| I’ve been out of the enthusiast game since the P4. I understand that an i5 is better than an i3 and worse than an i7. Outside of that I’m totally lost. Different core counts, different kinds of cores, multiple clock speeds (minimum, normal, max, ultra-boost), etc. and of course a current i3 probably destroys an older i7 in benchmarks. GPUs aren’t quite as bad. A 3060 is better than a 2060, but is a 3060 better than a 2080ti? But I find CPUs (when I see model numbers mentioned) totally inscrutable. I don’t know if the i-series names are valuable. The last Intel name I really remember is the Core 2 Duo name. i3 is no where near as memorable. Whatever they do, I hope they find a way to make their various lines and models easier to understand. I know that’s difficult for a company like Intel with such a huge line up of products. |
That isn't always true. It's pushed by intel as a "handy reference" for specifications, when it's actually just a price bracket. Many noobs will see it as a three-level hierarchy and conclude that they need an i7 for their mundane office work, when a pentium would have sufficed.
You gotta read and understand the specifications.
AMD has an actually useful naming spec for their processors, unlike intel.