Processors or CPUs (central processing units), are the “brain” of the computer, routing data, and performing mathematics at extremely high speed. They are used in desktop computers, laptops and servers.
Models of these processors include Core, Xeon, Pentium, and Celeron.
To understand the attributes of each processor, Intel often uses the following naming conventions:
The product line: Core, Xeon, Pentium, or Celeron.
The core modes are the most common for home and business use. The core brand of Intel chip modifiers are i3, i5, i7, or i9 after the “Core” name. The higher the “i” number the more powerful the processor as well it will have more features than lower versions.
Following the brand and modifier, you’ll find a generation indicator like 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 after that is a part number to indicate when the chip was made. For example, an i5-10400F CPU is the 10th generation whereas an i5-11600K is the 11th generation.
After the generation most intel chips show both a model number and product line suffix, these are line specific when it comes to model numbers, normally the higher the number the better the processor. You cannot compare across brands. As in you cannot compare a Core model number to a Pentium one or other models.
Here are some of the suffixes used in core processors, In the example about generation, the i5-10400F ends in “F” which means for use with a discrete graphics card (one that has a separate graphics processing unit and its own memory), for higher performance. The second example CPU ends in “K” which means it is an overclockable version (can be run at higher speeds for more performance). Other suffixes include M for the mobile version, Q for quad-core, and U an ultra low power version that is used in laptops
The ability to interpret intel CPU models and attributes is useful to identify the brand type, generation, and attributes. For more information about Intel CPUs see the Intel website at:
www.intel.ca or at www.intel.com