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Intel Core i5-8310Y

Intel Core i5-8310Y: A Compact Processor for Mobile Tasks

April 2025

1. Architecture and Technology Process: A Balance Between Power and Efficiency

Amber Lake Y Architecture, 14nm Tech Process, and Hidden Potential

The Intel Core i5-8310Y represents the Amber Lake Y lineup, designed for ultra-thin laptops and hybrid devices. The processor is built on a 14nm technology process, which appears outdated in 2025 compared to Apple's 5nm chips and AMD's 4nm solutions. However, it remains relevant for niche tasks.

- Cores and Threads: 2 cores, 4 threads (Hyper-Threading). Base frequency — 1.6 GHz, maximum Turbo Boost frequency — 3.9 GHz.

- iGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 617 (24 Execution Units, up to 1050 MHz). Supports 4K@60Hz via DisplayPort, with hardware decoding for VP9 and H.265.

Architectural Features:

- Optimization for Low TDP: The cores are optimized for short bursts of performance (Turbo Boost), which is critical for instant responsiveness in browsers or office applications.

- Graphics for Basic Tasks: UHD 617 is adequate for rendering interfaces, streaming video, and light gaming such as Among Us or Stardew Valley.

2. TDP 7W: Energy Efficiency at the Expense of Power

Thermal Design Power and Its Consequences

A TDP of 7W means that the processor is designed for passive or minimal active cooling. This is ideal for devices thinner than 13mm, but it imposes limitations:

- Throttling: Under sustained load (e.g., PDF rendering), the frequency drops to the base rate of 1.6 GHz.

- System Design: Laptops with the i5-8310Y often lack fans, making them completely silent.

Example: The Lenovo Yoga 730 (2023) with this processor maintains a frequency of 2.8 GHz during the first 30 seconds of the Cinebench R23 stress test, then drops to 2.1 GHz.

3. Performance: What Can Amber Lake Y Do in 2025?

Office and Multimedia

- Chrome with 15 Tabs + Zoom: The processor manages well, but noticeable stuttering occurs when background file downloads are enabled.

- Adobe Lightroom (basic retouching): Exporting 100 photos to JPEG takes around 12 minutes — twice as long as the Apple M1.

Gaming:

- CS:GO on low settings (720p) — 25-35 FPS.

- Minecraft (without shaders) — 40-50 FPS.

Turbo Boost: Briefly "boosting" to 3.9 GHz helps quickly open heavy Excel files or launch Photoshop, but it is not suitable for prolonged tasks.

4. Use Cases: Who Needs the i5-8310Y in 2025?

Target Audience:

- Students — for lectures, text processing, and Zoom.

- Office Workers — Excel, Word, corporate web applications.

- Travelers — devices like the Microsoft Surface Go 3 (price in 2025: $600–700) with up to 10 hours of battery life.

Not Suitable For:

- Video editing, 3D modeling, modern gaming.

5. Battery Life: How 7W Translates Into 10 Hours of Work

Energy-Saving Technologies:

- Speed Shift: Dynamic switching between P-states to reduce latencies.

- Panel Self Refresh: Reduces CPU load when a static image is displayed on the screen.

Practice: The Dell Latitude 7390 with a 60Wh battery lasts up to 9 hours in web browsing mode. In comparison, analogs with Apple M1 offer 14–16 hours.

6. Comparison with Competitors: Amber Lake Y vs. Modern Alternatives

- AMD Ryzen 3 7320U (4 cores, 15W TDP): 30% faster in multi-threaded tasks but has 2–3 hours less battery life.

- Apple M1 (8 cores, 10W): The absolute leader in performance and energy efficiency, but only within the macOS ecosystem.

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4: Best battery life (up to 20 hours), but has issues with x86 application compatibility.

Conclusion: The i5-8310Y is relevant only in the budget Windows device segment ($500–800).

7. Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Silence (passive cooling).

- Adequate performance for basic tasks.

- Low device prices (new models in 2025 start at $550).

Weaknesses:

- Outdated 14nm technology process.

- Struggles with multitasking.

- Limited support for external monitors (maximum 3 displays).

8. Recommendations for Laptop Selection

What to Look For:

1. Type of Device: Ultrabooks (Acer Swift 3) or convertibles (HP Spectre x360).

2. Screen: IPS matrix with Full HD resolution — for comfortable work.

3. RAM: At least 8GB LPDDR3.

4. Storage: Must have SSD of 256GB or more.

What to Avoid:

- Laptops with HDDs and 4GB of RAM—this will bottleneck even the i5-8310Y.

- Gaming models with this CPU — discrete graphics here are useless due to the weak processor.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the i5-8310Y Suitable For in 2025?

This processor is for those who:

- Are looking for an inexpensive laptop ($500–800) for document work and browsing.

- Value silence and portability (device weight starting from 1 kg).

- Do not plan to use demanding applications.

Key Benefits:

- Cheaper than equivalents on Apple Silicon or Ryzen.

- Compatibility with all Windows programs.

- Upgrade potential: Some models allow SSD replacement.

Alternative: If the budget allows, it's better to opt for a laptop with Ryzen 5 7530U or Apple MacBook Air M1 (price starting from $900), but for basic tasks, the i5-8310Y remains a workable option.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

January 2019

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.

i5-8310Y

Code Name

Amber Lake Y

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

1.60 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.

3.90 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.90 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.

Yes

CPU Socket

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

FCBGA1515

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

7 W

Max. Operating Temperature

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

100

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.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

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.

1x4 | 2x2 | 1x2+2x1 and 4x1

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.

LPDDR3-2133 | DDR3L-1600

Max Memory Size

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

16 GB

Memory Channels

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

Bus Speed

4 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).

33.3 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® UHD Graphics 617

Graphics Base Frequency

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

300 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.

1.05 GHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

16 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.

3840x2160@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.

3840x2160@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.

4 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 Clear Video Technology

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 Flex Memory Access

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