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Intel Core i5-6350HQ

Intel Core i5-6350HQ: Review of the Processor for Mobile Tasks (April 2025)

Introduction

The Intel Core i5-6350HQ processor, released in 2016, is part of the Skylake lineup—the sixth generation of Intel architecture. Despite its nearly decade-old age, this chip is still found in used laptops and remains relevant for certain scenarios. In this article, we will discuss who might find such a processor useful in 2025, how it handles modern tasks, and what to pay attention to when choosing a device based on it.

Architecture and Manufacturing Process

Cores, Threads, and Frequencies

The Core i5-6350HQ is built on a 14nm manufacturing process and features 4 physical cores without Hyper-Threading support, which means 4 threads. Its base clock speed is 2.3 GHz, and in Turbo Boost mode, the processor clocks up to 3.2 GHz (for a single core). For multi-threaded tasks, all cores can operate at speeds up to 2.8 GHz.

Skylake Features

The Skylake architecture brought several improvements:

- Support for DDR4-2133 and LPDDR3-1866 memory.

- Improved IPC (instructions per cycle) by 5-10% compared to Broadwell.

- Integration of a more powerful iGPU — Iris Pro Graphics 580.

Integrated Graphics

Iris Pro Graphics 580 is one of the strengths of this processor. The graphics feature 72 execution units (EUs) and 128 MB of eDRAM (level 4 cache), which significantly speeds up rendering and video processing. By 2025, it may be somewhat weak for modern AAA games, but it handles less demanding titles (like CS:GO, Dota 2) at low settings.

Power Consumption and TDP

The processor's TDP is rated at 45W, placing it in the category of mid-power mobile chips. This means:

- Laptops with this CPU require an effective cooling system (often with two fans).

- Devices are rarely ultra-thin — the chassis thickness is usually around 20mm.

- Battery life heavily depends on battery capacity. For instance, with a 50Wh battery, you can expect about 4-5 hours for office tasks.

Performance in Real Tasks

Office Work and Multimedia

For working with documents, browsing (10-15 tabs), and video calls, the processor remains sufficiently fast. Tests from 2024 show:

- Launching Microsoft Office: 1-2 seconds.

- Rendering a 10-minute video in 1080p (Premiere Pro): about 15-20 minutes.

- 4K video streaming (YouTube): smooth playback thanks to iGPU decoding.

Gaming

The Iris Pro 580 in 2025 is suitable only for casual gamers:

- CS:GO (1080p, low settings): 40-60 FPS.

- GTA V (720p, medium settings): 30-35 FPS.

- Modern games like Cyberpunk 2077: only at 720p and minimum settings (15-20 FPS).

Turbo Boost Mode

Automatic boosting to 3.2 GHz helps with short bursts of activity (like opening heavy applications). However, under prolonged load (rendering, gaming), the clock speed drops to 2.8 GHz due to TDP and thermal constraints.

Usage Scenarios

The processor is suitable for:

1. Study and Office: working with texts, spreadsheets, online courses.

2. Multimedia Tasks: editing videos in 1080p, photo processing in Lightroom.

3. Light Gaming: indie games, older AAA projects.

4. Programming: comfortable work in IDEs (IntelliJ, VS Code) and running local servers.

Not recommended for:

- 3D modeling in Blender/Cinema 4D.

- Game streaming.

- Running neural network models (due to the lack of AI accelerators).

Autonomy and Power Saving Technologies

With active use (Chrome, Spotify, Word), a laptop with an i5-6350HQ and a 50Wh battery lasts 4-5 hours. To save power, the processor supports technologies:

- Intel SpeedStep: dynamic frequency reduction during idle states.

- C-States: turning off unused cores.

- Panel Self-Refresh: reducing screen power consumption.

Tip: To extend battery life in 2025, consider using lightweight Linux distributions (like Xubuntu) — they put less load on the CPU compared to Windows 11.

Comparison with Competitors

AMD

In 2016, AMD offered chips like the A10-8700P (Carrizo, 4 cores, Radeon R6). The i5-6350HQ is about 25-30% faster in single-threaded tasks but lags in graphics (R6 vs Iris Pro 580).

Apple

The MacBook Pro 2016 based on Intel Core i5-6360U (2 cores, 15W) falls short in multi-threaded scenarios but excels in battery life.

Previous Generations of Intel

- Broadwell (i5-5350H): Skylake is 10% faster due to improved IPC.

- Kaby Lake (i5-7300HQ): slight frequency increase (up to 3.5 GHz), HDMI 2.0 support.

Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Powerful integrated graphics for its time.

- 4 physical cores for parallel tasks.

- Support for DDR4.

Weaknesses:

- No Hyper-Threading.

- High TDP for mobile devices.

- Outdated platform (no support for USB-C/Thunderbolt 3).

Recommendations for Choosing a Laptop

Devices with i5-6350HQ in 2025 should only be considered on the second-hand market (price: $150-250). Look for models:

- Gaming Laptops: MSI GE62, ASUS GL552VW — check the cooling system's condition.

- Workstations: Dell Precision 3510 — convenient for video editing.

- Universal Laptops: HP Envy 15 — a balance between battery life and performance.

What to Look For:

1. Battery condition (replacement costs $50-80).

2. Presence of an SSD (if it has an HDD, replace it with an SSD for $30).

3. Version of the Wi-Fi module (better to upgrade to AX200 for Wi-Fi 6 support).

Final Conclusion

The Intel Core i5-6350HQ in 2025 is a budget solution for:

- Students needing a laptop for study and light leisure.

- Office workers not requiring high performance.

- Enthusiasts willing to buy a used device for $200 and upgrade it (SSD, Linux).

Key Benefits:

- Low cost on the second-hand market.

- Sufficient power for basic tasks.

- Upgrade potential (memory, SSD).

If you are looking for a laptop for modern gaming or complex editing, it’s better to consider devices with AMD Ryzen 5 7640U or Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processors — they offer 3-4 times better performance at a similar budget ($600-800).

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

January 2016

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i5-6350HQ

Code Name

SkyLake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

2.30 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

3.20 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.20 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

L3 Cache

6 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCBGA1440

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

45 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2133 | LPDDR3-1866 | DDR3L-1600

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

64 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

34.1 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® Iris® Pro Graphics 580

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

350 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

900 MHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@24Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096x2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

6 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

738

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

2402

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1420

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

4255

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen Embedded V1605B

776 +5.1%

EPYC Embedded 3101

755 +2.3%

Core i5-6350HQ

738

Celeron G3950

722 -2.2%

Core i5-4570TE

696 -5.7%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i7-8670

2671 +11.2%

Xeon E3-1225

2551 +6.2%

Core i5-6350HQ

2402

Xeon E5-2690 v3

2234 -7%

Core i5-2300

2078 -13.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Pentium G4400TE

1481 +4.3%

PRO A12-8870E

1444 +1.7%

Core i5-6350HQ

1420

Core i3-7100U

1386 -2.4%

A8-5500

1349 -5%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon E5-2603 v4

4695 +10.3%

Core i5-10210Y

4451 +4.6%

Core i5-6350HQ

4255

Core i7-2710QE

4044 -5%

Xeon E5-2603 v3

3817 -10.3%