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Intel Core i7-7700T

Intel Core i7-7700T: Outdated but Relevant for Specific Tasks? Review and Analysis in 2025

Codename: Kaby Lake | Process Technology: 14 nm | Cores/Threads: 4/8 | TDP: 35 W

1. Key Specifications: Architecture and Performance

The Intel Core i7-7700T, released in 2017, belongs to the Kaby Lake generation. Despite its age, it maintains niche popularity due to its low power consumption.

- Architecture: 14nm process technology, base frequency – 2.9 GHz, maximum turbo frequency – 3.8 GHz.

- Performance: In the Geekbench 6 test (2025), it scores 1210 points in single-thread and 3643 in multi-thread mode. In comparison, the modern Ryzen 5 7500 scores around ~1800/6500 points.

- Key Features: Support for Hyper-Threading, Intel vPro technology for remote management, hardware video acceleration (Intel Quick Sync Video).

Practical Example: In 2024, a user built a mini-PC on the i7-7700T for streaming Netflix in 4K. The processor handled it well thanks to Quick Sync, but running games in the background caused lags.

2. Compatible Motherboards: LGA 1151 Socket and Chipsets

The i7-7700T requires motherboards with the LGA 1151 socket and 200 series chipsets (H270, B250, Z270).

- Selection Features:

- Z270 – memory overclocking (up to DDR4-2400), support for PCIe 3.0 x16.

- H270/B250 – basic solutions without overclocking.

- Issues in 2025: New boards are no longer produced. Prices for remaining stock range from $80 to $120 (e.g., ASUS PRIME B250-PLUS).

Tip: When purchasing, check the BIOS version. Boards from 2016 may not support Kaby Lake without an update.

3. Supported Memory: Only DDR4

The processor works with DDR4-2133/2400 in dual-channel mode.

- Recommendations:

- 16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR4-2400 is optimal for multitasking.

- Example: Kingston Fury DDR4-2400 for $45 per kit (2025).

- Limitations: DDR5 and frequencies above 2400 MHz are not available.

Hack: Even with DDR4-3200 installed, the memory will operate at 2400 MHz. Don’t overpay for higher frequencies.

4. Power Supply Units: Minimum 300 Watts

With a TDP of 35 W, the i7-7700T is ideal for energy-efficient systems.

- Scenarios:

- Office PC: Power supply of 300–400 W (e.g., be quiet! Pure Power 11 400W for $55).

- System with a Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1650 requires 450–500 W (Corsair CX550 for $65).

- Important: Even weak power supplies should have an 80 Plus Bronze certification.

Newbie Mistake: Using cheap noname power supplies leads to unstable operation.

5. Pros and Cons of i7-7700T in 2025

Pros:

- Low power consumption (suitable for HTPCs and offices).

- Sufficient performance for basic tasks (browsers, office applications).

- Support for hardware decoding of 4K.

Cons:

- No PCIe 4.0/5.0, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, Thunderbolt 4.

- Outdated architecture: lags behind even budget CPUs of 2025 (e.g., Intel Core i3-13100T).

- Limited upgrade options: LGA 1151 socket is obsolete.

6. Use Case Scenarios

- Office Tasks: Word, Excel, and a browser with 10+ tabs.

- Multimedia: Watching 4K content, streaming via Plex.

- Games: Only less demanding titles (CS:GO, Dota 2) at low settings.

Real Case: In 2023, a user utilized the i7-7700T with a GTX 1050 Ti to run GTA V on medium settings (1080p, 50–60 FPS).

7. Comparison with Competitors

- Intel Core i3-13100T (2025): 4 cores/8 threads, TDP 35 W, Geekbench 6 ~1500/4800. Price: $130.

- AMD Ryzen 5 7500 (2025): 6 cores/12 threads, TDP 65 W, Geekbench 6 ~1800/6500. Price: $170.

Conclusion: The i7-7700T falls behind in multi-threaded workloads but wins in second-hand market pricing.

8. Building Tips

- SSD Required: Samsung 870 EVO 500 GB ($60) will speed up system boot time.

- Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but for quieter operation consider the Arctic Freezer 7 X ($25).

- Case: Mini-ITX (Fractal Design Node 304 for $90) for compactness.

Warning: Avoid installing powerful graphics cards (like RTX 4060) — the processor will become a bottleneck.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Should Consider the i7-7700T?

This processor should only be considered in three scenarios:

1. Upgrading an old PC on LGA 1151 without replacing the motherboard.

2. Building an energy-efficient media center for 4K content.

3. Budget office systems with minimal power consumption.

Why Not for New Builds? Even budget processors of 2025 (like AMD Ryzen 3 7300) offer better performance and modern interfaces for the same $100–150.

Price of the new i7-7700T in 2025: Officially discontinued. Remaining stock on Amazon – $150–200, but it’s more cost-effective to buy used for $50–80.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

January 2017

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.

i7-7700T

Code Name

Kaby Lake

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

2.90 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.

3.80 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.80 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

L3 Cache

8 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1151

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

35 W

Max. Operating Temperature

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

80°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.

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.

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.

DDR4-2133/2400 | DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V

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

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

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 630

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.

1.15 GHz

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

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.

8 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 Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

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 InTru 3D Technology

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 6

Single Core Score

1210

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

3643

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1002

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

3887

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2142

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

7583

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i7-7567U

1292 +6.8%

EPYC 7502

1256 +3.8%

Core i7-7700T

1210

Core i5-6600T

1175 -2.9%

Xeon E3-1220 v6

1147 -5.2%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Core i5-10400T

4114 +12.9%

Xeon E5-1660

3870 +6.2%

Core i7-7700T

3643

Athlon Gold PRO 3150G

3407 -6.5%

Core i5-1030NG7

3183 -12.6%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i5-9400F

1044 +4.2%

Ryzen 7 4700U

1022 +2%

Core i7-7700T

1002

Ryzen 5 7520U

974 -2.8%

Core i5-5675C

959 -4.3%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i5-10400H

4317 +11.1%

Xeon Gold 6152

4088 +5.2%

Core i7-7700T

3887

Core i7-5950HQ

3733 -4%

Athlon Gold 3150G

3593 -7.6%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 5 1600

2197 +2.6%

Athlon Gold 3150GE

2165 +1.1%

Core i7-7700T

2142

Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE with Radeon Vega 11 Graphics

2118 -1.1%

Core i5-8265U

2089 -2.5%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon E3-1240 v5

8272 +9.1%

Xeon E3-1515M v5

7938 +4.7%

Core i7-7700T

7583

Xeon E5-1620 v4

7377 -2.7%

Core i7-4940MX

7088 -6.5%