CPU Names Explained i9,i7,i5, Ryzen, Xeon-W – TechteamGB

CPU naming schemes have become a massively complicated web of numbers and letters, denoting so many different things that I won’t actually be covering them all in this video – instead I’m going to give you a rundown of the main info you will need to understand which CPU is for you when you next upgrade, or pick one up. But first, if you aren’t already, consider subscribing for more videos like this one every monday, wednesday and friday!

Let’s start with AMD. They offer a series of CPUs they call “Ryzen”, which is the product family name. You can think of this as each CPU is related in their design, but not necessarily the exact same. Ryzen comes from the “Zen” architecture those chips are built on. The architecture is effectively how they design the actual circuitry, the way each ‘Zen’ CPU works is very similar, just with more cores normally. There are different versions of the ‘Zen’ architecture though, at the time of this video, we are on ‘Zen 2’ – and we are expecting a half step this year, so ‘Zen 2+’, or a slight revision to the design to slightly improve performance.

Looking specifically at the CPUs themselves, they are broken up into 5 categories, Ryzen 9, 7, 5, 3, and Athlons. Generally speaking, AMD does a decent job of keeping what each of those means stable, with a few exceptions of course. Right now, and in general, Ryzen 9 is any CPU above 8 cores – right now that’s a 12 core and a 16 core. Ryzen 7 is for 8 core chips, Ryzen 5 is 6 core, Ryzen 3 is quad core and Athlons are generally dual core. Like I said, there are a few exceptions, like their 3400G which is a quad core but denoted as a Ryzen 5, and their older mobile processors don’t match that either – although the newest “4000” series CPUs do actually meet that now.

So, what about the numbers? Well, lets look at a Ryzen 3600. The “3” denotes the generation, so this is a 3rd generation CPU, and the 6 denotes the model number, with the higher that is, the better a CPU it is, so a 3900 is a better chip than a 3700. Then there are letters on the end. So there are actually 2 3600 CPUs, the 3600, and the 3600X. The “X” effectively means it’s a factory overclocked chip – or it’s a CPU that was tested and showed ability to run at a higher clockspeed out of the factory. It actually stands for an AMD term, “XFR” or “extended frequency range” which is their clock speed boosting feature that auto-overclocks your CPU while you are using it so you get the most performance possible. I should note though that if you can overclock, you can push the non-X chip manually, although it won’t always be capable of the same speeds as the X version. 

So, what about the other letters? Well, there is “G” which denotes the chip having onboard graphics, like their 3400G. This means you technically don’t need a separate graphics card to use the system, although if you are gaming it is advised you still get a decent one if you can. The other letters are for their mobile CPUs – U denotes a lower power version that runs at reduced clockspeeds, and H donates a higher performance version mobile chip that requires a good bit more cooling and power delivery by comparison.

One thing I haven’t mentioned here is AMD’s high end desktop processor – HEDT – lineup, Threadripper. These use a larger socket, and therefore need their own motherboard line, and currently support up to 64 cores. The current lineup is only 3 chips, including the 3990X, the 64 core, where 3 is the generation, the first 9 denotes it’s a threadripper chip, then the second 9 denotes the model number. So there is also a 3970X and 3960X.

Right, I think that’s enough for AMD, lets do the same for Intel. Now sadly Intel is a good bit more fluid with their definitions so this is a bit more complicated to explain. 

Lets start with their desktop line though, the architecture is something you’ll hear a lot – the current generation is called “Coffee Lake Refresh”, and is a “9th generation” part. Now, much like AMD they have categories which are “i9”, “i7”, “i5”, “i3”, “pentium” and “celeron”. There are other lines but I’ll stick to these for now. What they define for each one changes so I’ll keep it simple. Generally, the higher the number the better. So an “i7” is going to be better than an “i5”. 

Looking at the model numbers, the first number in the name, say, 9700, is the generation with the higher the number the newer the chip, then the last 3 are the model variant, again the higher the better. This definition doesn’t always translate to the Pentium and Celeron chips, but Intel has Intel Ark which is a site that tells you all this kind of info on one page so if you are ever confused you can check that. 

Again, like AMD, Intel also uses letters on the end of names to show variants. An example is the 9700 vs the 9700K. K means the CPU is unlocked for overclocking, so you can manually overclock those chips easily. You technically can overclock the non-K chips by adjusting the base clock, but this is a lot more involved than just adjusting the multiplier. There are a few other letters they use so lets run through those. F means the chip is missing its integrated graphics so you will need a separate graphics card to use the system. There is S which is effectively a factory overclocked version, it boosts its own speed better and therefore is a bit more performant. There is T which is a lower power version. Then on the mobile side you have “H” which is for the “high performance graphics” included, and HK which is the same, plus it’s unlocked. You can also find other mobile names using G which is actually the same as AMD, means it does have integrated graphics, and U which is ultra-low power. 

And again, much like AMD they have a HEDT lineup. This is their “X” or “XTREME” lineup, which also has it’s own socket and motherboard. These chips currently start at 10 cores and go to 18, with the current generation being just 4 processors, but the same naming scheme applies, except for the very top chip in the lineup gets an “E” on the end to denote its top position. 

Intel also has one other lineup, their “XEON” chips. Now most of these are server CPUs, but some are called “XEON-W” or workstation chips, and those currently go up to 28 cores, They actually have a similar naming scheme to normal desktop chips, where the first 2 numbers in Xeon W-3245M is the generation, the second 2 are the model variant with the higher the better, and M means extended memory support. 

Now I know that’s a lot to take in, and I’ve only just scratched the surface here as many older chips, especially from intel, have several other suffixes and variants, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below and myself or this wonderful community will do our best to answer them for you.