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Here's what all those

numbers and letters in an
Intel chip mean when you're
buying a new computer
Antonio Villas-Boas Aug 31, 2018, 9:31 AM

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Intel/Amazon/Business Insider

Intel makes it pretty easy to tell performance

models against lower-end models.

You can usually tell straight away by the 3, 5,

or 7 number after the "i" in "Core iX."

But then there are those extra numbers and

letters that usually come after the "Core iX"
part, numbers which actually tell you a little
more about the chip's performance, and
ultimately the performance of the computer
you're thinking of buying.

Here's what those the numbers and letters

mean in Intel's chips:

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You're most likely to see Intel's

'Core' line of processors, like 'Intel
Core i3 8130U.' There are other
lines of Intel processors, like
'Pentium,' but we're going to stick
to the most common 'Core' line

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The number next to the 'i' after

'Core' represents the kind of
overarching performance a chip
has

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A Core "i3" chip is on the lower end of

performance that's best suited for budget
computers.

A Core "i5" chip is on the mid-range of

performance that's suited for casual users
and power users on a budget.

A Core "i7" chip is on the higher end of

performance that's suited for power users
and professionals for power-hungry apps like
Photoshop or video editing.

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The Nrst of the four numbers on

Intel's Core chips represents the
generation of the chip

Business Insider

Intel's eighth and latest generation of chips

will always have an "8" as the Krst number in
the four-numbered grouping after the "iX"
part.

The seventh generation will have a "7," and

so on.

The lower the number, the older the

generation. When you're buying a new
computer, you're generally avoiding those
with chips that are two or more generations
behind the latest generation.

The three following numbers after

the generation number represent
performance. The higher the
numbers, the more powerful the
chip

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For example, an Intel Core i5 "8400" will be

less powerful than a Core i5 "8600."

The major diPerence is "clock speed" and

"boost clock speed." The higher the clock
speeds, the faster the chip can process what
you want.

The Core i5 8400 has a clock speed of 2.80

GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.0GHz.

Meanwhile, the Core i5 8600 can process

things faster with a higher clock speed of
3.1GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.30GHz.

A casual user could opt for a cheaper

computer with the Core i5 8400, while a
power user on a budget could opt for
computers with the slightly more expensive
Core i5 8600 for an extra boost of power.

These numbers make a smaller diPerence

than the number in the "iX" part, but they're
still important.

What the letters mean after the

numbers

Core¡7-8700"K"

Business Insider

Intel's chips have letters like "K" and "U" after

the numbers that give you an idea of what
kind of purpose and performance the
computer is designed for.

Some computers have Intel chips without

any letters. Those are the standard, base
chip models.

The "K" chips are usually the fastest, with

higher clock speeds than the standard chips
without a letter in Intel's mainstream chips.
It also means the chip is "unlocked," where
its clock speeds can be tweaked — or
"overclocked — by a user to squeeze out a
little extra performance than what you get
out of the box. Usually, it's mostly
enthusiasts who tend to overclock their
chips, and they're mostly designed for
desktops or high-performance laptops.

The "G" means the chip has a built-in

graphics processor. Most of Intel's chips
come with basic built-in graphics processors
so you can display something on your
monitor without an entirely separate
graphics card. But Intel's "G" processors
come with a more powerful graphics
processor for more power-hungry apps and
games. Surprisingly, the graphics processors
in Intel's "G" chips come from the company's
main rival, AMD.

The "T" means the chips is designed to use

less power while also having less
performance than the standard chips
without any letters.

The "U" means the chip is designed for

laptops and mobile devices, as "U" chips are
Intel's "ultra-low power" models. They're
"low power" because they use even less
power than the "T" models and have slower
clock speeds than their full-size, non "U"
equivalents. By having slower clock speeds,
they don't get as hot and have a lower risk of
heat-related damage. That's good for thin
laptops that have limited cooling compared
to larger desktops and laptops.

You can Knd more information about Intel's

chip letters on Intel's site, where it shows
what other letters mean on previous
generation chips.

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How the number of cores makes a

diPerence

An interface board bearing CPU (silver) and semiconductors

(black) is placed on a researcher's desk at Tsinghua Unigroup
research centre in Beijing Thomson Reuters

Cores make a big diPerence. The more cores

you have, the faster you can make your apps
do whatever you want them to do.

With Intel's eighth generation of chips, core

count doesn't matter as much, as even the
majority of the lower-end Core i3 chips have
four cores. That should su]ce for most
casual users and even power users on a
budget.

Chips with two cores are likely to be

noticeably slower. And, as you'd expect,
chips with more cores will be signiKcantly
faster.

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