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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, a ...
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 serie ...
. 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 P ...
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 ar ...
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 ''workst ...
markets. The lineup of Core processors includes the Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, and Intel Core i9, 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 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 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 ...
(IPC) on a deeply pipelined and resourced
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 proces ...
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 and an integrated memory controller 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 instruction set extensions to Sandy Bridge, 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 * ...
" 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 wri ...
", 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 ...
'' 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 (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 * ...
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 wri ...
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 ser ...
'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 calculati ...
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 ...
x86
CPU 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, a ...
s, which derived 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 ...
branded processors. The processor family used an enhanced version of the Intel P6 microarchitecture. It emerged in parallel with the NetBurst microarchitecture (Intel P68) of the
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 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 calculati ...
'' Yonah''
CPU 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, a ...
Intel's first
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 ...
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 integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A ...
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-co ...
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, investo ...
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 ser ...
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 ...
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 computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac deskto ...
line. Core Duo signified the beginning of Apple's shift to Intel processors across the entire Mac line. In 2007,
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 ser ...
began branding the Yonah core
CPU 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, a ...
s intended for mainstream ''mobile'' computers as Pentium Dual-Core, 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 __NOTOC__ Year 486 (Roman numerals, CDLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius and Longinus (or, less freq ...
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 ...
CPUs but with the FPU disabled.


Core Duo

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-cor ...
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 computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac deskto ...
, 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 mo ...
. Another difference between the original Core Duo and the new Core 2 Duo is an increase in the amount of Level 2 cache. 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 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 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 software. They typically offer less performance per clock speed co ...
or Pentium Dual-Core processors. Like those processors, some low-end Core 2 Duo models disable features such as Intel Virtualization Technology.


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 in ...
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 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. 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 P ...
processors labeled as
Extreme Edition Pentium D is a range of desktop 64-bit x86-64 processors based on the NetBurst microarchitecture, which is the dual-core variant of the Pentium 4 manufactured by Intel. Each CPU comprised two dies, each containing a single core, residing ne ...
. 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 List of Intel codenames, codename for Intel's 45 nm process, 45 nm microarchitecture released in November 2008. It was used in the first-generation of the Intel Core Core i5, i5 and Intel Core i7, i7 processors, and succeeds 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 ...
memory controller as well as QuickPath Interconnect or
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 on the processor replacing the aging quad-pumped Front Side Bus 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 ser ...
, 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-co ...
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, mobi ...
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, 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. 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, wh ...
, 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 multipl ...
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, 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, 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 ser ...
brand name applies to several families of desktop and laptop
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A ...
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 ...
processors using the Nehalem, Westmere, Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, Broadwell, Skylake, and Kaby Lake
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 imp ...
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 (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 ar ...
(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 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 ...
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 avai ...
-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-cor ...
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 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 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. 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 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 pr ...
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 and 4K video playback. It adds native High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection 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 comp ...
Main and Main10/10-bit, and VP9 10-bit and 8-bit video. Hardware encode is supported for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HEVC 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 multipl ...
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, ...
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 us ...
and PCIe 3.0 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 multipl ...
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.


Mobile Processors (Y-Series)


Whiskey Lake microarchitecture

Whiskey Lake is Intel's codename for the third 14 nm Skylake process-refinement, following Kaby Lake Refresh and Coffee Lake. 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 * ...
/
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 wri ...
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


Mobile processors (U-Series)


Cannon Lake microarchitecture

Cannon Lake (formerly Skymont) is Intel's codename for the 10-nanometer
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, u ...
of the Kaby Lake
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 imp ...
. 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 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 Bri ...
(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, 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 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 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 * ...
/
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 wri ...
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 multipl ...
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 * ...
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 wri ...
. 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 algori ...
s exploit branch prediction's use of
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 ...
. 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.


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 instruction subsets: VPOPCNTDQ, VBMI2, BITALG, VPCLMULQDQ, GFNI, and VAES * AI tasks acceleration, Intel
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, ...
b * Up to 1.15 TFLOPS 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 waves ...
6 ( 802.11ax) * Thunderbolt 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 Whiskey Lake is Intel's codename for a family of third 14 nm generation Skylake low-power mobile processors. Intel announced Whiskey Lake on August 28, 2018. Changes * 14++ nm process, same as Coffee Lake * Increased turbo clocks (300� ...
. 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 AX201 support (Depends on PCH chipset)


Desktop Processors (S-Series)


Mobile processors (H-Series)


Mobile processors (U-Series)


Comet Lake Refresh microarchitecture


Desktop processors


Amber Lake Refresh microarchitecture


Mobile processors (Y-Series)


11th generation


Tiger Lake

Launched on September 2, 2020.


Architecture changes compared to Ice Lake


CPU

* Intel Willow Cove 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 A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...
* 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 comp ...
12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4; VP9 12-bit 4:4:4 and AV1 8K 10-bit 4:2:0 * Support for a single 8K 12-bit
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 UHD) is the domi ...
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 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 m ...
(Pentium and Celeron CPUs are limited to PCI Express 3.0) * Thunderbolt 4 (includes USB4) * 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 M.2, pronounced ''m dot two'' and formerly known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), is a specification for internally mounted computer expansion cards and associated connectors. M.2 replaces the mSATA standard, which uses the PCI Ex ...
SSD A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is a ...
-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 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, 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 CPU cores * Up to 19% claimed increase in IPC (instructions-per-clock) * DL Boost (low-precision arithmetic for Deep Learning) and AVX-512 instructions * Compared to its predecessors, SGX instruction set extensions are removed


GPU

* Intel Xe-LP ("Gen12") GPU with up to 32 execution units * Fixed-function hardware decoding for HEVC 12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4; VP9 12-bit 4:4:4 and AV1 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, ...
b * Support for a single 8K 12-bit 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 In computer graphics and digital imaging, image scaling refers to the resizing of a digital image. In video technology, the magnification of digital material is known as upscaling or resolution enhancement. When scaling a vector graphic image ...
* 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 Double Data Rate 4 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR4 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory with a high bandwidth (" double data rate") interface. Released to the market in 2014, it is a variant of dynamic ran ...
-3200 memory support * USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 * Optional USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 when paired with Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 Controller * 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 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 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 Rocket Lake is Intel's codename for its 11th generation Core microprocessors. Released on March 30, 2021, it is based on the new Cypress Cove microarchitecture, a variant of Sunny Cove (used by Intel's Ice Lake mobile processors) backporte ...
/ 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) ** AVX-VNNI, a VEX-coded variant of AVX512-VNNI for 256-bit vectors ** AVX-512 (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) ** 17 execution ports (up from 12) **
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 Bri ...
, FMA and 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 Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new 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, wh ...
* 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 multipl ...


GPU

* Intel Xe (Gen12.2) GPU * up to 96 EU on mobile and 32 EU on desktop


I/O

*
LGA 1700 LGA 1700 (Socket V) is a zero insertion force flip-chip land grid array (LGA) socket, compatible with Intel desktop processors Alder Lake and Raptor Lake, which was first released in November 2021. LGA 1700 is designed as a replacement for L ...
socket for desktop processors * BGA Type3 and Type4 HDI for mobile processors * 20 PCIe lanes from CPU ** 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes ** 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes * Chipset link - DMI 4.0 x8 link with Intel 600 series PCH chipsets *
DDR5 Double Data Rate 5 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR5 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory. Compared to its predecessor DDR4 SDRAM, DDR5 was planned to reduce power consumption, while doubling bandwidth. Th ...
,
DDR4 Double Data Rate 4 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR4 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory with a high bandwidth (" double data rate") interface. Released to the market in 2014, it is a variant of dynamic ran ...
, LPDDR5, and
LPDDR4 Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR), also known as LPDDR SDRAM, is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory that consumes less power and is targeted for mobile computers and devices such as mobile phones. Older variants are also known ...
memory support ** up to DDR4-3200 ** up to DDR5-4800 ** XMP 3.0 ** Dynamic Memory Boost * Integrated Thunderbolt 4 and
WiFi 6E 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 ...
support


Desktop processors (Alder Lake-S)

* All the CPUs support up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 or DDR5-4800 RAM in dual channel mode. * Some models feature integrated UHD Graphics 770, UHD Graphics 730 or 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 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 ser ...
* Intel Core (microarchitecture) * List of Intel graphics processing units * List of Intel microprocessors *
List of Intel Core i3 microprocessors 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 lapto ...
*
List of Intel Core i5 microprocessors 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) "Lynn ...
* List of Intel Core i7 microprocessors * List of Intel Core i9 microprocessors *
List of Intel chipsets This article provides a list of motherboard chipsets made by Intel, divided into three main categories: those that use the PCI bus for interconnection (the 4xx series), those that connect using specialized "hub links" (the 8xx series), and thos ...
*
Ryzen Ryzen ( ) is a brand of multi-core x86-64 microprocessors designed and marketed by AMD for desktop, mobile, server, and embedded platforms based on the Zen microarchitecture. It consists of central processing units (CPUs) marketed for mainst ...
* Zen (microarchitecture)


References


External links

*
CPU Database
TechPowerUp.
Intel Core Duo (Yonah) Performance Preview – Part II
vs AMD 64 X2 and Intel Pentium M. Anandtech.
Intel Core i7-3960X CPU Performance Comparison.
Intel.
Intel Product Information
providing a list of various processor generations {{Intel processors Core Computer-related introductions in 2006 64-bit microprocessors de:Intel-Core-i-Serie