Are all new mobile Intel i7 cpu's dual core?

[futurefields]

Hey guys, I'm sort of "window shopping" laptops at the moment, for audio production. I need the fastest CPU I can get for around $1200 or so. Don't care about GPU etc...

But I am noticing something that is making me go "hrm" are ALL the new mobile i7's 2 core/4 thread? And if so, why aren't they called i3's?

 

[Essence_of_War]

But I am noticing something that is making me go "hrm" are ALL the new mobile i7's 2 core/4 thread? And if so, why aren't they called i3's?

All i3s are dual-core w/ HT. None of them have turbo boost.

All i5s have turbo boost. Desktop i5s and some mobile i5s are quad-core. Ultra-low voltage i5s are dual-core w/ HT.

All i7s have HT AND turbo boost. Desktop can be 4-8 cores, mobile is quad-core, ultra-low-voltage is dual-core.

I'm sure someone's going to find an exception to at least one of these

Right now, basically only the ultra-low voltage broadwell has hit the market in the form of ultrabooks. Expect to see the 15'' macbook pro and dell XPS 15, for example, refreshed with the quad-core mobile parts at some point in the near future.

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

There are no mobile quad i5s, but this is spot-on otherwise.

Intel's lineup is really confusing, but in general: models ending in U are 15W TDP, like Core i3-4010U, unless they have a 7 at the end in which case they're 28W. Those ending in M are 35W (37 for Haswell). HQ are soldered quad i7s (4c/8t) with 47W TDP, and MQ are the same but socketed. The exception here are those ending in 2HQ/2MQ, which are specially-binned ones a teense slower than the others ending in 0 but have the same 37-watt TDP as a standard dual-core, i.e., Core i7-4722HQ is the same speed as an i7-4700HQ but 10W cooler-running.

What really bugs me is that a mobile i7 with a U designation is basically just a buffed mobile i5 (2c/4t and just a little more L3 cache), and can be only 1/3 as fast as an MQ/HQ i7. Some people will no doubt get burned by this. IMO the U and Y-series i7s are a complete rip, and verging on false advertising.

 

[crashtech]

If you want to eliminate dual core candidates at a glance, just look for the "Q" or "X" at the end of the CPU model number, they are quads, anything else is a dual.