Intel Core I5 Laptops - Know The Difference

With so many laptops on the market, with all kind of processors, one of the wisest decisions you may take is to settle down on an Intel Core i5 laptop. But before choosing a laptop powered by an Intel Core i5 mobile CPU, you have to be familiar with the i5 CPU series, as Intel recently released the 3rd generation of i5 processors. Knowing the CPU model numbers will help you differentiate between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation, and not to choose a laptop with an outdated CPU.

The 1st generation of Intel Core i5 mobile CPUs has been introduced to the public for the first time late in 2009, under the name of "Arrandale", as a mainstream variant of the earlier high-end performance Core i7. Arrandale i5 processors have integrated graphics but only two processor cores.

Arrandale Dual Core i5 mobile CPUs:

Core i5-5xxM
Core i5-4xxM
Core i5-5xxUM
Core i5-4xxUM
The 2nd generation of Intel Core i5 mobile CPUs, aka "Sandy Bridge", made its appearance in early 2011. These processors are, also, dual-core chips like the previous series and share most the features with that product line. The benchmarking tests have shown an average performance increase by 11%, according to benchmarking sites, compared to the 1st Generation.

Sandy Bridge Dual Core i5 mobile CPUs:

Core i5-2xxxM
Core i5-2xx7M
The 3rd generation of Intel Core i5 mobile CPUs, aka "Ivy Bridge", is the latest series released by Intel. The benchmarking tests have shown 5% to 15% increase in CPU performance and 20% to 50% increase in integrated GPU performance compared to Sandy Bridge.

Ivy Bridge Dual Core i5 Mobile CPUs:

Core i5 3xxxM
Core i5 3xx7U
Now that you are familiar with all the i5 processors, and you can differentiate between the i5 series, all you have to do is to find a notebook that uses one of the above processors. The easy way to do find an Intel i5 laptop is to go to your favorite online store and filter the notebooks by the type of processor they use. Make sure to check the processor model number to see if it's a 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation i5 CPU.

One thing that I need to mention is that all the above processors have an integrated GPU, which means that not all laptops will be configured with a discrete graphics card. So if you need more GPU power for video transcoding applications, 3D design and gaming at ultra high settings, make sure to choose a notebook with discrete graphics.

Hope I made myself useful with this article, and if you need more information on i5 laptops I invite you to browse this list I made with intel core i5 laptops.



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