The  Intel Core i5-8350U is an economical quad-core SoC for notebooks and ultrabooks that is based on the Kaby Lake architecture and was presented at the end of August 2017. It belongs to the Kaby Lake Refresh generation and is the direct successor to the Core i5-7300U, which is still a dual-core processor. The i5-8350U is the most powerful Core i5 quad-core of the Y-series (launched at the end of 2017) and offers 4 processor cores with 1.7 to 3.6 GHz. According to Intel, it achieves up to 40% more performance thanks to the 2 additional cores and higher Turbo Boost clock rates. The integrated graphics card is now called Intel UHD Graphics 620 but does not differ from the Intel HD Graphics 620 of the predecessor. The CPU also offers an integrated DDR4-2400 / LPDDR§-2133 dual-channel memory controller as well as a VP9 and H.265 video decoder and encoder.

Architecture

Compared to Skylake, Intel has adopted the underlying microarchitecture practically unchanged, so that there are no differences in the per MHz performance. Only the speed-shift technology has been revised for faster dynamic adjustment of voltages and clock rates, and the matured 14-nanometer process allows significantly higher frequencies and better energy efficiency than before.

Performance

At 1.7 to 3.6 GHz, the Core i5-8350U clocks slightly higher than its predecessor i5-7300U (2.6 – 3.5 GHz) when it comes to maximum boost. Intel itself speaks of performance increases of up to 40%. With the two additional cores, this should be possible for applications that can use both cores. Thanks to the higher Turbo Boost, the single core performance also benefits. However, it is exciting whether and how long the performance can be maintained (keyword throttling). This is heavily dependent on the cooling system used in the laptop.

Graphics unit

According to Intel, the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 is identical to the Intel HD Graphics 620 (e.g. in the Core i5-7200U). Like the old HD Graphics 520, it has 24 execution units (EUs) and clocks a little higher than the previous cards (300 – 1,100 versus 1,000 MHz). The performance depends heavily on the main memory used; With fast DDR4-2133 in dual-channel operation, it can compete with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 920M.

Unlike Skylake, Kaby Lake can now also decode H.265 / HEVC in the Main10 profile with 10-bit color depth and Google’s VP9 codec in hardware.

Power consumption

Production continues to be carried out in the improved 14 nanometer process (14nm +) with FinFET transistors. The TDP is specified as ULV-typical at 15 watts and can be varied between 7.5 and 25 watts depending on the application.

The AMD A6-9220e  is an entry-level model of the Stoney-Ridge APU series for notebooks (7th APU generation), which was introduced in mid-2017. The A6-9220e integrates two CPU cores (an excavator module with 2 integers and an FP processing unit) which are clocked at 1.6 to 2.4 GHz. In addition, a Radeon R4 graphics card with probably 192 shaders at 600 MHz, a single-channel DDR4-2.133 memory controller, an H.265 video engine, and a chipset with I / O ports are integrated into the chip. Compared to the A6-9220, the A6-9220e has a lower clock rate (2.5-2.9 versus 1.6-2.4 GHz) and requires less power (15 versus 6-watt TDP – can therefore be passively cooled). The GPU is also clocked a little lower (600 versus 655 MHz).

Architecture

Stoney Ridge is the almost identical successor to the Carrizo architecture, which thanks to optimized production and more aggressive boost behavior, however, achieves slightly higher clock rates with the same power consumption. The memory controller now also supports DDR4 RAM, in this case, up to a frequency of 2,133 MHz. Stoney Ridge refers to the smaller dual-core and single-channel chip, while Bristol Ridge is the large quad-core chip with a dual-channel memory controller. Further technical details can be found in the following articles:

Performance

Due to the significantly lower clock frequency, the A6-9220e should act noticeably slower than the A6-9220. For example, the 9220 in the HP 255 G6 is 38% faster in Cinebench R15 (all cores). The 9220 is more than twice as fast in the single-core benchmarks (219%). Compared to current Intel processors, the performance in the CB15 is comparable to that of the old Celeron N2820.

Graphics unit

The integrated Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU probably has 192 active shader units (3 compute cores) like the R5, but these are only clocked with up to 600 instead of 655 MHz. More information about the GPU is available on the detailed page linked above.

Power consumption

The TDP of the A6-9220e is specified by AMD with 6 watts. The APU is therefore suitable for thin and light notebooks and the processor can also be passively cooled.