Intel Core i7-8565U vs Intel Core i7-10610U vs Intel Pentium Gold 6405U

Intel Core i7-8565U

The Intel Core i7-8565U is a power efficient quad-core SoC for notebooks and Ultrabooks based on the Whiskey Lake generation that was announced in August 2018 (IFA). Compared to the similar named Kaby Lake-R processors (e.g. Core i7-8550U), the Whiskey Lake CPUs are now produced in a further improved 14nm process (14nm++) and offer higher clock speeds. The architecture and features are the same. The i7-8565U offers e.g. high Turbo clock speeds of 4,6 GHz (versus 4 GHz of the i7-8550U) for a single core and 4.1 GHz (versus 3.7 GHz) of all cores (4.1 GHz for 2 cores). The integrated GPU is still named Intel UHD Graphics 620 and the dual-channel memory controller still supports the same RAM speeds as Kaby-Lake-R (DDR4-2400 / LPDDR3-2133). Compared to the slower Core i5-8265U and i3-8145U, the i7 supports Thermal Velocity Boost.

The Whiskey Lake SoCs are used with a new PCH produced in 14nm that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) and CNVi WiFi/BT parts.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same microarchitecture compared to Skylake and Kaby Lake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. That means Whiskey Lake is a Kaby Lake chip manufactured in the improved 14nm++ process.

Performance

The performance of the i7-8565U depends on the cooling solution of the laptop and the defined TDP limits for short and long term performance. We already saw big differences for Kaby Lake-R (e.g., i7-8550U benchmarks), especially for long term (sustained) performance. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how the additional Turbo  clock speed can be made use of. It looks like Intel is promoting the i7 to be 3 - 11% faster than the previous i7-8550U, with Cinebench R15 Multi reaching 5% gains.

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 and Whiskey 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 a further improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors (14nm++), the same as the 8th Gen Coffee 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.

Intel Core i7-10610U

The Intel Core i7-10610U is a power efficient quad-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in August 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake processors (e.g. Core i7-8665U), the only difference is support for higher memory speeds (DDR4-2666 vs 2400) and two additional cores in the top model (not in this i7-10610U). The processor cores are clocked between 1.8 and 4.9 GHz (unverified). Thanks to Hyper-Threading 8 threads can be used. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Compared to the similar Core i7-10510U, the 10610U supports vPro.

The integrated graphics adapter however is still the same as in the previous generations. It should be still called Intel UHD Graphics 620 and clock from 300 - 1150 MHz in the i7. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel DDR4-2666 / LPDDR4x 2933 / LPDDR3-2133 memory controller.

Performance

The average 10610U in our database is in the same league as the Core i5-1035G1 and also the Core i5-8257U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term power limit of 25 W, the HP ZBook Firefly 14 G7 is among the fastest laptops built around the 10610U that we know of. It can be about 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Core i7 has a default TDP of 15 W (also known as the long-term power limit). Laptop manufacturers are free to change that value to anything between 10 W and 25 W, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly. Perhaps more importantly, short-term power consumption of 10th gen Comet Lake U processors can be as high as 80 W or even 90 W, making passively cooled designs rather unlikely to appear.

Core i7-10610U is manufactured on an old, as of late 2022, 14 nm Intel process for subpar energy efficiency.

Intel Pentium Gold 6405U

The Intel Pentium Gold 6405U is a power efficient entry-level dual-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in October 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake Pentium 5405U processors, the difference is the higher clock speed (+100 MHz) and support for faster memory. The processor cores are clocked at 2.4 GHz (no Turbo). Thanks to HyperThreading 4 threads can be used. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Due to the 100 MHz higher clock speed, the Pentium Gold 6405U should be slightly faster than the old Pentium 5405U and therefore in the entry level of mobile processors. The missing Turbo and only two cores are definitely a downside and therefore the CPU is best used for simple tasks like browsing and office programs. Compared to the faster Core i3, i5 and i7 Comet Lake models, the Pentium does not support SSE (2).

The integrated graphics card is still the same as in the previous generations. It is called only Intel UHD Graphics but is still the same Intel UHD Graphics 610 like in the Pentium 5405U. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel LPDDR3-2133/DDR4-2400 memory controller (compared to DDR4-2666 in the faster Core i3).

The chip is still produced in the 14nm++ process as Whiskey Lake. The TDP (PL1) is specified at 15 Watts but can be lowered to 12.5 Watt although the CPU then only runs at 800 MHz.