Tag Archives: processor

In response to a decline in PC sales, Intel has unveiled their new processor – 6^th gen Core vPro – which promises to transform business computing.

PC sales fell by 10.6% during Q4 2015, so growth in the market appears to be slowing down. Naturally, this is the last thing that PC manufacturers want to hear, so will Intel’s new chip give the market a shot in the arm?

It’s an intriguing question and, to fully understand it, we need to take a look at why the market has slowed down and what Intel’s new processor can bring to the table.

Decrease in Sales

The number of new PCs sold in 2015 fell below 300 million and, whilst this sounds a huge amount, it’s actually the lowest number of yearly sales since 2008. Consumers, then, appear to be holding off on that glittering upgrade, but why is this?

Well, back in the early 00s, you could expect the cost of PC processors to fall every 18 months whilst the number of transistors would double – this was known as Moore’s law. The result was a cheaper, but more powerful processor. And businesses, keen to stay at the cutting edge of technology, were happy to upgrade to maintain an advantage over competitors.

However, as we’ll discover, Moore’s law has not remained constant and the speed increases are not what they once were.

Introducing the 6^th Gen Core vPro

Intel’s latest processor hopes to offer businesses that little bit extra to convince them that an upgrade is necessary.

The question on most consumers’ lips – as ever – is “will this processor speed up our business operations?” and the answer is a resounding YES! However, although, the increase in speed is estimated to be around 2.5x faster, this is only when compared to a 2011 PC.

The increase in speed is relatively small compared to previous advancements in speed. Couple that with an increase in the cost of transistors and you can see why progress has slowed.

Speed has increased, though, and Intel’s new chip has plenty more to tempt businesses into parting with their cash.

Intel has also improved the efficiency of their conference connectivity software Intel Unite to provide smoother connections between the myriad of different adapters and connections. This will sound like an absolute dream for anyone who’s ever tried to set up video conferencing!

Also at the forefront of Intel’s sale pitch is their strong focus on security. We live in a world where the potential for cyber-attacks seems to increase by the day, so Intel is moving into hardware based security. Utilizing multi factor authentication, Intel Authenticate will aim to reduce current data security threats by around 25%.

And this will involve much more sophisticated methods than SMS authentication or old fashioned passwords. Intel is moving into the 21^st century with fingerprint scanning and smartphone/PC proximity checks.

Will PC Sales Increase?

Intel is certainly putting all it’s got into making sure the 6^th gen Core vPro succeeds and I think they’ve got a good chance of achieving this. The increase in speed – although smaller than is historically expected – will be a real boon for businesses as will the enhanced security in an unsecure landscape.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Confused as to which Intel processor to opt for? We’ll help explain the differences between the Intel Core i-series and give scenarios for their ideal use.

We have previously touched on processor cores and speeds, which will come in handy to have a rough understanding of as we discuss the differences between Intel’s Core-i processor series.  Intel has designed three different processor classes that are designed to cater for various purposes.

First, let’s understand the difference between the three processor classes.

i3 vs i5 vs i7

What may first sound a little misleading are the names of the processor types; the Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7.  It’s easy to think of these processors as having the number of cores reflected in their names i.e. Core i3 with 3 cores or three sets of cores. However in actual fact, the names of these processors do not represent the number of cores each processor carries.

When it comes to cores, the Core i3 is a dual core processor; the Core i5 and Core i7 are dual and quad core processors. Each one of these processors also differs by their cache size and their ability to multi thread.

Only the Core i5 and i7 both have Turbo Boost, which permits the processors to increase their clock speed when needed. This all depends on the availability of cores within the processor, processor temperature, estimated power consumption and current available power.

How multi-threading works as shown by Intel.

Therefore, the difference between a Core i5 and a Core i7 is mostly distinguished by hyperthreading. Hyperthreading is designed to allow each core in a processor serve more than one thread at a time. Therefore a core i7, with four cores, is able to run a total of 8 threads whereas a Core i5 and Core i7 have both the same threading capacity of 4.

However each Core-i series follows a progressive order with improved caching capabilities. Cache helps processors remember data to speed up data access requests. The Core i3 processors come with 3 MB cache, core i5 generally come with 6MB ( with the exception of the 661 model which only holds 4MB maximum cache), and the higher end Core i7 will comes with 8MB cache.

The general consensus regarding the Core-i series is the higher the series, the better its performance.

Now that we’ve outline the general differences between the three Core-i series of Intel processors, let’s outline a scenario for using each one.

Core-i processor class usage scenarios

Core i3 – this class of processor can be considered entry level, which is designed to cope with basic document work and to help carry out light browsing activities.

Core i5 -this type can be summed up as a mainstream processor that’ll perform well when multitasking with more memory intensive programs, such as with running accounting software, having many documents open and heavier web browsing activities such as having many browser tabs open.

Core i7 – this class of processor is considered high end, which will cost more but will give the best performance. For instance, it’s ideal for editing graphics and video with lots of multi-tasking.

For more ways to optimize your systems, contact your local IT professionals.