Intel Core i5-7500 vs AMD A8-7200P vs Intel Core i3-7100U

Intel Core i5-7500

The Intel Core i5-7500 is a fast mid-range quad-core processor for desktops based on the Kaby Lake architecture and was announced in January 2017. It offers four cores (no HyperThreading and therefore also only 4 threads at once) that run at 3.4 - 3.8 GHz.

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

The performance of the i5-7500 is comparable to a mobile Core i7-7700HQ. Therefore, the performance is sufficient even for demanding applications and games.

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 630 has 24 Execution Units (similar to previous HD Graphics 530) running at 350 - 1100 MHz. The performance depends a lot on the memory configuration; it should be comparable to a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 920M in combination with fast DDR4-2133 dual-channel memory.

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

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors, which improves the efficiency slightly. Intel still specifies the TDP with 65 Watts, which is a lot more than the 45 Watts of the mobile Kaby-Lake-H CPUs but less than e.g. the Core i5-7600K (91 Watt).

AMD A8-7200P

The quad-core AMD A8-7200P is a mid-range processor based on the Kaveri architecture. It was revealed in June 2014 for notebooks and is manufactured by GlobalFoundries using a 28 nm SHP process. In addition to having two CPU modules for a total of four integer cores clocked at 2.4 - 3.3 GHz, the AMD chip also integrates a Radeon R5 GPU clocked at up to 626 MHz with 256 GCN shaders and a dual-channel DDR3-1866 memory controller.

Architecture 

Kaveri is the successor to the 2013 Richland architecture (e.g. A10-5750M). The revised CPU cores, codenamed Steamroller, represent the third generation of the module-based Bulldozer design. A number of major changes include modified decoders (now one per integer core), optimized branch prediction, and increased L1 I-cache from 64 KB to 96 KB per module. These revisions boost the performance per clock slightly over a similarly clocked Richland APU. For more details about the AMD Kaveri architecture, see our detailed analysis here:

Analysis of the AMD Kaveri Notebook Platform

Performance 

According to the clock rates, the A8-7200P should offer a CPU performance level similar to the Sandy Bridge-based Intel Core i3-2310M or 2330M. Overall, the A8-7200P will be sufficient for multitasking daily workloads (Office, Internet browsing, multimedia) as well as more demanding programs.

Graphics

The Radeon R5 (Kaveri) GPU of the A8-7200P features a core clock of up to 626 MHz and 256 shader units. Since the GPU is based on AMD's GCN 1.1 architecture, both DirectX 11.2 "Tier 2" and Mantle are supported. Furthermore, the GPU can be used for general purpose computing in various applications, such as Adobe Photoshop via the OpenCL API. 

In terms of 3D performance, the GPU benefits from its DDR3-1866 memory support. Thus, the Radeon R5 is roughly as fast as a dedicated GeForce GT 720M and can handle many current games at low or medium settings at (W)XGA resolution.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire APU is rated at 35 Watts, which is similar to other competing mid-range models. As a result, the A8-7200P is best suited for 14-inch notebooks or larger.

Intel Core i3-7100U

The Intel Core i3-7100U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.4 GHz (without Turbo Boost) and integrates HyperThreading to work with up to 4 threads at once. The architectural differences are rather small compared to the Skylake generation, therefore the performance per MHz should be very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card (clocked at 300 - 1000 MHz). It is manufactured in an improved 14nm FinFET process at Intel. Compare to the old Skylake Core i3-6100U, the i3-7100U offers a 100 MHz improved clock speed.

 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.