Which CPU Is Right For You?

It is easy to get overwhelmed trying to figure out which Intel CPU does what and why one is better than the other.  To make your selection a little less daunting we have three sections for you to skim through:

1. Text description of Intel CPU’s
2. Simple summary of Intel consumer grade CPU’s
3. Summary of all current Intel CPU’s

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1 – Text description of Intel CPU’s

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2 – Simple summary of Intel consumer grade CPU’s

In the most simple terms, here is an overview of the current Intel consumer grade CPU’s.

CPU	Usage	Explanation	Battery	Sample SKU	Price Range
Intel Celeron & Pentium	Budget PC’s & Laptops	Ok	4-6hrs	Pentium Gold G5500	$50-$110
Intel Core i3 Series	Mainstream Business / Home	Good	5-10hrs	Core i3-8300	$125-$250
Intel Core i5 Series	Mainstream Business / Home	Better	5-10hrs	Core i5-8500	$200-$400
Intel Core i7 Series	High End & Gaming	Best	5-10hrs	Core i7-8700	$350-$600

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3 – Summary of all current Intel CPU’s

Below is a much more detailed overview of all Intel CPU’s:

CPU	Usage	Main Feature		Sample SKU	Price Range
Intel Quark	Devices without user controls	Internet-of-Things System-on-Chip devices		Quark SoC X1020	$2-$15
Intel Atom	Tablets & Low Use Computers	Super low power consumption and tiny size		Atom x5-Z8300	$20-$60
Intel Celeron & Pentium	Entry Level – Budget PC’s & Laptops	Older rebranded tech that still works fine but slow		Pentium Gold G5500	$50-$110
Intel Core M or U	Ultrabooks – Thin & Light	M =mobile  U =ultrabook both =low power		Core i3-8130U	$100-$200
Intel Core i3	Mainstream Business / Home	Standard Chips – 4 cores		Core i3-8300	$125-$250
Intel Core i5	Mainstream Business / Home	Standard Chips – 4 or 6 Cores – cannot overclock		Core i5-8500	$200-$400
Intel Core i5 K	Gaming – Low End	Standard Chips – 6 Cores – can overclock		Core i5-9600K	$300-$500
Intel Core i7	Workstation / Gaming	High End Chips – 4 or 6 Cores – cannot overclock		Core i7-8700	$350-$600
Intel Core i7 K	Gaming – High End	High End Chips – 4 or 6 Cores – can overclock		Core i7-9700K	$400-$650
Intel Core i9	Gaming – High end	High End Chips – 8 Cores High – can overclock		Core i9-9900K	$500-$1500
Intel Core i9 X	Workstation	High End Chips – 18 Cores High (yes 18 cpus!)		Core i9-9960X	$750-$3000
Intel Xeon D, W, E	Standard Server / Workstation	Lots of Cores on More Than 1 Socket		Xeon E-2146G	$400-$1000
Intel Xeon Scalable	High Performance Server	Dozens of Cores on More Than 1 Socket		Xeon Plat 8180	$500-$20000