is sold as Core i5-6xx, along with related Core i3 and Pentium processors. It has Hyper-Threading enabled and the full 4 MB L3 cache.
According to Intel "Core i5 desktop processors and desktop boards typically do not support ECC memory", but information on limited ECC support in the Core i3 section also applies to Core i5 and i7.
Core i7
Intel Core i7 as an
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
brand name applies to several families of desktop and laptop
64-bit
In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mod ...
Sandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge is the codename for Intel's 32 nm microarchitecture used in the second generation of the Intel Core processors (Core i7, i5, i3). The Sandy Bridge microarchitecture is the successor to Nehalem and Westmere microarchitecture ...
Kaby Lake
Kaby Lake is Intel's codename for its seventh generation Core microprocessor family announced on August 30, 2016. Like the preceding Skylake, Kaby Lake is produced using a 14 nanometer manufacturing process technology. Breaking with Intel's ...
microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
s. The Core i7 brand targets the business and high-end consumer markets for both desktop and laptop computers, and is distinguished from the
Core i3
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the central ...
(entry-level consumer),
Core i5
The following is a list of Intel Core i5 brand microprocessors. Introduced in 2009, the Core i5 line of microprocessors are intended to be used by mainstream users.
Desktop processors
Nehalem microarchitecture (1st generation)
"Lynnf ...
(mainstream consumer), and
Xeon
Xeon ( ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same arc ...
(server and workstation) brands.
Introduced in late 2008, Bloomfield was the first Core i7 processors based on the Nehalem architecture. The following year, Lynnfield desktop processors and Clarksfield mobile processors brought new quad-core Core i7 models based on the said architecture.
After Nehalem received a 32 nm Westmere die shrink, Arrandale dual-core mobile processors were introduced in January 2010, followed by Core i7's first six-core desktop processor
Gulftown
Gulftown or Westmere-EP is the codename of an up to six-core hyperthreaded Intel processor able to run up to 12 threads in parallel. It is based on Westmere microarchitecture, the 32 nm shrink of Nehalem. Originally rumored to be called the Int ...
on March 16, 2010. Both the regular Core i7 and the ''Extreme Edition'' are advertised as five stars in the Intel Processor Rating.
The first-generation Core i7 uses two different sockets;
LGA 1366
LGA 1366 (land grid array 1366), also known as Socket B, is an Intel CPU socket. This socket supersedes Intel's LGA 775 (Socket T) in the high-end and performance desktop segments. It also replaces the server-oriented LGA 771 (Socket J) in the e ...
designed for high-end desktops and servers, and
LGA 1156
LGA 1156 (land grid array 1156), also known as Socket H or H1, is an Intel desktop CPU socket. Its incompatible successor is LGA 1155.
The last processors supporting it ceased production in 2011.
LGA 1156, along with LGA 1366, were designed t ...
used in low- and mid-end desktops and servers. In each generation, the highest-performing Core i7 processors use the same socket and
QPI
The Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) is a point-to-point processor interconnect developed by Intel which replaced the front-side bus (FSB) in Xeon, Itanium, and certain desktop platforms starting in 2008. It increased the scalability and availab ...
-based architecture as the medium-end Xeon processors of that generation, while lower-performing Core i7 processors use the same socket and PCIe/DMI/FDI architecture as the Core i5.
"Core i7" is a successor to the
Intel Core 2
Intel Core 2 is the processor family encompassing a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single-die, whereas the quad-core ...
brand. Intel representatives stated that they intended the
moniker
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
''Core i7'' to help consumers decide which processor to purchase as Intel releases newer Nehalem-based products in the future.
2nd generation (Sandy Bridge)
In early 2011, Intel introduced a new microarchitecture named Sandy Bridge. This is the second generation of the Core processor microarchitecture. It kept all the existing brands from Nehalem, including Core i3/i5/i7, and introduced new model numbers. The initial set of Sandy Bridge processors includes dual- and quad-core variants, all of which use a single 32 nm die for both the CPU and integrated GPU cores, unlike the earlier microarchitectures. All Core i3/i5/i7 processors with the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture have a four-digit model number. With the mobile version, the
thermal design power
The thermal design power (TDP), sometimes called thermal design point, is the maximum amount of heat generated by a computer chip or component (often a CPU, GPU or system on a chip) that the cooling system in a computer is designed to dissipate ...
can no longer be determined from a one- or two-letter suffix but is encoded into the CPU number. Starting with Sandy Bridge, Intel no longer distinguishes the code names of the processor based on number of cores, socket or intended usage; they all use the same code name as the microarchitecture itself.
Ivy Bridge is the codename for Intel's 22 nm die shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture based on tri-gate ("3D") transistors, introduced in April 2012.
Core i3
Released on January 20, 2011, the Core i3-2xxx line of desktop and mobile processors is a direct replacement of the 2010 "Clarkdale" Core i3-5xx and "Arrandale" Core i3-3xxM models, based on the new microarchitecture. While they require new sockets and chipsets, the user-visible features of the Core i3 are largely unchanged, including the lack of support for
Turbo Boost
Intel Turbo Boost is Intel's trade name for central processing units (CPUs) dynamic frequency scaling feature that automatically raises certain versions of its operating frequency when demanding tasks are running, thus enabling a higher resulting ...
and
AES-NI
An Advanced Encryption Standard instruction set is now integrated into many processors. The purpose of the instruction set is to improve the speed and security of applications performing encryption and decryption using Advanced Encryption Standard ...
. Unlike the Sandy Bridge-based Celeron and Pentium processors, the Core i3 line does support the new
Advanced Vector Extensions
Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were proposed by Intel in March 2008 and first supported by Intel with the Sandy Bridge ...
. This particular processor is the entry-level processor of this new series of Intel processors.
Core i5
In January 2011, Intel released new quad-core Core i5 processors based on the "Sandy Bridge" microarchitecture at CES 2011. New dual-core mobile processors and desktop processors arrived in February 2011.
The Core i5-2xxx line of desktop processors are mostly quad-core chips, with the exception of the dual-core Core i5-2390T, and include integrated graphics, combining the key features of the earlier Core i5-6xx and Core i5-7xx lines. The suffix after the four-digit model number designates unlocked multiplier (K), low-power (S) and ultra-low-power (T).
The desktop CPUs now all have four non- SMT cores (like the i5-750), with the exception of the i5-2390T. The DMI bus runs at 5 GT/s.
The mobile Core i5-2xxxM processors are all dual-core and hyper-threaded chips like the previous Core i5-5xxM series, and share most of the features with that product line.
Core i7
The Core i7 brand was the high-end for Intel's desktop and mobile processors, until the announcement of the i9 in 2017. Its Sandy Bridge models feature the largest amount of L3 cache and the highest clock frequency. Most of these models are very similar to their smaller Core i5 siblings. The quad-core mobile Core i7-2xxxQM/XM processors follow the previous "Clarksfield" Core i7-xxxQM/XM processors, but now also include integrated graphics.
3rd generation (Ivy Bridge)
Ivy Bridge is the codename for a "third generation" line of processors based on the 22 nm manufacturing process developed by Intel. Mobile versions of the CPU were released in April 2012 following with desktop versions in September 2012.
Core i3
The Ivy Bridge-based Core-i3-3xxx line is a minor upgrade to 22 nm process technology and better graphics.
Core i5
Core i7
4th generation (Haswell)
Haswell is the fourth generation Core processor microarchitecture, and was released in 2013.
Core i3
Core i5
Core i7
5th generation (Broadwell)
Broadwell is the fifth generation Core processor microarchitecture, and was released by Intel on September 6, 2014, and began shipping in late 2014. It is the first to use a 14 nm chip. Additionally, mobile processors were launched in January 2015 and Desktop Core i5 and i7 processors were released in June 2015.
Desktop processor (DT-Series)
Mobile processors (U-Series)
Mobile Processors (Y-Series)
6th generation
Broadwell microarchitecture
High-end Desktop Processors (E-Series)
Skylake microarchitecture
Skylake is the sixth generation Core processor microarchitecture, and was launched in August 2015. Being the successor to the Broadwell line, it is a redesign using the same 14 nm manufacturing process technology; however the redesign has better CPU and GPU performance and reduced power consumption. Intel also disabled overclocking non -K processors.
Desktop processors (DT-Series)
Mobile processors (H-Series)
Mobile processors (U-Series)
7th generation
Skylake microarchitecture
High-end Desktop processors (X-Series)
Kaby Lake
Kaby Lake is the codename for the seventh generation Core processor, and was launched in October 2016 (mobile chips) and January 2017 (desktop chips). With the latest generation of microarchitecture, Intel decided to produce Kaby Lake processors without using their " tick–tock" manufacturing and design model. Kaby Lake features the same Skylake microarchitecture and is fabricated using Intel's
14 nanometer
The 14 nm process refers to the MOSFET technology node that is the successor to the 22nm (or 20nm) node. The 14nm was so named by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Until about 2011, the node following 22nm was expe ...
manufacturing process technology.
Features
Built on an improved 14 nm process (14FF+), Kaby Lake features faster CPU clock speeds and
Turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
frequencies. Beyond these process and clock speed changes, little of the CPU architecture has changed from Skylake, resulting in identical IPC.
Kaby Lake features a new graphics architecture to improve performance in
3D graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections. Types of connections include DisplayPort ...
2.2 support, along with fixed function decode of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC,
High Efficiency Video Coding
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...
Main and Main10/10-bit, and
VP9
VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.
VP9 is the successor to VP8 and competes mainly with MPEG's High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).
At first, VP9 was mainly used on Google's video platform YouTube. ...
10-bit and 8-bit video. Hardware encode is supported for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC,
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compari ...
Main10/10-bit, and VP9 8-bit video. VP9 10-bit encode is not supported in hardware. OpenCL 2.1 is now supported.
Kaby Lake is the first Core architecture to support
hyper-threading
Hyper-threading (officially called Hyper-Threading Technology or HT Technology and abbreviated as HTT or HT) is Intel's proprietary simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multip ...
for the Pentium-branded desktop CPU SKU. Kaby Lake also features the first overclocking-enabled i3-branded CPU.
Features common to desktop Kaby Lake CPUs:
*
LGA 1151
LGA 1151, also known as Socket H4, zero insertion force flip-chip land grid array (LGA) socket for Intel desktop processors which comes in two distinct versions: the first revision which supports both Intel's Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs, an ...
socket
*
DMI 3.0
In computing, Direct Media Interface (DMI) is Intel's proprietary link between the northbridge and southbridge on a computer motherboard. It was first used between the 9xx chipsets and the ICH6, released in 2004. Previous Intel chipsets had u ...
and
PCIe 3.0
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common mot ...
interfaces
* Dual channel memory support in the following configurations: DDR3L-1600 1.35 V (32 GiB maximum) or DDR4-2400 1.2 V (64 GiB maximum)
* A total of 16 PCIe lanes
* The Core-branded processors support the AVX2 instruction set. The Celeron and Pentium-branded ones support only SSE4.1/4.2
* 350 MHz base graphics clock rate
* No L4 cache (eDRAM).
* A release date of January 3, 2017
Desktop processors (S-Series)
Mobile Processors (H-Series)
Mobile Processors (U-Series)
Mobile Processors (Y-Series)
High-end Desktop processors (X-Series)
Kaby Lake-X processors are modified versions of Kaby Lake-S processors that fit into the LGA 2066 socket. However, they can't take advantage of the unique features of the platform.
8th generation
Kaby Lake Refresh
Mobile processors (U-Series)
Coffee Lake microarchitecture
Coffee Lake is a codename for the eighth generation Intel Core family and was launched in October 2017. For the first time in the ten-year history of Intel Core processors, the Coffee Lake generation features an increase in core counts across the desktop lineup of processors, a significant driver of improved performance versus previous generations despite similar per-clock performance.
''* Intel
Hyper-threading
Hyper-threading (officially called Hyper-Threading Technology or HT Technology and abbreviated as HTT or HT) is Intel's proprietary simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multip ...
capabilities allow an enabled processor to execute two threads per physical core''
Features
Coffee Lake features largely the same CPU core and performance per MHz as Skylake/Kaby Lake. Features specific to Coffee Lake include:
* Following similar refinements to the 14 nm process in Skylake and Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake is the third 14 nm process refinement ("14nm++") and features increased transistor gate pitch for a lower current density and higher leakage transistors which allows higher peak power and higher frequency at the expense of die area and idle power.
* Coffee Lake will be used in conjunction with the 300-series chipset and is incompatible with the older 100- and 200-series chipsets.
* Increased L3 cache in accordance to the number of cores
* Increased turbo clock speeds across i5 and i7 CPUs models (increased by up to 200 MHz)
* Increased iGPU clock speeds by 50 MHz
* DDR4 memory support updated for 2666 MHz (for i5 and i7 parts) and 2400 MHz (for i3 parts); DDR3 memory is no longer supported
Desktop processors (S-Series)
* Processors Core i3-8100 and Core i3-8350K with stepping B0 actually belong to " Kaby Lake-S" family
Mobile processors (H-Series)
Mobile processors (U-Series)
Amber Lake microarchitecture
Amber Lake is a refinement over the low power Mobile Kaby Lake CPUs.
Kaby Lake Refresh
Kaby Lake is Intel's List of Intel codenames, codename for its seventh generation Intel Core, Core microprocessor family announced on August 30, 2016. Like the preceding Skylake (microarchitecture), Skylake, Kaby Lake is produced using a 14 nano ...
and
Coffee Lake
Coffee Lake is Intel's codename for its eighth generation Core microprocessor family, announced on September 25, 2017. It is manufactured using Intel's second 14 nm process node refinement. Desktop Coffee Lake processors introduced i5 and i ...
. Intel announced low power mobile Whiskey Lake CPUs availability on August 28, 2018. It has not yet been advertised whether this CPU architecture contains hardware mitigations for
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
/
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
class vulnerabilities—various sources contain conflicting information. Unofficially it was announced that Whiskey Lake has hardware mitigations against Meltdown and L1TF while Spectre V2 requires software mitigations as well as microcode/firmware update.
Architecture changes compared to Kaby Lake Refresh
* 14++ nm process, same as Coffee Lake
* Increased turbo clocks (300–600 MHz)
* 14 nm PCH
* Native USB 3.1 gen 2 support (10 Gbit/s)
* Integrated 802.11ac 160 MHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0
* Intel Optane Memory support
die shrink
The term die shrink (sometimes optical shrink or process shrink) refers to the scaling of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices. The act of shrinking a die is to create a somewhat identical circuit using a more advanced fabrication process, us ...
of the
Kaby Lake
Kaby Lake is Intel's codename for its seventh generation Core microprocessor family announced on August 30, 2016. Like the preceding Skylake, Kaby Lake is produced using a 14 nanometer manufacturing process technology. Breaking with Intel's ...
microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
. As a die shrink, Cannon Lake is a new process in Intel's " process–architecture–optimization" execution plan as the next step in semiconductor fabrication. Cannon Lake are the first mainstream CPUs to include the
AVX-512 AVX-512 are 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions SIMD instructions for x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) proposed by Intel in July 2013, and implemented in Intel's Xeon Phi x200 (Knights Landing) and Skylake-X CPUs; thi ...
instruction set. In comparison to the previous generation
AVX2
Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were proposed by Intel in March 2008 and first supported by Intel with the Sandy Bridge ...
(AVX-256), the new generation AVX-512 most notably provides double the width of data registers and double the number of registers. These enhancements would allow for twice the number of floating point operations per register due to the increased width in addition to doubling the overall ''number'' of registers, resulting in theoretical performance improvements of up to four times the performance of AVX2.
At
CES 2018
CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typ ...
, Intel announced that they had started shipping mobile Cannon Lake CPUs at the end of 2017 and that they would ramp up production in 2018. No further details were disclosed.
Architecture changes compared to Coffee Lake
*
AVX-512 AVX-512 are 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions SIMD instructions for x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) proposed by Intel in July 2013, and implemented in Intel's Xeon Phi x200 (Knights Landing) and Skylake-X CPUs; thi ...
instruction set extension
*Intel's first 10 nm process technology
Mobile processors (U-Series)
9th generation
Skylake microarchitecture
High-end Desktop processors (X-Series)
The 9th generation Skylake CPUs are updated versions of previous Skylake X-Series CPUs with clockspeed improvements.
Coffee Lake Refresh microarchitecture
Desktop processors (S-Series)
The 9th generation
Coffee Lake
Coffee Lake is Intel's codename for its eighth generation Core microprocessor family, announced on September 25, 2017. It is manufactured using Intel's second 14 nm process node refinement. Desktop Coffee Lake processors introduced i5 and i ...
CPUs were released in the fourth quarter of 2018. They include hardware mitigations against certain
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
/
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
vulnerabilities.
For the first time in Intel consumer CPU history, these CPUs support up to 128 GB RAM.
''* Intel
Hyper-threading
Hyper-threading (officially called Hyper-Threading Technology or HT Technology and abbreviated as HTT or HT) is Intel's proprietary simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multip ...
capabilities allow an enabled processor to execute two threads per physical core''
Even though the F suffix CPUs lack an integrated GPU, Intel set the same price for these CPUs as their featureful counterparts.
* various reviews show that the Core i9 9900K CPU may consume over 140 W under load. The Core i9 9900KS may consume even more.
Mobile processors (H-Series)
10th generation
Cascade Lake microarchitecture
High-end Desktop processors (X-Series)
Cascade Lake X-Series CPUs are the 10th generation versions of the previous Skylake X-Series CPUs. They offer minor clockspeed improvements and a highly reduced price.
Ice Lake microarchitecture
Ice Lake is codename for Intel's 10th generation Intel Core processors, representing an enhancement of the 'Architecture' of the preceding generation Kaby Lake/Cannon Lake processors (as specified in Intel's process–architecture–optimization execution plan). As the successor to Cannon Lake, Ice Lake uses Intel's newer 10 nm+ fabrication process, and is powered by the Sunny Cove microarchitecture.
Ice Lake are the first Intel CPUs to feature in-silicon mitigations for the hardware vulnerabilities discovered in 2017,
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
and
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
. These
side-channel attack
In computer security, a side-channel attack is any attack based on extra information that can be gathered because of the fundamental way a computer protocol or algorithm is implemented, rather than flaws in the design of the protocol or algorit ...
speculative execution
Speculative execution is an optimization technique where a computer system performs some task that may not be needed. Work is done before it is known whether it is actually needed, so as to prevent a delay that would have to be incurred by doing t ...
. These exploits may cause the CPU to reveal cached private information which the exploiting process is not intended to be able to access as a form of
timing attack
In cryptography, a timing attack is a side-channel attack in which the attacker attempts to compromise a cryptosystem by analyzing the time taken to execute cryptographic algorithms. Every logical operation in a computer takes time to execute, and ...
.
Features
= CPU
=
* On average 18% increase in IPC in comparison to 2015 Skylake running at the same frequency and memory configuration
* L1 instruction/data cache: 32 KB / 48 KiB; L2 cache: 512 KiB
* Dynamic Tuning 2.0 which allows the CPU to stay at turbo frequencies for longer
* Six new
AVX-512 AVX-512 are 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions SIMD instructions for x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) proposed by Intel in July 2013, and implemented in Intel's Xeon Phi x200 (Knights Landing) and Skylake-X CPUs; thi ...
Deep Learning Boost
Intel's Deep Learning Boost (DL Boost) is a marketing name for instruction set architecture features on the x86-64 designed to improve performance on deep learning tasks such as training and inference. DL Boost consists of two sets of features:
...
= GPU
=
* Gen 11 GPU with up to 64 execution units; 4K@ 120 Hz, 5K, 8K display output
*Variable Rate Shading
*
DisplayPort
DisplayPort (DP) is a digital display interface developed by a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers and standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device su ...
1.4a with Display Stream Compression;
HDMI 2.0
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, t ...
b
* Up to 1.15
TFLOPS
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
of computational performance
*Two HEVC 10-bit encode pipelines, either two 4K60 4:4:4 streams simultaneously or one 8K30 4:2:2
= Package
=
* 10 nm+ transistors
* New memory controller with DDR4 3200 and LPDDR4X 3733 support
* Integrated support for
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
6 (
802.11ax
IEEE 802.11ax, officially marketed by the Wi-Fi Alliance as (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and (6 GHz), is an IEEE standard for wireless local-area networks (WLANs) and the successor of 802.11ac. It is also known as ''High Efficiency'' , for ...
)
*
Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...
3 support
Mobile processors (U-Series)
Mobile processors (Y-Series)
Comet Lake microarchitecture
Comet Lake is Intel's codename for the fourth 14 nm Skylake process-refinement, following Whiskey Lake. Intel announced low power mobile Comet Lake CPUs availability on August 21, 2019.
Architecture changes in Comet Lake-U compared to Whiskey Lake
* Up to six CPU cores; L3 cache up to 12 MiB
*Higher turbo frequencies
*LPDDR4x 2933 memory support
*
Wi-Fi 6
IEEE 802.11ax, officially marketed by the Wi-Fi Alliance as (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and (6 GHz), is an IEEE standard for wireless local-area networks (WLANs) and the successor of 802.11ac. It is also known as ''High Efficiency'' , fo ...
Willow Cove
Willow Cove is a codename for a CPU microarchitecture developed by Intel and released in September 2020. Willow Cove is the successor to the Sunny Cove microarchitecture, and is fabricated using Intel's enhanced 10 nm process node called 10  ...
CPU cores
* Larger level two and level three (L2/L3) caches
* A new AVX-512 instruction: Vector Pair Intersection to a Pair of Mask Registers, VP2INTERSECT
* Control Flow Enforcement Technology to prevent Return Oriented Programming and Jump Oriented Programming hacking techniques
* Full memory (
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
) encryption
* Indirect branch tracking and shadow stack
* Intel Key Locker
*AVX/AVX2 instructions support for Pentium Gold and Celeron processors has been unlocked
GPU
* Intel Xe-LP ("Gen12") GPU with up to 96 execution units (50% uplift compared to Ice Lake) with some yet to be announced processors using Intel's discrete GPU, DG1
* Fixed-function hardware decoding for
High Efficiency Video Coding
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...
12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4;
VP9
VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.
VP9 is the successor to VP8 and competes mainly with MPEG's High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).
At first, VP9 was mainly used on Google's video platform YouTube. ...
12-bit 4:4:4 and
AV1
AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) is an open, royalty-free video coding format initially designed for video transmissions over the Internet. It was developed as a successor to VP9 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium founded in 2015 that ...
High-dynamic-range video
High-dynamic-range television (HDR or HDR-TV) is a technology that improves the quality of display signals. It is contrasted with the retroactively-named standard dynamic range (SDR). HDR changes the way the luminance and colors of videos and ...
display or two
4K resolution
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K Ultra-high-definitio ...
10-bit HDR displays
* Hardware accelerated
Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that are used to adjust and optimize each frame of the ...
* Sampler Feedback support
I/O
* PCI Express 4.0 (Pentium and Celeron CPUs are limited to PCI Express 3.0)
*
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt is the brand name of a hardware interface for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. It has been developed by Intel, in collaboration with Apple. It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak, and first sold as ...
(includes
USB4
USB4 (aka: USB 4.0) is a specification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), which was released in version 1.0 on 29 August 2019. The USB4 protocol is based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol; the Thunderbolt 3 specification was donated to the USB- ...
)
* LPDDR#LP-DDR4X, LPDDR4X-4267 memory support
* LPDDR5-5400 "architecture capability" (Intel expects Tiger Lake products with LPDDR5 to be available around Q1 2021) Designs with LPDDR5 memory are yet to be announced as of March 2022.
Miniaturization of CPU and motherboard into an M.2 SSD-sized small circuit board
Mobile processors (Tiger Lake-H)
* All models support DDR4-3200 memory
* All models support 20 reconfigurable PCI Express 4.0 lanes, allowing x16 Gen 4 link for discrete GPU and x4 Gen 4 link for M.2 SSDs
Mobile processors (Tiger Lake-H35)
* All models support DDR4-3200 or LPDDR4X-4267 memory
Mobile processors (UP3-class)
Embedded mobile processors (UP3-class)
Mobile processors (UP4-class)
Desktop/tablet processors (Tiger Lake-B)
* Socket: FCBGA1787, a Ball grid array, BGA socket, thu these CPUs are meant only for system integrators
*Intel Xe UHD Graphics
* Up to 128 GB DDR4-3200 memory
* Was initially incorrectly listed as having a 5.3 GHz TVB boost frequency.
Rocket Lake microarchitecture
Rocket Lake is a codename for Intel's desktop x86 chip family based on the new Cypress Cove (microarchitecture), Cypress Cove microarchitecture, a variant of Sunny Cove (used by Intel's Ice Lake mobile processors) backported to the older 14 nm process. The chips are marketed as "Intel 11th generation Core". Launched March 30, 2021.
Architecture changes in comparison with Comet Lake
CPU
* Intel Cypress Cove (microarchitecture), Cypress Cove CPU cores
* Up to 19% claimed increase in IPC (instructions-per-clock)
* DL Boost (low-precision arithmetic for Deep Learning) and
AVX-512 AVX-512 are 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions SIMD instructions for x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) proposed by Intel in July 2013, and implemented in Intel's Xeon Phi x200 (Knights Landing) and Skylake-X CPUs; thi ...
instructions
* Compared to its predecessors, Software Guard Extensions, SGX instruction set extensions are removed
GPU
* Intel Xe-LP ("Gen12") GPU with up to 32 execution units
* Fixed-function hardware decoding for
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compari ...
12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4;
VP9
VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.
VP9 is the successor to VP8 and competes mainly with MPEG's High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).
At first, VP9 was mainly used on Google's video platform YouTube. ...
12-bit 4:4:4 and
AV1
AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) is an open, royalty-free video coding format initially designed for video transmissions over the Internet. It was developed as a successor to VP9 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium founded in 2015 that ...
8K 10-bit 4:2:0
*
DisplayPort
DisplayPort (DP) is a digital display interface developed by a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers and standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device su ...
1.4a with Display Stream Compression;
HDMI 2.0
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, t ...
b
* Support for a single 8K 12-bit High-dynamic-range video, HDR display or two 4K 10-bit HDR displays
* Hardware accelerated
Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that are used to adjust and optimize each frame of the ...
* Sampler Feedback support
* Dual Queue Support
* Variable Rate Shading
* Integer- and nearest neighbor image scaling
* GPUs on desktop CPUs support 5K 60 Hz
I/O
* Up to 20 CPU lanes of
PCI Express
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common ...
4.0
* DDR4 SDRAM, DDR4-3200 memory support
* USB 3.0#USB 3.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
* Optional
USB4
USB4 (aka: USB 4.0) is a specification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), which was released in version 1.0 on 29 August 2019. The USB4 protocol is based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol; the Thunderbolt 3 specification was donated to the USB- ...
/ Thunderbolt (interface)#Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 4 when paired with Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 Controller
* Direct Media Interface, DMI 3.0 x8 link with Intel 500 Series Chipsets
Desktop processors
* All CPUs listed below support DDR4-3200 natively. The Core i9 K/KF processors enable a 1:1 ratio of DRAM to memory controller by default at DDR4-3200, whereas the Core i9 non K/KF and all other CPUs listed below enable a 2:1 ratio of DRAM to memory controller by default at DDR4-3200 and a 1:1 ratio by default at DDR4-2933.
* All CPUs support up to 128 GiB of RAM in Multi-channel memory architecture#Dual-channel architecture, dual channel mode
* Core i9 CPUs (except 11900T) support Intel Thermal Velocity Boost technology
12th generation
Alder Lake
Alder Lake is Intel's codename for the 12th generation of Intel Core processors based on a hybrid architecture utilizing Golden Cove high-performance cores and Gracemont power-efficient cores.
It is fabricated using Intel's 7 nm process, Intel 7 process, previously referred to as Intel 10 nm Enhanced SuperFin (10ESF).
Intel officially announced 12th Gen Intel Core CPUs on October 27, 2021, and was launched to the market on November 4, 2021.
Architecture changes in comparison to Rocket Lake
CPU
* Golden Cove high-performance "Performance-cores" (P-cores)
** Dedicated floating-point adders
** New 6-wide instruction decoder (up from 4-wide in Rocket Lake/Tiger Lake) with the ability to fetch up to 32 bytes of instructions per cycle (up from 16)
** 12 execution ports (up from 10)
** 512 reorder-buffer entries (up from 384)
** 6-wide μOP allocations (up from 5)
** μOP cache size increased to 4K entries (up from 2.25K)
** Advanced Vector Extensions#AVX-VNNI, AVX-VNNI, a VEX prefix, VEX-coded variant of AVX-512#VNNI, AVX512-VNNI for 256-bit vectors
**
AVX-512 AVX-512 are 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions SIMD instructions for x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) proposed by Intel in July 2013, and implemented in Intel's Xeon Phi x200 (Knights Landing) and Skylake-X CPUs; thi ...
(including FP16) is present but disabled by default to match E-cores. It still can be enabled on some motherboards by disabling the E-cores
** ~18% IPC uplift.
* Gracemont high-efficiency "Efficient-cores" (E-cores)
** E-cores are organized in 4-core modules; L2 cache is shared between E-cores within a module
** 256 reorder-buffer entries (up from 208 in Tremont (microarchitecture), Tremont)
** 17 execution ports (up from 12)
** Advanced Vector Extensions#Advanced Vector Extensions 2, AVX2, FMA instruction set#FMA3 instruction set, FMA and Advanced Vector Extensions#AVX-VNNI, AVX-VNNI to catch up with P-cores
** Skylake-like IPC.
* new instruction set extensions
* up to 1 TB/s interconnect between cores
* Intel Thread Director (Scalable Hybrid Arch Scheduling), a hardware technology to assist the OS thread scheduler with more efficient load distribution between heterogeneous CPU cores. Enabling this new capability requires support in operating systems. Microsoft added support for Thread Director to Windows 11, while support to Linux is expected to come with kernel 5.18.
* up to 30 MB
L3 cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which ...
* nomenclature:
** up to 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores on desktop
** up to 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores on mobile (UP3 designs)
** up to 2 P-cores and 8 E-cores on ultra mobile (UP4 designs)
* only P-cores feature
Hyper-threading
Hyper-threading (officially called Hyper-Threading Technology or HT Technology and abbreviated as HTT or HT) is Intel's proprietary simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multip ...
GPU
* Intel Xe (Gen12.2) GPU
* up to 96 EU on mobile and 32 EU on desktop
I/O
* LGA 1700 socket for desktop processors
* Ball grid array, BGA Type3 and Type4 HDI for mobile processors
* 20 PCI Express, PCIe lanes from CPU
** 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes
** 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes
* Chipset link - Direct Media Interface, DMI 4.0 x8 link with Intel 600 series PCH chipsets
* DDR5 SDRAM, DDR5, DDR4 SDRAM, DDR4, LPDDR5, and LPDDR4 memory support
** up to DDR4-3200
** up to DDR5-4800
** XMP 3.0
** Dynamic Memory Boost
* Integrated Thunderbolt 4 and WiFi 6E support
Desktop processors (Alder Lake-S)
* All the CPUs support up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 or DDR5-4800 RAM in Multi-channel memory architecture#Dual-channel architecture, dual channel mode.
* Some models feature integrated Intel Graphics Technology, UHD Graphics 770, Intel Graphics Technology, UHD Graphics 730 or Intel Graphics Technology, UHD Graphics 710 GPU with 32/24/16 EUs and base frequency of 300 MHz.
* By default Alder Lake CPUs are configured to run at Turbo Power at all times and Base Power is only guaranteed when P-Cores/E-cores do ''not'' exceed the base clock rate.
* Max Turbo Power: the maximum sustained (> 1 s) power dissipation of the processor as limited by current and/or temperature controls. Instantaneous power may exceed Maximum Turbo Power for short durations (≤ 10 ms). Maximum Turbo Power is configurable by system vendor and can be system specific.
* CPUs in bold below feature ECC memory support only when paired with a motherboard based on the W680 chipset.
*By default, Core i9 12900KS achieves 5.5 GHz only when using Thermal Velocity Boost
Extreme-performance Mobile Processors (Alder Lake-HX)
* Bold indicates ECC memory support
High-performance Mobile Processors (Alder Lake-H)
Low Power Performance Mobile Processors (Alder Lake-P)
Ultra Low Power Mobile Processors (Alder Lake-U)
13th generation
Raptor Lake
Raptor Lake is Intel's codename for the 13th generation of Intel Core processors and the second generation based on a hybrid architecture.
It is fabricated using Intel's 7 nm process, Intel 7 process.
See also
*
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
*Intel Core (microarchitecture)
*List of Intel graphics processing units
*List of Intel microprocessors
*List of Intel Core i3 microprocessors
*List of Intel Core i5 microprocessors
*List of Intel Core i7 microprocessors
*List of Intel Core i9 microprocessors
*List of Intel chipsets
*Ryzen
*Zen (microarchitecture)