More recently, the creators of the central processors switched to the development of multi-core processors, quickly completing all developments in the field of single-core crystals. Two well-known companies working on the creation of processors, AMD and Intel continued to produce single-core models, but they were still made on the basis of dual-core developments obtained by “halving”.
Although Intel used the dual-core design of its processors for the release of quad-core and six-core models. Later, in connection with the updating of the architecture, there were three fundamental families of processors that cannot be converted into each other. Despite such a development of the market for quad-core and six-core processors, crystals with two cores continue to occupy most of it, especially in the field of mobile systems, where a processor with more than two cores is quite rare.
Intel is not going to abandon its dual-core developments, so you should get to know them better, because the i3 processor requires special attention.
Such devices will be produced on the same Sandy Bridge architectural base, although the number of cores and the nominal cache size are halved compared to older brothers. The new processors are equipped with two cores and a 4Mb L3 memory cache. Only owners of i7 processors will be able to enjoy the full amount of cache memory. As for the GMA HD3000 graphic core, it will be available to all buyers of mobile systems in which Intel processors are installed, be it the i3, i5 family or the older i7. As you can see, Intel did not take care of any ordering in the processor family, so i7 can be either two or quad-core.
As for the desktop market, the choice here is not very wide. The bulk is occupied by Intel core i3 processors, which are presented in different variations and have a cache of the third level with a volume of only 3 MB. This market segment is based in the price range of 150 US dollars.
Of course, not all Intel solutions can be understood. So, for example, the release of a dual-core i5 operating at the same frequencies with the i5-2500T, although the competitor has twice as many cores, as well as cache memory. And for those for whom energy consumption does not make any difference, they can choose even a much better option, for very little money. Unfortunately, i3 processors are currently represented by a very small number of models.
Their capabilities can still be developed, although, apparently, the developers decided to concentrate all their forces on newer models, which are also represented by dual-core, quad-core and six-core processors. Unlike competitors from AMD, Intel does not produce tri-core devices, which are by all tests most often weaker than dual-core counterparts.
As for the experiments, the i3 processor everywhere shows fairly decent results, even though it has only two cores on board. Having completed all possible tests, we can say that dual-core processors, at the moment, are not much inferior to quad-core counterparts. The fact is, the latter simply can not show everything that they are capable of due to the features of the software. The i3 processor is not much inferior to the position in modern games, where, it would seem, quad-core processors could have pulled far ahead, but this did not happen, and the "old people" are not much inferior.
Summing up, we can say that quad-core and six-core processors at the moment can not show everything that they are capable of. Although their production has recently stepped far forward, the i3 processor, being a dual-core processor, shows very, very good results, very slightly inferior to its quad-core counterparts.