Intel Core i5-4310M

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.