WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.440 I love Intel as much as anyone. They make cool products, they engage in lots of community stuff, 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:08.580 and I mean, heck, they're even a major sponsor of my other channel. But man, 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:15.600 when it comes to confusing product naming schemes, I think Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 takes the cake. 00:00:15.940 --> 00:00:22.660 I mean, great question! What is a Core i7-4790K? What the heck does all of this even mean? 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:27.240 We'll get to that, but first a bit of background about why we need product names for processors. 00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:31.500 Wouldn't it be simpler to just label them with how many gigahertz they run? I didn't call it a day. 00:00:32.100 --> 00:00:39.320 Simpler, sort of, but at times actually even more confusing. For example, when the Pentium 4 launched, 00:00:39.580 --> 00:00:45.160 an equivalently clocked Pentium 3 was actually faster because it could do more work with each 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:49.740 cycle. As a customer, I would expect the product with the higher number to be the better one, 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:55.380 and therein lies the problem. Not all megahertz and gigahertz are created equal, 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:57.120 and rating products that way is 00:00:57.120 --> 00:01:03.060 about like rating the performance of a car based on what RPM the engine runs at. It's not actually a real 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:10.320 indication of how fast the processor is, but it happened. Now, one of AMD's attempts to move away from this started in the early 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.540 2000s with their PR or 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:19.740 performance rating naming scheme, where their processors were given a four-digit model number that enthusiasts believe was based on the performance 00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:25.800 AMD felt that they delivered compared to an Intel CPU of that clock speed, but this fixed nothing. 00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:26.880 They were still, 00:01:26.880 --> 00:01:33.800 indirectly naming according to clock speed, and it wasn't until Intel introduced the Core series, a line of CPUs that 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:40.460 dramatically outperformed their predecessors at much lower clocks, that the megahertz war ended because Intel 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.980 needed to shift their marketing away from frequency. So here's what we have today. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:52.160 Other than the very bare-bones Pentium SKUs, a Core i3 will be your most basic option, with two processing cores and 00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.220 hyper-threading. More about this feature here. For better multitasking, 00:01:56.220 --> 00:02:01.320 it will have a smaller cache, it'll consume less power, and it'll generally perform worse than a Core i5, 00:02:01.460 --> 00:02:04.680 but it'll cost less, which leads us to the Core i5. 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:10.100 I wish I could say it was as simple as, well, Core i3s have two cores, and Core i5s have four cores. 00:02:10.100 --> 00:02:13.000 The number of cores equals n minus one, where n is the number after the little i. 00:02:13.480 --> 00:02:18.600 But it's not. Mobile Core i5s have two cores and hyper-threading, while desktop ones, 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:21.820 mostly, have four cores and no hyper-threading. 00:02:21.820 --> 00:02:26.100 But, what they all have in common is improved onboard graphics and turbo boost. 00:02:26.220 --> 00:02:31.740 More about this feature here. For temporary performance enhancements, when your system needs a little bit more oomph. 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:39.060 And with oomph in mind, Core i7s. Number one, all Core i7s have hyper-threading for heavy workloads, and number two, 00:02:39.100 --> 00:02:43.120 that's the noise your brain is gonna make as I finish my explanation here. 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:49.740 A Core i7 can have anywhere from two processing cores in an Ultrabook, all the way up to eight in a workstation. 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:55.800 It might support anywhere from two sticks of memory, all the way to eight, and it can have a TDP anywhere from around 10 watts, 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:57.800 all the way to a hundred and thirty watts. 00:02:57.880 --> 00:03:00.000 So there is a ton of variety here. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.000 And that's for a reason. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:07.680 Core i7s tend to have more cache, faster turbo boost, and better onboard graphics than the lower tier processors. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.980 And I guess, other than that, the best summary I can give is this. 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:20.220 A Core i7 represents the best thing Intel could build for a given use case, with the biggest drawback being the higher price tag. 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:25.890 So, when you boil it down, that's all the i-whatever numbers represent. 00:03:25.890 --> 00:03:30.210 They did better best within a given segment. Beyond that, on their own, they're pretty much meaningless. 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:34.410 The numbers and letters afterwards sort of mean something, if you use the guide from before. 00:03:34.410 --> 00:03:39.250 But the safest way to shop is to dig around in Arc, and look at the features, 00:03:39.250 --> 00:03:44.210 core counts, and clock speeds of the CPUs you're comparing, to figure out how they stack up. 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:48.850 With the good news being that as long as you compare within one brand, and within the same product generation, 00:03:48.850 --> 00:03:51.770 those metrics will actually mean something. 00:03:54.190 --> 00:03:56.750 Speaking of mean, Fractal Design is back buying up 00:03:56.750 --> 00:04:01.390 all of my advertising inventory for the sole purpose of making me do stupid crap on camera for y'all, 00:04:01.390 --> 00:04:07.150 instead of talking about the great quality and clean Scandinavian design of their PC cases, power supplies, and cooling products. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.280 Mind you, I don't know who to be mad at at this point, because it was you, not Fractal, who posted 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:19.680 let's make them do the sponsor spot on Helium on their Facebook page. I mean, thanks a lot, guys! 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:23.840 I mean, genuinely, thanks for watching, guys. Like or dislike the video accordingly, 00:04:23.840 --> 00:04:27.520 leave a comment with suggestions for future Fastest Possibles, and as always, 00:04:27.520 --> 00:04:30.880 don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already.