The Intel Core processor family has undergone some very important changes over the years. These changes were for the most part a direct consequence of the need to adapt to market realities always, and were primarily motivated by increasing competition from AMD, which peaked with the Zen, Zen, and Zen 3 architectures.

It was exactly with the last one, Zen 3, with an architecture that AMD managed to outperform Intel in both single-threaded and multi-threaded performance, power consumption and thermal efficiency. By all this I mean that the Ryzen 5000 processors were not only more powerful than their direct rivals in this generation, Rocket Lake-S (Core Gen11), but also They were also more efficient and cooler Mostly.

The chip giant responded to AMD’s pressure with remarkable changes to Intel’s processors, which ultimately brought about important differences and brought what was once high-end straight down the line from one generation to the next. For example processors four cores and four threads They were mid-range up until the Core Gen8, also known as Coffee Lake.

In this generation Core i3 They went from two cores and four threads to four cores and four threads, the same as, for example, the Core i5 7600K had. The Core i7-7700K, which was high-end with four cores and eight threads, also became entry-level with the arrival of the Core i3-10100F, which has the same number of cores and threads as that.

All these changes that happened in the latest generations of Intel processors have created a lot of doubts among users, that’s why today I want to share this guide with you in which I will help you distinguish the four most important ranges CPUs from the chip giant, Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9.

I’ll tell you too its key features and I’ll help you figure out which one you should choose depending on your needs. As always, feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I’ll help you out.

Intel Core i3 processors: the base has potential

This processor family is positioned as an entry-level series, but Not to be confused with low range, because that’s where the Celeron and Pentium series fit in, and more recently the Intel N and Intel 300 series, which have a lower core and thread configuration and are designed for light office and multimedia tasks.

Intel Core i3 processors have up to the seventh generation (Kaby Lake) two cores and four threads. With the advent of the eighth and ninth generations, there was a jump in configuration four cores and four threads, which represented a significant improvement in performance that reimagined them as an option for building powerful computers for little money and offering good performance in games as well.

Another big leap has come with Comet Lake, known as the 10th generation of Intel Core processors. Core i3 in it They began to have four cores and eight threads, a configuration that has been maintained in all subsequent generations. Intel Core i3 Gen12, Gen13 and Gen14 also have four cores and eight threads, although they have obviously improved their performance by using new architectures and increasing operating frequencies.

10th Gen Intel Core i3 processors and higher, including the Core i3-13100 and Core i3-14100, offer pretty good performance, so much so that they are even able to move current games, although, as is clear, the latest models offer the best results. They also have low power consumption, so they don’t need a particularly powerful power source.

Intel Core i3 Processor Keys

• They have the same base IPC as the top performing models of their generation, so their single thread performance is usually very good.
• Its price is quite low, and versions that come with a disabled integrated GPU can be purchased for less than 100 euros in many cases.
• With them we can build relatively powerful PCs with very low consumption and at a very low price.
• They can help us build a team with a next-generation platform with a small investment and get a base that we can gradually expand.

Intel Core i5 processors: the revitalized middle class

This assortment has undergone very significant changes over the last ten years. It started with a dual-core, quad-threaded configuration when the first generation of cores was released, and continued four cores and four threads from the second generation Core (Sand Bridge).

The quad-core and quad-thread configuration was retained in Intel Core i5 processors until the arrival of the eighth generation Core (Coffee Lake), which meant switch to 6-core and 6-thread configuration. This configuration was retained with the ninth generation Core and increased to 6 cores and 12 threads with Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S (Core Gen10 and Core Gen11), thanks to the return of HyperThreading technology.

This was a big change that made a significant difference in terms of performance and versatility as it greatly improved their multithreading capabilities and made them more competitive with AMD’s alternatives within the Ryzen 5 family. Another big change came with the arrival of Alder Lake-S, as the Core i5- 12600K now has 6 high performance cores, 4 high efficiency cores and 16 threads. However, lower Core i5s such as the Core i5-12500 retained 6 cores and 12 threads.

The Raptor Lake-S changed the situation again, as the Intel Core i5-13600K did 6 high performance cores, 8 high efficiency cores and 20 threads. Lower models have a smaller number of high-efficiency cores, which makes Intel’s catalog somewhat confusing in a given generation and family. For example, the Intel Core i5-13500 has the same configuration, but the Core i5-13400 up to 6 high performance cores and 4 high performance cores.

The same thing happened with Intel Core Gen14, which have the same distribution that I mentioned earlier, which means that the Core i5-14400 has 6 high-performance cores and 4 high-performance cores, and the higher models have 6 high-performance cores and 8 high-performance cores.

Intel Core i5 Processor Keys

• They also have the same base CPI as the higher end models.
• They work at higher frequencies than Core i3 and offer excellent performance.
• The difference in performance between Core i5 and Core i3 can be very large, especially when multithreading.
• They consume more than the Core i3, but offer superior performance in exchange.
• They are the optimal point in the price/performance ratio for building a gaming PC.
• Starting with an Intel Core i5-12600K, we would have enough power for gaming and streaming.

Intel Core i7 processors: high-end

If the Core i5 has undergone important changes, the truth is that the Core i7s have not been left behind, in fact I think they have been the ones that have improved the most in terms of the total number of cores and threads in the Intel catalog. This family of processors debuted when I narrowed down to the general consumer market four cores and eight threads, although the Core i9 990X, which was a HEDT chip, reached 6 cores and 12 threads.

This quad-core and eight-thread configuration remained in the mainstream consumer market until the arrival of Core Gen8, the generation known as Coffee Lake. The Intel Core i7 8700K was the first mainstream Intel processor to use a six cores and twelve threads, until then limited to its HEDT range, the prices of which were too high for the average user.

Intel made a controversial move with the Core i7-9700K fromincreased the number of cores to 8, but removed the HyperThreading technology, which meant that this chip only had eight threads and didn’t offer much of a performance improvement over the previous generation. With Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S, things went back to normal as the Core i7 restored HyperThreading and had configurations 8 cores and 16 threads.

We had another big jump with Alder Lake-S, bringing us to a configuration of 8 high performance cores, 4 high efficiency cores and 20 threads. Raptor Lake-S increased this configuration to 8 high-performance cores, 8 high-efficiency cores and 24 threads, and with Raptor Lake Refresh-S we went to 8 high performance cores, 12 high efficiency cores and 28 threads.

Intel Core i7 Processor Keys

• Its CPI is also the same as the top models of its generation.
• They offer higher working speed and support exclusive technologies such as Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0.
• Core i7-14700K and KF are compatible with Intel APO.
• They offer excellent gaming performance, but are designed to combine work and leisure in a single device. If you’re only going to play, the Intel Core i5 is better.
• Their consumption is usually very high and they require more powerful and expensive cooling systems.

Intel Core i9 processors: top

Contrary to what many people think, Intel Core i9 processors did not debut with the Coffee Lake Refresh, but rather came to market with Skylake-X, the HEDT processor line that had the Intel Core i9-7900X as the entry model in said family. ., chip with 10 cores and 20 threads. Within the mainstream consumer market, it was the first Core i9-9900K to be configured 8 cores and 16 threads.

Intel’s Core i9 series was the chip giant’s answer to AMD’s Ryzen 9, although the latter has always offered superior multi-threaded performance. Intel managed to get close to AMD in multithreading with the Core i9-10900K, which had a 10 cores and 20 threads configuration and which worked at very high operating frequencies, but strangely had to go back to an 8 cores and 16 threads configuration with the Core i9-11900K.

Those from Santa Clara finally managed to turn the tables Intel Core i9-12900K. This processor improved that the 8 cores and 16 threads configuration went beyond the 10 cores and 20 threads of the Intel Core i9-10900K because it had 8 high performance cores, 8 high efficiency cores and had 24 threads. It was a very big leap and confirmed that Intel managed to get back on track.

With the arrival of the Intel Core i9-13900K, the configuration increased 8 high performance cores, 16 high efficiency cores and 32 threads, and the Intel Core i9-14900K kept the same configuration. The performance improvement in multithreading was remarkable and with the switch to Raptor Lake-S we also saw an increase in IPC, which did not happen with the Raptor Lake Refresh, which maintains the same IPC and is limited to a slight increase in frequencies. increase performance.

Intel Core i9 Processor Keys

• Its IPC is the same as lower processors of its generation.
• They have higher operating frequencies and a larger cache and support exclusive technologies such as Intel Thermal Velocity Boost, which accelerates turbo mode to the maximum.
• Intel Core i9-14900K and KF support Intel APO.
• Thanks to their L3 cache size, high IPC and high operating frequencies, they perform well in games, but they do best with professional applications and in multitasking environments such as gaming and streaming with other background tasks.
• They have very high consumption and require a high-end AIO liquid cooling system.

Yes after reading all this you still have doubts to choose a processor for your new computer, don’t worry, recently We are releasing an updated guide that will be of great help to you in this sense. In it you will also find five lies that affect the world of general consumer processors perfectly explained and exposed.