i5-3230M vs i7-8550U

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-8550U
2017
4 cores / 8 threads, 15 Watt
3.85
+139%
Core i5-3230M
2013
2 cores / 4 threads, 35 Watt
1.61

Core i7-8550U outperforms Core i5-3230M by a whopping 139% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking14532090
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Core i5
Power efficiency24.294.35
Architecture codenameKaby Lake Refresh (2017−2019)Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date21 August 2017 (7 years ago)1 January 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$409$225

Detailed specifications

Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads84
Base clock speed1.8 GHz2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz3.2 GHz
Bus typeOPIno data
Bus rate4 GT/s5 GT/s
Multiplier18no data
L1 cache256 KB64K (per core)
L2 cache1 MB256K (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm22 nm
Die size123 mm2118 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCBGA1356,FC-BGA1356FCPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® AVX
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift+no data
My WiFi++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switchingno data-
FDIno data+
Fast Memory Accessno data+

Security technologies

Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection++
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth38.397 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel UHD Graphics 620Intel HD Graphics 4000
Max video memory32 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHz1.1 GHz
InTru 3Dno data+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDP++
DisplayPort++
HDMI++
DVI+no data
SDVOno data+
CRTno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hzno data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.4no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes1216

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i7-8550U 3.85
+139%
i5-3230M 1.61

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i7-8550U 6118
+139%
i5-3230M 2561

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-8550U 878
+73.5%
i5-3230M 506

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-8550U 2622
+157%
i5-3230M 1020

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i7-8550U 6423
+50.5%
i5-3230M 4268

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i7-8550U 17322
+89.1%
i5-3230M 9159

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i7-8550U 5845
+55.5%
i5-3230M 3760

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i7-8550U 9.9
+80.1%
i5-3230M 17.83

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i7-8550U 6
+106%
i5-3230M 3

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-8550U 553
+114%
i5-3230M 258

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-8550U 163
+55.2%
i5-3230M 105

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i7-8550U 1.89
+51.2%
i5-3230M 1.25

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i7-8550U 4.3
+187%
i5-3230M 1.5

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i7-8550U 33
+190%
i5-3230M 11

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i7-8550U 148
+147%
i5-3230M 60

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i7-8550U 4374
+35.9%
i5-3230M 3219

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.85 1.61
Integrated graphics card 2.67 1.18
Recency 21 August 2017 1 January 2013
Physical cores 4 2
Threads 8 4
Chip lithography 14 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 35 Watt

i7-8550U has a 139.1% higher aggregate performance score, 126.3% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 4 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, a 57.1% more advanced lithography process, and 133.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-8550U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-3230M in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-8550U and Core i5-3230M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-8550U
Core i7-8550U
Intel Core i5-3230M
Core i5-3230M

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