The best Intel processors offer optimal performance in both gaming and productivity. Over the past year, however, the company’s CPUs have suffered from the rise of the AMD Ryzen 5000 processors.
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The best processors
The best Intel processors represent a reference point for many users, who over the years have appreciated the competitiveness and reliability of the brand. On the other hand, an obsolete production process (14 nm) weighs on the consumption and temperatures reached by some of the company’s chips.
The good news is that the high peak frequency and multi core and single thread performance make Intel Core processors perfect for gaming. For most of us, Intel Core solutions are still an excellent choice, and in certain situations even the best possible choice.
The high-end processors of the Rocket Lake family, such as the Intel Core i9-11900K, did not fully convince us, but some Core i5s and some Comet Lake-S solutions are still very interesting for value for money.
In the fourth quarter of the year, the Alder Lake-S processors will be released, which promise a significant increase in performance and a reduction in consumption thanks to the new production process “10nm Superfin”.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of the best Intel processors now on the market.
Intel Pentium Gold G6400
is an entry-level processor intended for classic living room PCs that the whole family uses. Like the AMD Athlon 3000G, it’s an inexpensive chip with an integrated GPU, so it’s perfect for low-budget systems.
It is an entry-level product, so the performance is not basic, both in terms of the CPU and the iGPU. Consumption and temperature are very low, also a heatsink is included in the package.
Intel Core i5-11600K
it is the best gaming CPU of the Santa Clara giant; belongs to the 11th generation of Intel Core CPUs, codenamed Rocket Lake. The product offers excellent single core performance and therefore also gaming performance, however it consumes a lot.
If you want a chip to play best in Full HD and Quad HD (1440p), the Intel Core i5-11600K will serve you well, but you’ll have to buy a high-end cooler to make the most of it.
Intel Core i9-10850K
it is one of the best processors today and stands out again this year. The great thing about this chip is that it is nothing more than a Core i9-10900K, with a lower peak frequency of only 100Mhz.
Compared to the top of the range, you can take it home for 10-15% lower price, and in that sense, it’s a real bargain. If you have an Intel LGA 1200 motherboard and want to upgrade, this CPU is very advanced.
Third Generation Xeon Scalable CPU
Intel has unveiled the new third generation Xeon Scalable processors that will allow users to accelerate the development and use of artificial intelligence and analytics in data centers.
The new Xeon CPU produced by Intel is the first mainstream server processor to integrate the bfloat16 numerical format, in order to improve the use of inference and AI training on CPUs for various activities, such as image classification, speech recognition. , virtual machine (VM) density calculations, data analysis and deep learning.
Vice President and General Manager of Xeon and Memory Group at Intel, Lisa Spelman, said in a press release that third-generation Xeon Scalable CPUs will provide companies with better implementation of artificial intelligence and data analytics systems.
“The ability to rapidly implement AI and data analytics capabilities is essential for today’s businesses. Intel lives up to its commitment to optimize AI and software by integrating them into the processor on which the best edge and data center solutions are based, as well as providing an unparalleled hardware foundation for processing the information contained in the data, ”Spelman said.
The third generation Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs will integrate the new Intel Optane 200 Series Persistent Memory, which will allow each socket to have up to 4.5 TB available to better manage workloads that require a large amount of data.
Third Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Optane 200 Series Persistent Memory are now available and have already begun their distribution to customers.
Cortex-A78 perfectly combines performance and consumption
Cortex-A78 perfectly combines performance and consumption, thus offering greater efficiency than the previous generation. ARM claims that the CPU guarantees an increase of up to 20% of the “sustained performance” compared to the Cortex-A77 at the same consumption (1 Watt). This avoids the automatic reduction of the clock frequency while running games.
Cortex-X1 is instead a CPU designed primarily for maximum performance, so without paying too much attention to consumption and chip size. According to ARM, the first model in the series offers up to 30% increase in peak performance over the Cortex-A77. This CPU can also be used in devices with larger screens, such as tablets and notebooks.
Both CPUs are obviously compatible with the DynamiQ architecture, an evolution of the famous big.LITTLE. Four Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55 can be combined, or one Cortex-X1, three Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55.
ARM Mali-G78 / G68 and Ethos-N78
The Mali-G78 GPU will work alongside Cortex-A78 CPUs in SoCs for future high-end smartphones. According to ARM, the new GPU offers performance up to 25% higher than that of the previous Mali-G77. It can have up to 24 cores (8 more than the Mali-G77) and can easily handle the heaviest games with a high level of detail. It also supports applications that leverage machine learning and mixed reality (virtual and augmented).
Mali-G68 inherits all the features of Mali-G78, but can have up to 6 cores. Cortex CPUs and Mali GPUs can run machine learning algorithms, but for more demanding tasks it is better to leverage a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). ARM has therefore created the new Ethos-N78 which offers an efficiency up to 25% higher than that of the previous Ethos-N77.