After AMD released their new Ryzen processors, Intel went into a bit of a scramble, launching a new processor line (Core i9), a new platform (X299) and getting itself into a bit of a mess with regards to naming and process conventions. Before, things were easy. For desktop PCs, Pentium G processors were dual cores, Core i3 processors were dual cores with hyper threading enabled, Core i5 processors were quad cores and Core i7 processors were Quad Cores with hyper threading enabled.
Now, well, we’re not even sure what’s going on. And what about the generation gaps? It used to be tick-tock, one generation shrinks the node, the next one refines it. But Broadwell (5th generation), Skylake (6th generation) and Kaby Lake (7th and current generation) have all run on the same 14nm process node.
So, yeah the CPU market isn’t quite as clear cut as it used to be. But this video, which at least explains what to expect with the 8th generation of CPUs, should give you an idea of whether to upgrade or not. In short, the biggest change is that ultrabooks (those super thin laptops) finally have quad core CPUs instead of dual cores. That’s important, as previously Intel has had trouble making quad core chips that were power efficient enough for small form factors. Watch for more info:
