Intel Core i5-4400E vs Intel Core i5-4200M vs Intel Core i5-4310M

The Intel Core i5-4400E is a dual-core processor for embedded systems launched in mid-2013. It is based on the Haswell architecture and is manufactured in 22nm. Due to Hyper-Threading, the two cores can handle up to four threads in parallel, leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.7 GHz, but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz for 1 active core. The memory controller supports ECC.

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports, improving the performance per clock by almost 10 percent. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

The performance of the Core i5-4400E is similar to the consumer model Core i5-4300M with a slighty lower base clock. Therefore, the 4400E should be comparable to the Ivy Bridge based Core i7-3520M.

The integrated graphics card offers 20 Execution Units (EUs), which represents the GT2 version of the Haswell GPU. Technically, the GPU seems similar to the Intel HD Graphics 4600 found on other Core i5 CPUs, but the clock rate of 400 - 1000 MHz is noticeably lower.

The i5-4400E is rated at a TDP of 37 W including the graphics card, memory controller and VRMs.

The Intel Core i5-4200M is a middle-class dual-core processor for laptops launched in Q2/2013. It is based on the Haswell architecture and is manufactured in 22nm. Due to Hyper-Threading, the two cores can handle up to four threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.5 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz for 1 active core or 3.0 GHz for 2 active cores.

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Due to these changes, the performance per clock has been improved by almost 10 percent compared to Ivy Bridge. Therefore, the i5-4200M is about as fast as the former Ivy Bridge model i5-3340M.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 offers 20 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 400 MHz up to 1150 MHz with Turbo Boost, making it about 30 % faster than a similarly clocked HD 4000.

The i5-4200M is rated at a TDP of 37 W including the graphics card, memory controller and VRMs. Therefore, the CPU is suited for laptops 14-inches or greater.

The Intel Core i5-4310M is a fast dual-core processor for laptops launched in Q1/2014. It is based on the Haswell architecture and is manufactured in 22nm. Due to Hyper-Threading, the two cores can handle up to four threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.7 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz for 1 active core or 3.3 GHz for 2 active cores.

Architecture

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports, improving the performance per clock by 5 - 10 percent. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Performance

Compared to the Core i5-4300M, the 4310M is clocked just 100 MHz higher and therefore only slightly faster. Overall, the performance is on par with the Ivy Bridge-based Core i7-3540M. Even demanding software or multitasking will be handled easily.

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 offers 20 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 400 MHz up to 1250 MHz, making it about 30 % faster than a similarly clocked HD 4000. This is slightly slower than the AMD Radeon HD 8650G or a dedicated GeForce GT 720M.

Power Consumption

The i5-4310M is rated at a TDP of 37 W including the graphics card, memory controller and VRMs. Therefore, the CPU is suited for laptops 14-inches or greater.