How do I read Intel CPU specs?

Intel® Core™ i7-640M (2.8~3.46GHz, 35W) w/4MB Cache - 2 Cores, 4 Threads - 2.5 GT/s

SO i'm buying a new laptop, which i have not done in 6 years. So i am not familiar with any of these cpu specs. It was the highest option for intel for this laptop. So i am assuming it is somewhat fast. But i'd like to learn what these specs mean.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Solution 1:

If you want to learn what the specs mean, let's start by breaking down all the components as a starting point:

Intel® are the manufacturer.

Core™ i7 is the family of chips, it is the highest of Intel's current families (i3, i5, i7)

640M is the exact chip model.

2.8~3.46GHz is the chip's standard, and "boosted", frequencies.

35W is the chip's TDP (Thermal design power - the amount of power the cooling system in your computer should be capable of dissipating).

4MB Cache - This is the amount of L3 cache the chip has.

2 Cores - the number of physical cores that make up the processor.

4 Threads - using hyper threading, this is the number of virtual cores that your OS can use (each physical core is hyper threaded in to two virtual ones).

2.5 GT/s - is the maximum data transfer rate of the chip.

Solution 2:

Specs here http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=49666&processor=i7-640M&spec-codes=SLBTN,SLBZU

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It has a standard clock speed of 2.8ghz, but will turbo boost to 3.46ghz when needed. http://www.intel.com/technology/turboboost/

It has 2 cores on one die, each core has hyperthreading technology, so this give you 4 available process threads for multitasking. Core means individual processor.

Dual core http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2005/dual_core.asp

Hyperthreading http://www.intel.com/technology/platform-technology/hyper-threading/index.htm

Don't expect very good battery run time with this processor.

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