Intel Core i3

Intel Core i3 microprocessor family

 Core i3 line of entry-level Core-branded microprocessors was introduced on January 7, 2010 at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Performance and price-wise these are middle-class CPUs, positioned between more expensive and more powerful Core i5 and Core i7 microprocessors, and budget Pentium and Celeron processor families. Based on Westmere (enhanced Nehalem) micro-architecture, Core i3 CPUs integrate dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, separate DMI interface to peripheral devices, HD-capable graphics controller, and incorporate all basic and some advanced micro-architecture features, such as per-core 256 KB level 2 cache, large level 3 cache shared between two cores, SSE4 instructions, and support for Virtualization and HyperThreading technologies. As common with entry-level and budget families, Core i3 line doesn't include advanced features, or have some of its features crippled:

•  Currently (February 2010), the processors include only two CPU cores, as opposed to 4 cores in more expensive Core i5 and Core i7 families.
• Core i3 CPUs have Turbo Boost Technology disabled.
• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instructions are not supported;
• Processors do not support Virtualization for directed I/O (VT-d) and Trusted Execution Technology features.

Intel Core i3 line up currently consists of desktop and mobile Core i3 families. Desktop Core i3 microprocessors are packaged in 1156-land Land-Grid Array (LGA) package, and require socket 1156 motherboards. Mobile Core i3 CPUs are manufactured in 1288-ball BGA or 988 micro-PGA package. BGA processors are soldered on directly on motherboards, and PGA processors use socket 988

2nd Generation Intel® Core™Processor Family for Desktops

Product Overview

Selecting the right processor is key when purchasing or upgrading your business PCs. The processor must keep pace with new trends in e-commerce, complex applications, and security that are applicable to your business Meet your business needs with a processor from the 2nd gen Intel® Core™ processor family, which offers improved adaptive performance and built-in visual capabilities to bring more intelligent performance to your business PC.

The Intel® Core™ i3 processor provides the basis for an affordable PC. This dual-core processor with 4-way multitasking capability has built-in performance headroom for software upgrades, providing an excellent return on investment.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

With 2nd generation Intel Core i3 processors, you get the following features built in:

·         Intel® HT Technology◊ allows each core of your processor to work on two tasks at the same time.

·         Intel® Smart Cache is dynamically allocated to each processor core based on workload, which significantly reduces latency and improves performance.

Featured Technologies

Get more responsive multitasking with select processors in the 2nd gen Intel Core processor family, which feature Intel® Turbo Boost Technology12.0 and Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology1, enabling required security applications and protocols to run efficiently in the background without compromising your productivity.Information security is vital to business. Securing information and data requires complex encryption software, which slows PC performance. With Advanced Encryption Solution New Instructions (AES-NI) integrated into the processor, the encryption and decryption operation is accelerated, saving you time.

With the increase of video conferencing and social media, business communication has become more visually sophisticated. Intel® HD Graphics 2000, integrated into the 2nd gen Intel Core processors, allows PC hardware to stay in step with these new visual media needs. The need for a discrete graphics card is eliminated, reducing power consumption and system cost.

   2nd gen Intel Core processors with Intel® vPro™ technology 2  can help reduce costs and increase efficiency by taking advantage of intelligent performance and unique hardware-assisted security and manageability features. Remote, automated manageabilityfeatures make PC maintenance easier and keep costs low. The system can be remotely configured or diagnosed, and an infected PC can be isolated or repaired. An Intel vPro  technology-based system minimizes disruptions to daily business operations. 

These 2nd gen Intel Core processors are also power efficient, enabling more energy efficient platforms which can meet ENERGY STAR* 3 and other global environmental  requirements. 

Intel’s technologies and innovations can increase the longevity of the computer, protecting your investment and supporting long-term business growth

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor—Best-in-Class Performance

The Intel® Core™ i7 processor delivers  best-in-class performance for the most  demanding applications. This quad-core  processor features Intel Turbo Boost  Technology 2.0, 8-way multitasking capability,  and additional L3 cache.

Intel® Core™ i5 Processor—The Next Level of Productivity

The Intel® Core™ i5 processor delivers the  next level of productivity. With Intel Turbo  Boost Technology 2.0, this quad-core processor with 4-way multitasking capability delivers extra speed whenever you need   it as well as security features to help  protect information and data. 

Intel® Core™ i3 Processor—Affordable Business PC

The Intel® Core™ i3 processor provides the basis for an affordable business PC. This  dual-core processor with 4-way multitasking  capability has built-in performance headroom for software upgrades, providing an  excellent return on investment

3 Step Guide To Overclock Your Core i3, i5, or i7 – Updated!

so many users are searching around the net these days looking for advice on how to over clock their new systems but don’t know where to start.  To help everyone out, I decided a how-to guide was in order.  Searching around forums can be confusing and intimidating.  There are so many people willing to give advice, but who can you trust?  It’s hard to know, and I’ve seen many users sent on wild goose chases because they are following advice that doesn't solve or even address their specific problem. I’ve also seen too much trial and error overclocking. What I will attempt to do is create a very simple three step guide to “one-size-fits-all” over clocking.

Methodology

My goal here is for this overclocking guide to be useful for anyone with a newer Intel based system, i3, i5, i7, LGA1156 or LGA1366. With the same basic principles applying to all of them, the basic process doesn’t change whether you are planning to use your system as an everyday system, gaming or if you want to push the limits for a single benchmark.

This guide is also independent of your cooling system.  Whether you are using the stock Intel cooler or if you’re pushing to the extreme with liquid nitrogen, the basic steps remain the same.  One thing that is far too common is errors in mounting your cooling system, specifically the application of the thermal interface material (TIM).  If you don’t have much experience mounting a cooling apparatus, please refer to this excellent guide from Arctic Silver.

Determining methods for finding a stable overclock are highly controversial, and my suggestion is that we agree to disagree.  Everyone has their individual definition of a stable system, but when I refer to “stable” in this guide, I am referring to the stability of your selected “stability test.”  So for a power user or gamer who wants a reliable system that won’t ever crash due to an overclock pushed too far, you’d need to test with a program that will load all of the cores and threads applicable to your CPU, OCCT and Prime95 are two popular choices.  For a benching team member looking to squeeze every last MHz out of their chip for a 7 second SuperPI 1M run on liquid nitrogen cooling, SuperPI 1M would be the ideal test. In my examples below, my verbiage will obviously be geared more towards those running tests like Prime95.  Super PI 1M only takes a few seconds to complete, so when I say “run your stability test for five minutes” obviously you will have to tailor that instruction for your individual situation.

So with that in mind, we will attempt to isolate each portion of the system and overclock one piece at a time.  This may seem time consuming at first  glance, but rest assured this can potentially save you hours of troubleshooting and frustration. So go slow, and follow each step very carefully.

Micro-architecture

The CPU micro-architecture has taken a huge leap from the 65nm Core to the new generation 45 and 32nm technology, it has brought many changes not only to the CPU’s but also to the chipset and motherboard design and functioning.  This is what make overclocking the i3/i5/i7 CPU’s so much different to their predecessor LGA 775 CPU’s.

The naming convention can be a bit confusing so let us look at the various CPU and their names:

First we have the Nehalem family which are all 45 nm CPU’s that included i7 1366 Bloomfield (i7-920 i7-975) and Lynnfield socket 1156 i5/i7 (i7-750 to i7-860). These are all quad cores with HT except for the i5 which has no HT.

Then the next family is Westmere which is essentially die shrink 32 nm CPU version of Nehalem and again you have the Clarkdale (socket 1156) in flavors of i5 and i3, both dual core processors with HT.

Gulftown which is the hex-core CPU’s and not available yet are also part of the Westmere family and features 6 physical cores with HT and will be socket 1366 only.

The above are all desktop chips, then to you get  the Arrandale and Clarksfield CPU’s which are mobile processors and the Gainstown which is the server equivalent of Bloomfield.

So, to summarize, we have socket LGA 1366 and LGA1156 which are essentially the board platforms that carry certain 45 and 32 nm CPU variants. Both platforms are DDR3 where the 1156 is dual channel only.