Intel Core i7-8500Y vs Intel Core M-5Y10a vs Intel Core M-5Y31

Intel Core i7-8500Y

The Intel Core i7-8500Y is a very efficient dual-core SoC for tablets and passively cooled notebooks based on the Amber Lake generation and will be announced around August 2018. It is the fastest Amber Lake-Y CPU at the time of announcement and consists of two processor cores clocked at 1.5 - 4.2 GHz. Thanks to Hyper Threading, the processor can execute up to four threads simultaneously. The chips also includes the Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU, a dual-channel memory controller (DDR3L/LPDDR3) as well as VP9 and H.265 video de- and encoder. Compared to the Kaby Lake-Y predecessors (e.g. Core i7-7Y75), Amber Lake uses the same architecture produced in the improved 14nm+ FinFET process (no 14nm++) but offers higher clock speeds at an increased TDP rating.

Architecture

Intel basically used the familiar micro architecture from the Skylake / Kaby Lake generation, so the per-MHz performance is identical.

Performance

The performance of the Y series is highly depending on the cooling solution of the laptop / tablet and the TDP settings for sustained load. Therefore, the differences between a Core m3 and a i7 may be rather slim, if the thermals are very limited. The high Turbo clock speeds in Amber Lake should however lead to a very good single thread performance for short bursts.

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU has 24 Execution Units (EUs) like the old HD Graphics 515 and runs with clocks between 300 and 950 MHz in combination with this processor. The performance heavily depends on the TDP limit as well as the memory configuration; with fast LPDDR3-1866 RAM in dual-channel mode, the GPU should sometimes be able to compete with the HD Graphics 520, but can also be much slower in other scenarios. Modern games from 2016 will, if at all, only run smoothly in the lowest settings.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby Lake and Amber Lake now also supports hardware decoding for H.265/HEVC Main10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in the second generation 14 nm+ process with FinFET transistors. The typical TDP for the Amber Lake Y-series is specified at 5 Watts (previous generations were 4.5 Watt), and can be adjusted in both directions depending on the usage scenario.

Intel Core M-5Y10a

The Intel Core M-5Y10a is an ULV (ultra-low voltage) dual-core SoC based on the Broadwell architecture launched in September 2014. Thanks to its TDP of just 4.5 W, the CPU is suited for passively cooled tablets and 2-in-1 notebooks. In addition to two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading clocked at 0.8 - 2.0 GHz, the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 5300 GPU and a dual-channel LPDDR3/DDR3L(-RS) memory controller up to 25.6 GB/s. The chip is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Architecture

Broadwell represents the "Tick" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, which means a shrink of its predecessor Haswell. The new 14 nm manufacturing process with three-dimensional FinFET transistors allows not only improvements in energy efficiency, but also a significantly smaller die size fit for more compact packages and devices.

Further advantages result from the revised microarchitecture of Broadwell. Due to its improved branch prediction, bigger buffer sizes (1500 instead of 1000 entries in the L2 TLB) and other tweaks, the performance per clock has been increased by more than 5 percent over its predecessor. There are also some new instruction set extensions designed for cryptographic applications.

Performance 

The Core M-5Y10a offers a very wide turbo range from 0.8- 2.0 GHz; however, the actual frequency is largely limited by the TDP. Under continuous full load, the core clock will begin to degrade. Overall, the performance is similar to a Core i3-4030U (Haswell, 15 W) and sufficient for office and multimedia purposes as well as more demanding applications.

Graphics

The integrated HD Graphics 5300 offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 100 - 850 MHz. Similar to the CPU core, the GPU architecture (Intel Gen 8) has been thoroughly revised for improved performance-per-clock. However, the GPU frequency is also limited by the TDP, which prevents significant performance boosts over the older HD 4200. Only a few games as of 2014 are playable in low settings and XGA resolution.

Broadwell is the first Intel chip to fully support DirectX 11.2 as well as OpenCL 1.3/2.0 and OpenGL 4.3. Video will output natively via DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a. However, the new HDMI 2.0 standard is not officially supported.

Power Consumption

With a TDP of only 4.5 W, the Core M-5Y10a draws noticeably less power than the Haswell Y-series (11.5 W). The CPU can be passively cooled even in thin tablets.

Intel Core M-5Y31

The Intel Core M-5Y31 is an ULV (ultra-low voltage) dual-core SoC based on the Broadwell architecture launched in late 2014. Thanks to its TDP of just 4.5 W (configurable), the CPU is suited for passively cooled tablets and 2-in-1 notebooks. In addition to two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading clocked at 0.9 - 2.4 GHz, the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 5300 GPU and a dual-channel LPDDR3/DDR3L(-RS) memory controller up to 25.6 GB/s. The chip is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Using the "configurable TDP" feature, the 5Y31 can be clocked at 1.1 GHz base clock at a higher TDP (it seems like Apple is using this feature in the base model of the 12-inch MacBook Retina 2015).

Architecture

Broadwell represents the "Tick" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, which means a shrink of its predecessor Haswell. The new 14 nm manufacturing process with three-dimensional FinFET transistors allows not only improvements in energy efficiency, but also a significantly smaller die size fit for more compact packages and devices.

Further advantages result from the revised microarchitecture of Broadwell. Due to its improved branch prediction, bigger buffer sizes (1500 instead of 1000 entries in the L2 TLB) and other tweaks, the performance per clock has been increased by more than 5 percent over its predecessor. There are also some new instruction set extensions designed for cryptographic applications.

Performance 

The Core M-5Y31 offers a very wide turbo range from 0.9 - 2.4 GHz. However, the actual frequency is largely limited by the TDP. While the CPU is similar to a Core i5-4200U (Haswell, 15 W) in short benchmarks, its performance will begin to degrade under continuous full load. Accordingly, the main purpose of Broadwell's higher power efficiency is to reduce power consumption instead of improving raw performance.

Overall, the Core M-5Y31 will be sufficient for office and multimedia purposes as well as more demanding applications.

Graphics

The integrated HD Graphics 5300 offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 300 - 850 MHz. Similar to the CPU core, the GPU architecture (Intel Gen 8) has been thoroughly revised for improved performance-per-clock. However, the GPU frequency will be also limited by the TDP, which prevents significant performance boosts over the older HD 4200 under continuous 3D load. Current games as of 2014/2015 will be playable in lowest settings only.

Broadwell is the first Intel chip to fully support DirectX 11.2 as well as OpenCL 1.3/2.0 and OpenGL 4.3. Video will output natively via DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a. However, the new HDMI 2.0 standard is not officially supported.

Power Consumption

With a TDP of only 4.5 W, the Core M-5Y31 draws noticeably less power than the Haswell Y-series (11.5 W). However, the TDP can be set to different values such as 3.5 or 6 W, affecting clock rates and performance (6 W: 1.1 GHz base clock, 3.5 W: 0.6 GHz base clock). The CPU can be passively cooled even in thin tablets.