Intel lets loose Core i3, i5, i7 chips
The new "Arrandale" graphics technology has 20 percent more shaders, an important component for 3D graphics, the chipmaker says.
LAS VEGAS--Intel announced more than a dozen new processors at CES 2010 here Thursday.
The Consumer Electronics Show roll-out includes the new mobile Core i3 and mobile Core i5, and additions to the Core i7 line. Performance and features generally increase with the size of the i identifier number. In other words, Core i7 processors are typically faster than Core i5 chips.
Intel is touting the better-integrated graphics of the Core i3 and i5 processors. The new "Arrandale" graphics technology has 20 percent more shaders--an important component for 3D graphics, Intel senior vice president Sean Maloney said here Thursday. Intel claims that the graphics performance is roughly 70 percent better than the integrated graphics in the current Core 2 silicon.
"This is a big leap in graphics performance," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64. Brookwood said Intel has done a better job with its graphics drivers and less-demanding games run significantly better than the current Core 2 technology. But high-end gamers will continue to opt for discrete (standalone) graphics, according to Maloney. "It's probably not enough for a serious gamer," Maloney said, in an interview. Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices' ATI graphics chip unit offer discrete graphics chips.
