• chevron_right

      Intel revives the MHz race with 6.2 GHz power-guzzling Core i9-14900KS

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 14 March - 19:08 · 1 minute

    Intel revives the MHz race with 6.2 GHz power-guzzling Core i9-14900KS

    Enlarge (credit: Intel)

    PC enthusiasts who have been around the block a couple of times might remember the stretch from the '90s into the early 2000s when ever-increasing clock speeds were Intel's primary metric for increasing processor performance. AMD participated, too—it managed to beat Intel to 1 GHz in what was considered a major coup at the time—but Intel's Pentium 4 processors specifically prioritized boosting clock speeds at the cost of instructions-per-clock.

    Today, the company is ever so briefly revisiting those old days with the $689 Core i9-14900KS, its newest flagship desktop processor. The i9-14900KS can hit speeds of 6.2 GHz out of the box, a small push past the last-generation i9-13900KS and the i9-14900K that topped out at 6.0 GHz. Like other recent high-end Intel desktop chips, it also features Intel's " Adaptive Boost Technology ," which will allow the chip to increase its power consumption and performance until it hits 100° Celsius.

    This kind of clock speed boosting is both impressive and impractical. On the one hand, Intel has managed to push clock speeds even higher without changing its architecture or manufacturing process, a culmination of years of iteration across the 12th-, 13th-, and 14th-generation processor families. On the impractical side, the i9-14900KS can use a ridiculous amount of power to achieve marginally faster performance, reminding us of the laws of physics that helped shut down the megahertz wars in the first place.

    Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      Intel’s 14th-gen desktop CPUs are a tiny update even by modern standards

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 17 October - 16:54 · 1 minute

    Intel’s 14th-gen desktop CPUs are a tiny update even by modern standards

    Enlarge (credit: Intel)

    Intel's new desktop processor generations haven't always come with significant generational improvements in recent years, as the company has struggled with new manufacturing tech that enables big leaps in performance and power efficiency. For every major jump—the 12th-generation CPUs, codenamed Alder Lake , come to mind—you usually get several faster but less-than-thrilling iterations.

    Intel is officially launching its 14th-generation desktop processors today, and they're firmly in that iterative, non-thrilling group, even compared to last year's 13th-generation chips. The good news for price-conscious PC builders is that they'll continue to work in all current 600- and 700-series motherboards after a BIOS update, and Intel isn't launching a series of new motherboards to accompany them—there aren't many compelling reasons to upgrade from a 12th-gen setup to a 14th-gen one, but it's an available option.

    Even the branding Intel is using here signifies that the processors are a throwback— next-gen Meteor Lake chips for laptops and all of Intel's other chips are losing the generational and i3/i5/i7/i9 branding in favor of "Core" and "Core Ultra." By Intel's admission, the last gasp of the 14th-generation branding here is a nod to how similar they are to the 13th-generation chips that preceded them (and, for that matter, the 12th-gen ones before that).

    Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      The last generation: Intel has new labels for its next major CPU architecture

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 15 June, 2023 - 13:00

    Intel's Core CPUs are about to get a bit more Ultra.

    Enlarge / Intel's Core CPUs are about to get a bit more Ultra. (credit: Intel)

    As part of an effort to "simplify the Intel brand portfolio," Intel has announced some changes to its processor branding starting with its next-generation Meteor Lake CPUs.

    The smallest change is that Intel's mainstream CPUs are losing their "i," shifting from Core i3/i5/i7/i9 to simply Core 3/5/7/9. Intel will also stop using "generational" messaging in its processor branding—none of the new CPUs will be announced, released, or advertised as "14th-generation" anything.

    Intel's generational branding has always been a bit arbitrary, anyway. The "first-generation" Core chips followed several generations of Core and Core 2 processors, the branding Intel started using for its chips in the mid-2000s at the end of the Pentium 4 era. And the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad branding was used for several distinct generations of chips that used different manufacturing technologies and revised architectures.

    Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      Intel i9-13900K and i5-13600K review: Beating AMD at its own game

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 20 October, 2022 - 13:00

    Intel's new flagship desktop CPU, the Core i9-13900K.

    Enlarge / Intel's new flagship desktop CPU, the Core i9-13900K. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

    When AMD brought the first Ryzen processors to desktops in 2017, the chips' secret weapon was cores. AMD couldn’t match Intel’s number of instructions-per-clock or hit the same clock speeds, but what it could do was sell you six or eight reasonably performant processor cores at the same price Intel charged for four.

    The 12-core and 16-core options came a couple years later, bringing high-end workstation performance to much less expensive PCs—and forcing Intel to follow suit. That brought down costs. In 2014, an 8-core CPU cost $999 on top of a pricey workstation motherboard; today, you can get 8-core chips for less than $300 and pop them into an $80 board if you want.

    Five years after Ryzen debuted, the shoe is on the other foot. AMD now has the technological lead, in terms of instructions-per-clock, CPU manufacturing, and power efficiency. But by throwing more cores at the problem and pricing its chips aggressively, Intel has put together a desktop lineup that’s easier to recommend than AMD’s, even though AMD just fielded its fastest desktop processor lineup ever .

    Read 35 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      The Super Confusing Intel Processors Naming Scheme Explained!

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / FossBytes · Thursday, 11 February, 2021 - 06:28 · 6 minutes

    Every technology has its pros and cons. While there are significant downsides to Intel CPUs like weak integrated GPUs, etc., one of the weirdest but biggest con is how Intel decides to name its processors and raises the confusion bar each year. In this article, let’s dig deeper into this Intel naming scheme to clear the mist and help decide which processors are made for what audiences.

    Intel is one of the most well-known names in the market. The semiconductor giant has surely played a huge role in transforming the world and our lives thanks to its desktop and mobile (laptop) processors. But thanks to AMD stepping in with their Ryzen series of CPUs, the Intel monopoly has diminished over the past couple of years.

    Types Of Intel Processors

    intel 10th generation processors - intel naming scheme explained

    Intel’s processor lineup is divided into six segments – Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Celeron, and Pentium. We’ll talk about the first four as they’re more common.

    What Is Core i3?

    Core i3 is your most basic option. These are generally targeted at people who don’t do a lot of multitasking and gaming. As a result, they cost very little.

    If you want to browse the internet or use Microsoft Office effortlessly, the latest Core i3 processor should be enough.

    What Is Core i5?

    Core i5 is a great option for multitasking and a moderate amount of gaming. Core i5 stock keeping units are a tad bit expensive than i3’s but, you do end up getting a lot of extra horsepower for that extra amount.

    What Is Core i7?

    Core i7 processors are mainly targeted towards gaming enthusiasts and content creators. When paired with the right GPUs, Core i7 should be able to handle anything you throw at it. This includes AAA gaming titles, heavy video editing, and 3D object rendering.

    What Is Core i9?

    Core i9 processors are a tad bit faster than Core i7’s. One of the significant differentiating factors between them is better Hyperthreading, which enhances parallel computing.

    Things like higher core count, more cache, and higher core clock speed make Core i9 better than Core i7 processors.

    It is worth noting that desktop and mobile processors are very different when it comes to performance. A top tier Desktop Core i7/i9 will indeed outperform a top tier Mobile Core i7/i9.

    Desktop i7/i9 demand better and efficient cooling solutions readily available (Ex: Liquid Cooling). In contrast, mobile i7/i9 processors, due to the absence of space in laptops for better cooling systems, don’t give out more horsepower as they have to boil down the performance to generate less heat.

    Intel Processor Naming Schemes

    From 6th Generation To 9th Generation

    Before the 10th Gen processors mess, Intel’s naming scheme was reasonably easy to understand. To understand how exactly Intel names their processors in a better way, let me give you an example.

    Core i5 8250U processor - intel processor naming conventions explained

    Intel’s Coffee Lake lineup was undoubtedly one of the company’s most popular. The 8th gen Core i5 8250U was made for laptops that carry the “Slim and Light laptop” title.

    Here, “8” is, as you might have guessed, the processor’s generation followed by another 3-digit number, “250”, which gives us an idea of how the processor will perform. Other SKUs like 8265U and 8350U will perform significantly better.

    The lineup ends with a letter, which, in this case, is U. Intel’s U series processors bear lower clock speeds, thereby improving the overall battery performance and cutting down the performance by a significant margin. These are only used in laptops.

    There are a lot of other suffixes used in both desktop and laptop processors. Here’s a list of letters at the end of Intel Processors.

    Intel Processors Suffix Meaning – What Do The Letters Mean?

    Letter Meaning
    H Mobile Processors optimized for performance
    HK Mobile Processors optimized for performance and overclockable
    HQ Quad-core Mobile Processors optimized for high performance
    K Unlocked Processors. Overclockable
    S Special Edition
    U Power-efficient Mobile Processors
    Y Extremely low Powered Mobile Processors
    T Moderately power-optimized Processors
    G Desktop Processors including discrete/integrated graphics
    F Desktop Processors excluding discrete/integrated graphics
    E Embedded Processors
    G1-G7 Graphics performance starting from Comet Lake (10th Gen) Processors.

    Starting with H, HK, and HQ processor lineup, these are usually found in gaming machines. Like HK, which stands for high performance, overclockable, there are many processors with mixed keywords like “KF” in desktop processors, which means “overclockable with no discrete graphics.”

    For starters, think of overclocking as increasing the stock speed of a fuel-powered engine. More speed produces more heat, which might affect the engine’s longevity, which, in this case, refers to the processor.

    From 10th Generation Onwards

    Intel shifted its naming scheme to add a bit more confusion and went all bonkers over naming 10th Gen processors. This Intel naming scheme is so difficult; even enthusiasts find it confusing.

    The giant introduced new letters “G” followed by a number from “1-7” in “Ice Lake” Processors, which come with new Intel Iris Graphics. In contrast, the more recent “Comet Lake” processors use the older naming schemes that end with one alphabet.

    Intel Comet lake and ice lake - Intel naming conventions explained Source: Hardware Canucks

    Here, the G stands for graphics performance, and you’ll find it only in Mobile CPUs. This means a processor with “G7” will have better graphics performance than “G1.” The Intel naming scheme of desktop processors remains the same as in previous generations.

    Now you might think, “ Well , that’s pretty simple right? So what’s all the fuss about?” and that’s where it gets more ridiculous. In Ice Lake mobile CPUs, having a higher higher SKU number doesn’t mean better performance.

    Core i7-1068G7 mobile cpu

    Let us take four Ice Lake processors.

    • i5-1035G7
    • i5-1030G7
    • i7-1065G7
    • i7-1060G7

    If I ask you to stack them based on their performance, starting from the most to least powerful, your answer might be this.

    • i7-1065G7
    • i7-1060G7
    • i5-1035G7
    • i5-1030G7

    And that’s where you’re wrong. As you can see in the above image, the digit after the first three digits are not the performance number; rather, it represents the U/Y series if it’s 5/8 or 0, respectively. Hence, the right arrangement is.

    • i7-1065G7
    • i5-1035G7
    • i7-1060G7
    • i5-1030G7

    This messed up Intel naming scheme leads to a lot of confusion while buying Laptops, and one wrong decision might ruin the time that you’ll spend with your shiny new machine.

    A Few Words Before We Wrap Up

    From an enthusiast point of view, Intel needs to clear out the confusion caused by its naming schemes. But, the bottom line is, it knows not everyone decides to buy by just looking at the numbers. Hence, we don’t see Intel adapting to more simpler names anytime soon.

    That said, I can’t stop mentioning AMD Ryzen CPUs because they’ve gotten so much better over time. The latest Ryzen 4000 series mobile processors are truly an engineering marvel. It strikes a perfect balance of being power efficient while performing incredibly well. The Ryzen 4500U powered Swift 3 from Acer is one of the few machines I’ve tried and was highly impressed with.

    FAQs

    1. What generation of Intel Processors is current?

      11th Gen Tiger Lake is the current latest generation of processors from Intel.

    2. How do I check which processor generation I have?

      If you’re running Windows 10, click on start and search for This PC. Right-click on the same and click on the Properties option. processor info - intel processor naming schemes over generations explained

    Do you want us to write an article explaining AMD’s Zen Architecture in detail? Let us know in the comments section below.

    Don’t forget to share your opinions and views on Intel’s naming scheme and how it can fix them.

    The post The Super Confusing Intel Processors Naming Scheme Explained! appeared first on Fossbytes .