Review: Intel Core i3 7350K Processor

[nextpage title=»Introduction» ]

Intel is breaking the mold with Intel Kaby Lake processors. Until now, Intel based the production of its processors on the system they called 'Tick-Tock'. The Kaby Lake processors break this line and set to break the mold, Intel has presented the Intel Core i3 7350K processor, which is the first in the entry range that has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking. We do not know if it will be a trend that will continue over time, but it offers users the option of mounting a powerful device that can be improved by overclocking.

The Intel Kaby Lake processors are a refinement of the Skylake, offering some internal improvements and an increase in processor frequency. These new Intel processors, despite the improvement in frequencies, therefore, of total power, do not see their energy consumption varied, therefore they have improved energy efficiency, which is good news, because for the same consumption, we have more power and therefore better performance, always compared to Skylake.

As we said, this Intel Core i3 7350K processor is characterized by the possibility of overclocking, as we have said. This LGA 1151 socket processor is intended to be used on motherboards with a Z270 chipset, which is intended to be used with processors that allow overclocking. It also has this processor, with integrated Intel HD630 graphics, which are not designed directly to play, but to operate the processor without the need for an external graphics.

We want to thank Intel for providing the Intel Core i3 7350K for this review, and Gigabyte for providing the Gigabyte Z270X Gaming 7 motherboard for this review (here the complete analysis) and to Coolmod the transfer of the DDR4 Corsair Vengeance RED LED Series RAM memories and the KFA2 GTX 1060 OC and KFA2 GTX 1080 EXOC graphics cards for the review (the benchmarks with these graphics cards and this processor will appear on the web throughout the end of week)

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[nextpage title=»Kaby Lake» ]

The 7th Generation Intel Kaby Lake processors have hit the market, as usual in two moments, the first being in August 2016 for laptops and embedded computers and in January 2017 for desktops. This new architecture has LGA 1151 socket for desktop, the same one used by Skylake processors and is that in reality they are practically the same processors, except for an increase in frequency of 300MHz in the new Kaby Lake, the use of the new 200 Series chipset. , increased PCIe 3.0 lanes and native support for Intel Optane technology.

Kaby Lake is a complete line consisting of forty-two processors, divided into seventeen ultra-low-power processors for laptops, two quad-core processors from the Intel Xeon family for servers, seven quad-core processors for laptops, and sixteen processors for desktop computers.

A very interesting improvement of this processor is the Speed ​​Shift technology. This technology was introduced in the Skylake processors and allows the processor to increase the frequency if needed. Intel has improved this technology in Kaby Lake, reducing the time it takes for the processor to increase the frequency. This function is regulated by the operating system itself, although this technology only works on computers with Windows 10, so we will not be able to enjoy it on other operating systems.

Intel Tick Tock

Until now Intel was based on the process of production of processors based on the system that they themselves baptized as Tick-Tock. This system was based on the manufacture of processors with a new input architecture and with that same architecture manufacture new processors, perfecting development.

Broadwell were the first processors with 14nm FinFET + architecture, so these would be the entry into this new architecture and it is normal that the Skylake would have been the output processors towards the new 10nm architecture, but this is broken with the Kaby Lake which are a refinement of the Skylake, with an improvement in power and an improvement in energy efficiency.

We do not know if this could be directly considered the breakage of the Tick-Tock structure, since the Kaby Lake are a slight improvement compared to the Skylake, where some internal technical improvements are added, which we will explain later and a slight increase in the frequencies, therefore we would be talking about the performance of the Skylake has been polished and interesting improvements have been made.

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[nextpage title=»Chipset» ]

The new 200 Series chipsets offer some technical improvements over the 100 Series chipsets. The Z270 line, which is the one that interests us for the Intel i3 7350K processor, since the H270 line does not have overclocking support. These Z270 chipsets are designed to support Kaby Lake and Skylake processors, since they share the same socket, although there are technical considerations that we must take into account, which we will analyze at a specific point.

This chipset offers us support for PCIe 3.0 line configurations for graphics cards as follows: A single graphics card will work in 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 configuration, two graphics cards will work in 2x PCIe 3.0 x8 configuration and three graphics cards will work in 1x PCIe configuration x8 and 2x PCIe x4. This is because it offers us support for only one PCIe 3.0 x16 line, balancing this support in configurations where we have more than one graphics card (the graphics card integrated in the processor is not counted)

Something that also coincides with the chipsets for Skylake is that it supports four DIMM memory slots (DDR4 RAM), both support overclocking, they also support Intel SmartSound technology and Intel Smart Response technology. Both chipsets support a maximum of fourteen USB ports, of which ten can be USB 3.0. Both support a maximum of six SATA 6.0Gbps ports and both support a maximum of three M.2 connectors. So far the most important similarities.

Intel Z270 improves on the Intel Z170, in that it natively supports Intel Optane, the new hard drives developed by Intel, which want to replace both SSDs and RAM. Little is known about these hard drives, except that they used 3DXpoint high-speed memories, which can act as both a hard drive and a RAM memory, and these memories are non-volatile.

There is a growth in high-speed I / O lines, from twenty-six for the Z170 to thirty for the Z270, although the most interesting thing is the increase in PCIe 3.0 lines. The Z170s had twenty of these lines and in the new Z270s the number of these lines rises to twenty-four, it seems a minor increase, but this offers us greater connectivity possibilities.

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[nextpage title=»BCLK Aware Voltage/Frequency» ]

BCLK Aware Voltage / Frequency is a tool from Intel to improve overclocking functions and improve this increasingly common practice. Intel has developed software to increase the stability and reliability of overclocking by optimizing the input voltage to the processor based on the BCLK frequency. This technology is very young and it is still being experimented on and learning to handle it and it is a bit limited, but it is becoming more open every time.

Advance Vector Extension (AVX) tuning technology was first introduced on Xeon processors as a blocking parameter. Broadwell-E was the first family of Intel processors to have this parameter unlocked and adjustable, which makes the jump to Kaby Lake as an extra overclocking feature.

AVX generates intensive workloads that consume much more and generate more heat than non-AVX workloads. This allows us to have more power when we overclock, increasing the clock frequencies and executing AVX instructions, allowing us to give better results and offer more performance than if these AVX instructions are not executed. This is especially intended for extreme overclocking, where you work with liquid nitrogen and at extremely low temperatures, with which this increase in temperature 'would not be noticeable'.

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[nextpage title=»Graphics» ]

Intel processors add graphics as a discrete solution as an alternative to the direct need for a graphics card. This allows users who do not want to play or perform heavy tasks, have to buy a graphics card and can opt for the integrated one in the processor, which can without problems with office tasks and video playback. These integrated graphics are not directly intended for gaming, although a discrete and casual gaming could support it without major problems, yes, with a limited graphic quality of the game.

Intel has replaced the HD Graphics 530 Gen9 Media Architecture with the HD Graphics 630 Gen9.5. This new graphics architecture is similar to Gen9, so both have the same design, which indicates that it has the same characteristics as the previous version. Intel in this case goes from Iris Pro to Iris Plus, modifying the eDRAM used by this integrated graphics card.

HD Graphics 630 has the same base frequency as the previous version, this being 350MHz, being able to reach 1150MHz thanks to the Turbo Boost mode, in addition to having a renewed MFX for encoding and decoding and the VQE Engine. The MFX (Multi Format Codex) engine is compatible with VP8 and AVC codecs, as well as supporting HEVC 10-bit encoding and decoding, VP9 8/10-bit decoding and VP9 8-bit encoding, but does not support decoding. VP9 10-bit.

These new processors modify the combination of processor and graphics use of the Skylake Gen9 for the HEVC Main10 decoding process and VP9 8-bit decoding operations, allowing to reduce the processor load and therefore reduce the consumption of the same. Gen9.5 graphics simultaneously support eight 4Kp30 HEVC and AVC processes, in addition to allowing real-time 4Kp60HEVC encoding operations at a rate of 120MB / s.

These improvements are based above all for those who work with laptops, who require mobility, but for desktop with external graphics, this improvement is a bit limited. One of the improvements is based on Netflix. Netflix needs PlayReady DRM 3.0 technology and a 10-bit HEVC decoding, which is currently supported only by the Kaby Lake processors in question, but we would also need Windows 10. Skylake would logically not support Netflix as it does not have 10-bit HEVC decoding. . We must bear in mind that NVIDIA GTX 1000 Series graphics cards do not support 4K streaming.

The 4K streaming option is still in the development stage, but HDCP 2.2 requirements and DRM could be a hurdle at this point. Prerequisites also include upgrade to Windows 10 Anniverary and HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort. This is quite troublesome to understand even for advanced users, therefore Intel has chosen to explain it in an infographic about 4K. Currently for 4K streaming it is not worth updating, since there are no platforms that support this streaming format yet, so this is not enough reason to update.

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[nextpage title=»Benchmark CPU-Z» ]

Here we can see all the characteristics of the processor and the configuration used to perform the benchmarks, as well as the performance tests in a single core and in multithreaded with the Intel Core i3 7350K working at the stock frequency that is 4.2GHz and also the performance in a single core and in multiprocessing of said processor working at 5GHz (the last two images). Also some comparative images with other processors that we can find in the market.

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[nextpage title=»Cinebench R15″ ]

Here we can see the performance tests of the Intel Core i3 7350K compared to other processors in the Cinebench R15, with some very interesting results. We must bear in mind that it is a processor with two cores and four threads that works at 4.2GHz and that it does not have a Turbo Boost mode.

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[nextpage title=»Geekbench 4.0 Pro» ]

Here we can see the data that the Geekbench 4.0 Pro of the Intel Core i3 3750K has offered us. Some very interesting data on this excellent processor, which has surprised us a lot in each test we have subjected it to, always behaving excellently.

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[nextpage title=»3DMark» ]

Here we can see the results of the 3DMark benchmark. The data of the Intel Core i3 7350K is not the best, we know, but this is because the integrated Intel HD630 graphics are used, which we have already highlighted are discrete graphics, designed especially for office automation and multimedia tasks. It is not directly intended to play, but for that moment when we do not have a dedicated graphics card and we want to continue working, for whatever reason.

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[nextpage title=»Intel Extreme Tuning Utility» ]

Here we can see the performance of this processor under the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility benchmark. The Intel Core i3 7350K processor offers us a very interesting result, but perhaps the most interesting of all is the temperature, which is 49ºC, something that we will discuss more in depth in the conclusion, but that indicates that thermally this processor is very good .

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[nextpage title=»Conclusion» ]

The Intel Core i3 7350K processor is an interesting option by Intel, which has wanted to offer users a powerful and versatile entry-level processor. This two-core, four-thread processor offers unprecedented single-core performance. Intel undoubtedly wants this new Intel Core i3 7350K processor from the Kaby Lake family to set an interesting precedent, as it offers overclocking functions for the entry-level range, something they had not done before.

We were not only surprised by the single core performance, we were also pleasantly surprised by how stable the temperatures are. In practically all the tests that we have done, either simply in pure processing work or in graphics loads, to test the CPU and iGPU together. It has always maintained approximately 50ºC, only exceeding this barrier at specific moments of the 3DMark, which is when the graphics core is most demanded, but which has reached peaks of 54ºC. We have carried out the tests with an Arctic liquid cooling, the temperature will always rise a little more if we use an air-cooled heat sink, but not too much.

Logically, if we compare this processor in processing work, with the Intel Core i5 7600K, which has four cores and four processing threads, in addition to Turbo Boost mode, our Intel Core i3 7350K has nothing to do, but it is not its Purpose, the purpose of this processor is to provide performance, power, and overclocking capability. It stands out from this processor that the TDP is only 60W, something very interesting for a processor that supports overclocking without problems.

Note that like any processor, it has its potential market. It is designed especially for gaming teams that want power, but with an Intel Core i3, they could have enough and mount an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or an NVIDIA GTX 1070. During the weekend, in this regard, we will upload an article on this processor Intel Core i3 7350K running with an NVIDIA GTX 1060, an NVIDIA GTX 1080 and an AMD RX 480, in order to see if it supports them well or there are bottlenecks.

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