Thursday, March 30, 2017
Hardware the CPU factor
Hardware the CPU factor
For years, some people used to "overclock" CPUs. The practice still happens nowadays, mainly among those trying to run games in very high resolutions and refresh frequencies. Obviously, recently the focus has moved to GPUs. Yet, CPUs still make a difference. I have a few Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing) devices, and have been observing their performance and behavior over time.
The two Intel NUC devices I have with the 3rd generation CPUs, one using the i3-3217U @ 1.80GHz and the other using the i5-3427U @ 2.80GHz both have good performance, but the i3 is definitely not something I would recommend. Its kit, the DC3217IYE has a graphics performance that is not impressive, and a strange habit of overheating. I use the Open Hardware Monitor code to keep track of CPU temperature and fan speed. It is quite amazing that, doing about the same things, the i3 always gets hotter than the i5 device (even with the fan for the i3 working harder). The i5 device, a DC53427HYE, looks far better prepared to operate continuously under heavy load.
After getting a NUC5i7RYH kit, with the 5th generation i7-5557U @ 3.10GHz, I could get a very good idea of the progress in CPUs. The i7 is obviously faster. What one wouldnt expect if for it to be consistently cooler. It is an impressive thing to watch: you start the same process in the i3, the i5 and the i7. The i7 finishes the job, the i5 is processing midway through the task, and the i3 starts the fans as it struggles.
In this context, Im quite happy to see that the Microsoft Surface Book got 6th generation Intel CPUs across its product line. A very good choice, which will keep the machine up-to-date for a while.
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