Intel Processors

Intel Core Processors: Everything You Need to Know

Available in a varying range of different models and platforms, Intel processors are built to meet the needs of every application, gamer, and feature-capabilities. While the Intel i3 is best suited for everyday tasks such browsing, word processing, and entertainment-leisure thanks to its turbo-boost speeds wrapped in a dual-core design, quad-core variants such as the i5 and i7 provide the raw performance that's required for gaming PCs, video editing and media based production.

Catering to the demands of IT professionals, Intel's Xeon family of processors have been highly-engineered right down to their architectural design in order to meet the intensive needs of workstations and servers. Available in socket types 1150 & 1151, Intel maintains support for both the prior 4th Generation and 5th Generation processors – Haswell and Devil's Canyon, while introducing their latest 6th Generation processors to the mainstream – Skylake.

Entry-Level

Delivering great performance and exceptional value, the dual-core architecture of Intel's Pentium processors allows everyday tasks to be handled with ease. Whether it's watching HD videos, streaming online content, or basic photo editing – the Intel Pentium line-up of processors bring reliability and exceptional quality. Incorporating design traits featured on higher-end CPUs, the hyper-threading technology which simulates the quad-core processor architecture on a dual-core variant allows multi-threaded applications to run fast and more efficiently – while still maintaining high-clock speeds and improved power-consumption.

Featured on the i3 models within Intel's entry-level line-up, those looking for an extra touch of power without having to greatly expand their budgets should look to models such as the Core i3-4360 from the 4th generation Haswell, or the 6th generation Core i3-6100.

Gamers & High-Performance

Built with 4 physical cores and paired with extremely fast clock speeds, models within the Core i5 Series of processors guarantee intense performance, improved thermal limits, and reliable overclocking. Perfect for both gamers and productivity users alike, CPUs such as the Core i5-4690 and the Core i5-6600 Skylake variant -- with its improved architecture and energy efficiency can expect anything from 75% to 90% performance gains within multi-threaded applications.

While the processor does feature an an Integrated graphics solution in the form of Intel HD 4600, gamers hoping to maximise the capabilities of their CPU would do well to opt for a discrete graphics card. Along with a larger Cache and support for faster memory speeds as well as DDR4 memory compatibility on the Skylake platform, gamers and high-performance users should look out for processors marked with a "K" suffix -- indicating an unlocked processor that's ideal for user-control overclocking.

Taking a brief step-up over the Core i5 Series, the hunger for power will always be in demand. Differing from its mid-tier variant, where the i7 holds improvement and benefits over the Core i5 comes in the form of hyper-threading. Maintaining a similar clock speed while doubling the amount of power available to the required workload, hyper-threading utilizes virtualization based technology in order to simulate twice the number of cores within a processor. This allows each core to handle two tasks simultaneously -- effectively speeding up workflow, improving multitasking, and accomplishing more in a less amount of time.

High-End Enthusiasts

Branded as Intel's highest-end processors, built for the ultimate enthusiasts who demands a no-compromise approach to their computing requirements -- the Core i7 Extreme Edition processors remain unrivalled within their performance metrics. Designed for use on Haswell-E and Broadwell-E platforms these CPUs pack a minimum of six-cores! with a variety of models scaling up to eight and ten. Along with hyper-threading -- effectively doubling the amount of available processing power, just like Core i5 and i7 processors models with a "K" suffix can be pushed even further with advanced overclocking.

Workstation and Servers

Targeted at the non-consumer markets, the architectural design and hardware accessibility offered by Intel's Xeon branded processors are directly built for the purposes of IT professionals within workstations and server environments. As the computing requirements within workstation systems contain vastly different structures and workloads from the standard uses of basic PCs, the architectural makeup of Xeon processors can differ greatly from model to model.

The primary advantages of all Xeon-based processors arrives in the from higher core counts, ECC memory support, and multi-socket capabilities -- allowing the use of two processors to be installed in a system. Packing anywhere from four to eight cores on the cheapest models, with ten to fourteen at the higher-end of the scale, the applications and workloads that demand these CPUs greatly emphasis the multi-threading capabilities they excel at.