New Intel Kaby Lake Core i3 Processors: i3-7340, i3-7320T, i3-7120T, i3-7120
by Ian Cutress & Joe Shields on July 14, 2017 4:00 PM EST
Last week Intel recently updated its specifications for the 7th generation processors. In doing so, we can see several new Kaby Lake i3 SKUs coming to desktop, along with a few new KBL-U series SoCs for notebooks and a new Xeon E3-1285 v6 CPU, which matches the specification for Apples newest iMac. The full specification update from Intel is listed here.
New Desktop Core i3 Kaby Lake CPUs
The existing lineup of Core i3 on the desktop has six models ranging from the i3-7100T to the Core i3-7350K. Like previous generations, all the parts have two cores and support hyperthreading, although Intel did shake things up with this generation by offering an overclockable Core i3, but also moving the lower-class Pentiums from plain dual core to dual-core with HT as competition. The main differences between the parts are core frequency (Core i3 has no Turbo), L3 cache, GPU Turbo and TDP.
| 7th Generation Core i3 and Pentium Desktop Processors | |||||||
| Stepping | Cores | Freq | L3 | GPU Turbo Frequency |
TDP | List Price |
|
| Core i3-7350K | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 4.2 GHz | 4 MB | 1150 MHz | 60W | $168 |
| Core i3-7340 | S-0 | 2 / 4 | 4.2 GHz | 4 MB | 1150 MHz | 51W | *new |
| Core i3-7320 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 4.1 GHz | 4 MB | 1150 MHz | 51W | $149 |
| Core i3-7320T | S-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.6 GHz | 4 MB | 1100 MHz | 35W | *new |
| Core i3-7300 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 4.0 GHz | 4 MB | 1100 MHz | 54W | $138 |
| Core i3-7300T | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.5 GHz | 4 MB | 1100 MHz | 35W | $138 |
| Core i3-7120 | S-0 | 2 / 4 | 4.0 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 51W | *new |
| Core i3-7120T | S-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.5 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 35W | *new |
| Core i3-7100 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.9 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 51W | $117 |
| Core i3-7100T | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.4 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 35W | $117 |
| Pentium G4620 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.7 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 51W | $86 |
| Pentium G4600 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.6 GHz | 3 MB | 1100 MHz | 51W | $64 |
| Pentium G4560 | B-0 | 2 / 4 | 3.5 GHz | 3 MB | 1050 MHz | 54W | $52 |
According to the updated document, the new CPUs are the Core i3-7120, Core i3-7120T, Core i3-7320T, and the i3-7340. These parts do not have prices listed but are labeled as a new 'S-0' stepping compared to the previous B-0 stepping parts. Aside from this, they are either lower power parts (the T CPUs) or small MHz bumps.
New Laptop Kaby Lake-U 15W CPUs
Aside from the Desktop i3 parts, Intel is filling out some of the mobile SoCs as well. Intel's 15W line is commonly used in fast but thin notebooks, but typically needs an active fan to keep cool (unless you have a Huawei Matebook X). Intel uses its 15W moniker for Core i3, Core i5-U and Core i7-U parts, which are all dual-core with hyperthreading, but differ in base frequency, turbo frequency, L3 cache and GPU frequencies.
Additional (7/17): We've been told by Intel that these SKUs were mistakenly added to the datasheet in question, and are not finalized for release (if they will be released at all). Specifically, we were told:
The SKUs listed are not intended to be in the market anytime soon. A couple of them will actually never become products.
Additional (7/17): These SKUs were removed at the request of Intel, as they will not be coming to market (and they've apparently already had requests from customers, it seems). We've requested that Intel shares with us info with us if new U SKUs are planned to come to market in the future.
New Intel E3-1200 v6 Series Xeon: The New iMac CPU?
When Intel launched the E3-1200 series, we commented that the last CPU in the stack pushed the boundaries for price: The E3-1280 v6 was $612, and only a small bump in frequency over the E3-1275 v6. Now Intel is set to launch the E3-1285 v6, which again bumps up the frequency - becoming a mix of the top Core i7 parts.
| 7th Generation Kaby Lake Xeon E3-1200 v6 Processors | |||||||
| Cores | Base | Turbo | L3 | GPU | TDP | List Price |
|
| Xeon E3-1285 v6 | 4 / 8 | 4.1 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 8 MB | HD P630 | 91 W | *new |
| Xeon E3-1280 v6 | 4 / 8 | 3.9 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 8 MB | None | 72 W | $612 |
| Xeon E3-1275 v6 | 4 / 8 | 3.8 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 8 MB | HD P630 | 73 W | $339 |
| Core i7-7700K | 4 / 8 | 4.2 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 8 MB | HD 630 | 91 W | $350 |
| Core i7-7740X | 4 / 8 | 4.3 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 8 MB | None | 112 W | $339 |
The E3-1285 v6 has been earmarked as the new high-end processor in the iMac, and we expect that it would likely cost a pretty penny given the price of the E3-1280 v6 just underneath it.
Related Reading
Source: Intel (via CPU-World)
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meacupla - Friday, July 14, 2017 - link
Aside from the low power offerings, i3 lineup doesn't set the bar high, does it...It is no wonder Ryzen Pro and r3 have such paltry specs.
jimjamjamie - Friday, July 14, 2017 - link
I mean a couple of 4GHz cores makes for a nippy machine, but the prices need to go down. Hopefully R3 can facilitate that.ddriver - Sunday, July 16, 2017 - link
There won't be much pressure unless AMD is capable of producing enough R3s to meet market demand for low end.Given the most recent announcement, AMD is going to offer a FULL QUAD CORE ryzen chip for less than what the cheapest i3 is selling, so the purchase decision is a no-brainer. Even when you throw in a low end discrete GPU, you still end up with a significantly more powerful machine, both in terms of GPU and GPU power, for less money than what the top end i3's sell for.
And given the fact that R3s are crippled ryzen dies, I don't think AMD can meet demand to the point of forcing intel to cut on i3 prices. Which is why AMD needs a "native" quad core, preferably with iGPU, and fast. Now that will surely put pressure on intel.
hishnash - Monday, July 17, 2017 - link
i think we need to wait for the APU from amd that will target the lower end.FreckledTrout - Tuesday, July 18, 2017 - link
That would be the Raven Ridge APU landing early 2018.wumpus - Sunday, July 23, 2017 - link
I think it is telling that AMD didn't bother to simply cut the zeppelin die in half (it is effectively two "halves" stitched together). Presumably the cost of creating a new mask (they could have planned ahead such that it required next to no different circuitry. Presumably they aren't at all interested in a 4 core device without integrated APU.That said, I think Intel has only 3 Xenon masks and maybe one or two consumer masks (I *think* 4 and 2 core are different masks). It is expensive and requires twice the process tweaks as just having the zeppelin mask.
niva - Monday, July 17, 2017 - link
Ryzen looks good for desktop, but is it going to be competitive in the mobile market? I haven't read any reviews. The core i3s are awesome in terms of energy consumption and battery life, will the AMD chips be able to do that well given they will need a discrete GPU? Doubtful.I'm all for having choices and competition and I hope the AMD chip gets put into some good systems, not the trash it was relegated to over the last decade.
ddriver - Monday, July 17, 2017 - link
Ryzen will do just fine in mobiles, as in laptops and such. It will likely bring the thermal envelope for quad cores down to 25-30 watts including GPU.The i3's don't look that energy efficient to me. The top end is at 50-60 watts, and that's still DUAL core, we have OCTA core ryzen at 65 watts.
Even if we take the lowest TDP models from the chart above, that's 35 watts for 2 mere cores, 17.5 watts per core, whereas the 65 watt octa core ryzen comes at just a tad over 8 watts per core. Even if we assume that half of the i3's TDP is graphics, ryzen is still more energy efficient.
IMO zen based dual and quad core APUs will be a huge hit in mobile devices. They are due to release mobile chips in a few months. So it is a little early for reviews, not unless someone crams a full desktop part in a laptop chassis - we've seen such oddities before.
Morawka - Monday, July 17, 2017 - link
Look at the i3 T series (35w) and keep in mind it has a GPU inside that uses up some of that TDP, whereas ryzen has no GPU. Intel's cores are most efficient at around 3.0-3.5 ghz, anything more than 3.5, your having to add a lot of voltage for relatively little gain in frequency. Ryzen is most efficient at 2.5-3.0 ghz. AMD has a little optimizing to do for high frequency with decent efficiency.ddriver - Monday, July 17, 2017 - link
Underclocking ryzen has revealed that the initial production revision drops to about 60 watts at 3 Ghz. That puts it at 7.5 watts per core. A dual core would therefore use about 15 watts of power, leaving a whole another 20 watts for an iGPU to make it to 35 watts.And this is "desktop grade" ryzen, chips tailored for mobiles will inevitably be even more efficient. Also ryen at 3Ghz will likely beat i3 at 3.5 Ghz in single threaded performance, and it also benefits more from "hyperthreading".
Although I am not certain how much of the iGPU is actually included in the i3 TDP. AVX torture tests have revealed the 35 watts i3 to go all the way to 30 watts, and that's on the CPU alone, without even loading the GPU with heavy graphics. I'd say the GPU is actually somewhere between 10-15 watts, which would bring the average CPU core power usage to 17.5 to 15 watts, which is at least twice as high as "desktop ryzen" cores at comparable performance level.