Intel has added to its seventh-generation Kaby Lake and Xeon processor lineup with fresh models, boasting vPro technology and aimed at mobile workstations, unveiled at CES 2017.
As you would expect, there are CPUs catering for a variety of performance and power efficiency demands, with the most frugal power-sipping model being the 4.5W Intel Core vPro Y-series processors which are targeted at 2-in-1 detachables.
The m3-7Y30 is a dual-core processor with a base clock of 1GHz with Turbo up to 2.4GHz, with integrated Intel HD Graphics 615. Move on up to the top-end Core i7-7Y75 and you’re looking at a base clock of 1.3GHz with Turbo to 3.4GHz.
The 15W and 28W Intel Core vPro U-series are aimed at convertible laptops along with thin and light notebooks, with the more heavyweight 45W H-series Core vPro destined for large-screen/premium notebooks.
The dual-core Core i3-7100U (15W) has a base clock of 2.4GHz with Intel HD Graphics 620, and the range steps up to the Core i7-7600U with a base clock of 2.8GHz and Turbo to 3.9GHz (and the same integrated graphics). There are also models with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, offering far tastier performance for integrated graphics – we talk more about this here.
The new CPUs with Iris Plus also sport Optane memory support which gives a traditional spinning hard disk a massive boost when it comes to loading times.
Xeon power
Then there’s Intel’s new 45W Xeon processors, which give real grunt to mobile workstations. The E3-1505M v6 is a quad-core (8-thread) CPU with a base clock of 3GHz and Turbo to 3.6GHz with Intel HD Graphics P630, and the E3-1535M v6 steps the clock speed up to 3.1GHz with Turbo to 3.9GHz.
The company also revealed 65W S-series Core vPro CPUs for mainstream tower PCs, alongside 35W and 65W Core and Core vPro S-series models pitched at mini PCs and all-in-ones, plus 65W/95W Core processors for enthusiast towers.
Better battery life than Skylake is, of course, promised, with the new Core U-series offering up to 10 hours of battery life on the move according to Intel, and the vPro CPUs offer a number of boons on the security front built directly into the chips.
These include Intel Authenticate, which the company describes as a ‘robust’ multi-factor authentication solution, protected directly on the hardware to lessen the chances of users becoming victims to the various scammers who are increasingly prevalent these days.
Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) and Intel Online Connect technology is also on board to make online shopping a more secure affair, allowing for biometric verification for purchases made online. There’s also built-in two-factor authentication for Dropbox and other commonly used online services.
- So what’s the best CPU out there? We’ve chosen our top 10 processors
