Intel Core i5-8350U

The Intel Core i5-8350U is a power efficient quad-core SoC for notebooks and Ultrabooks based on the Kaby Lake Refresh generation and was announced in August 2017. Contrary to its direct predecessor the Core i5-7300U, which were still dual-cores, the i7-8350U is equipped with four cores but at a lower base frequency of 1.7 GHz. The Turbo Boost can go up to 3,6 GHz and therefore also offer good short term single core speeds. The GPU is now named Intel UHD Graphics 620 but otherwise identical to the Intel HD Graphics 620. The integrated memory controller supports DDR4-2400 / LPDDR3-2133 and dual channel memory.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Performance

According to Intel, the new quad core models are up to 40% faster than their dual core predecessors. Due to the reduced TDP and the same 14nm+ process, the long term performance and throttling behaviour will be interesting and depending on the laptop design. Therefore, the older 35 Watt quad-core models should be faster in applications that demand longer CPU loads.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 (Intel Gen 9.5) is untouched from the 8th Gen Kaby Lake chips. With fast dual-channel memory it can reach the performance of a dedicated GeForce 920M.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby lake now also supports H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The dual-core Kaby Lake processors announced in January should also support HDCP 2.2.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors (14nm+), the same as the 7th Gen Kaby Lake processors. Intel still specifies the TDP with 15 Watts, which is typical for ULV chips. Depending on the usage scenario, the TDP can vary between 7.5 (cTDP Down) and 25 Watts.

Series	Intel Kaby Lake Refresh
Codename	Kaby Lake Refresh
Series: Kaby Lake Refresh Kaby Lake Refresh Intel Core i7-8650U 1.9 - 4.2 GHz 4 / 8  8 MB L3 Intel Core i7-8550U 1.8 - 4 GHz 4 / 8  8 MB L3 Intel Core i5-8350U « 1.7 - 3.6 GHz 4 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core i3-8130U 2.2 - 3.4 GHz 2 / 4  4 MB L3 Intel Pentium Gold 4417U 2.3 GHz 2 / 4  2 MB L3
Clock Rate	1700 - 3600 MHz
Level 1 Cache	256 KB
Level 2 Cache	1 MB
Level 3 Cache	6 MB
Number of Cores / Threads	4 / 8
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power)	15 Watt
Manufacturing Technology	14 nm
Socket	BGA1356
Features	Dual-Channel DDR4 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX, AVX2, Quick Sync, Virtualization, AES-NI
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 620 (300 - 1100 MHz)
64 Bit	64 Bit support
Architecture	x86
Starting Price	$297 U.S.
Announcement Date	08/21/2017

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