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Intel Core i7-7Y75

Intel Core i7-7Y75: An Ultra-Mobile Processor for Compact Laptops — Analysis in 2025

Introduction

The Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor, released in 2017 as part of the Kaby Lake platform, can still be found in second-hand and some budget ultrabooks in 2025. Despite its age, it remains an interesting option for specific tasks. Let’s explore who this chip is suitable for today and what compromises must be accepted.

Architecture and Process Technology

Kaby Lake: Transition to 14 nm Without Revolutions

The Core i7-7Y75 is one of the first Intel processors to support 4K content and hardware HEVC decoding. Its architecture is based on a 14nm process, which appears outdated in 2025 compared to Apple’s 3nm chips and AMD's 4nm solutions.

- Cores and Threads: 2 cores, 4 threads (Hyper-Threading). Base frequency — 1.3 GHz, maximum in Turbo Boost — 3.6 GHz.

- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615 (24 EU, frequency up to 1050 MHz). Supports output to two 4K displays (60 Hz).

- Cache: 4 MB L3.

Features:

- Lack of AVX-512 support — critical for modern AI tasks.

- No integrated Thunderbolt 3 controller — depends on the implementation by the laptop manufacturer.

Power Consumption and TDP

TDP 4.5 W: A Double-Edged Sword

The nominal thermal design power (TDP) of 4.5 W allows for passive cooling, which is ideal for ultra-thin devices. However:

- Real Load: At Turbo Boost (up to 7 W), throttling may occur in compact chassis.

- Heat Dissipation: In laptops with poor cooling systems (like the Microsoft Surface Pro 2017), the processor quickly overheats, reducing clock speeds.

Performance in Real Tasks

Office Work and Browsing

- Microsoft Office, Google Docs: The processor handles documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, but starts to lag with 20+ tabs open in Chrome.

- Zoom/Teams: HD video calls are possible; however, background blur or AR masks (as used in modern 2025 applications) introduce lag.

Multimedia

- 4K Video: Hardware decoding of HEVC and VP9 ensures smooth playback.

- Photo Editors: Basic retouching in Lightroom Mobile takes 2-3 times longer than on Apple M1.

Gaming

- HD Graphics 615: Suitable only for older games at low settings. Examples:

- CS:GO — 30-40 FPS (720p, low settings).

- Minecraft — 45-50 FPS (720p).

- Cloud Gaming: Services like Xbox Cloud Gaming are the only way to run modern titles.

Turbo Boost Mode: Increases the frequency to 3.6 GHz but only on one core. The performance gain in multi-threaded tasks (rendering, encoding) is minimal.

Use Cases

The processor is suitable for:

- Students for lectures, document work, and streaming.

- Travelers, valuing portability and weight under 1 kg.

- Secondary devices as a supplement to a main PC.

Not suitable for:

- Designers/Video Editors — lacks the power.

- Gamers — weak graphics.

Battery Life

Up to 10 Hours Under Ideal Conditions

- Under web surfing (brightness 50%, Wi-Fi) — 8-9 hours.

- At 4K streaming — up to 4 hours.

Power-Saving Technologies:

- Speed Shift — rapid frequency adjustment.

- Panel Self Refresh — reduces GPU load with static images.

Tip: In 2025, batteries in older laptops with this CPU are often worn out — runtime may drop to 3-4 hours.

Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 3 7320U (2022):

- 4 cores, 8 threads, Radeon 610M (2 GB).

- Geekbench 6 Multi-Core: ~2800.

- Laptop prices: starting from $450 (new).

Apple M1 (2020):

- 8 cores, 7-nm process.

- Geekbench 6 Multi-Core: ~7500.

- Laptops with M1 in 2025 cost from $600 (new).

Intel Core i7-7Y75:

- Pros: Cheap used devices (from $150).

- Cons: Outperformed even by budget chips in 2025.

Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Passive cooling — silent operation.

- Supports 4K displays.

- Low cost on the second-hand market.

Weaknesses:

- 2 cores — multitasking is limited.

- No support for Windows 12 (only through emulation).

- Outdated interfaces (USB-C without Thunderbolt 4).

Recommendations for Laptop Selection

- Type of Device: Ultrabooks from 2017-2019 (e.g., Dell XPS 13 9360, HP Spectre x360).

- What to Look For:

- Battery condition (preferably replaced with a new one).

- Presence of SSD (not HDD!).

- Ports: USB-C with Power Delivery for charging.

- Prices: No new devices with this CPU are being produced, used ones range from $150-$300.

Conclusion

The Intel Core i7-7Y75 in 2025 is a choice for those who need:

- An ultra-budget laptop for basic tasks.

- A portable device with long battery life.

- A temporary solution before purchasing a modern PC.

Key Benefits: Quiet operation, compact size, affordability. However, for serious work or gaming, it’s better to consider laptops with Apple M2/M3 or AMD Ryzen 5 7640U processors.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

July 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.

i7-7Y75

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

1.30 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.

3.60 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.60 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

4.5 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.

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.

LPDDR3-1866 | 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).

29.8 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

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 615

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 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 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

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

905

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1499

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

692

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1336

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1577

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

2629

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i9-9960X X-series

1010 +11.6%

Xeon E5-2698B v3

959 +6%

Core i7-7Y75

905

Xeon E5-2630L v3

862 -4.8%

Xeon E5-2660

805 -11%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E5-2440

1813 +20.9%

Core i5-6300U

1638 +9.3%

Core i7-7Y75

1499

Ryzen 3 3250C

1338 -10.7%

Celeron G5900TE

1175 -21.6%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i3-7100T

736 +6.4%

Core i5-2400

717 +3.6%

Core i7-7Y75

692

FX-9590

674 -2.6%

Xeon X5690

652 -5.8%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i5-5257U

1467 +9.8%

A10 PRO-7850B

1394 +4.3%

Core i7-7Y75

1336

Pentium Gold 4417U

1242 -7%

Core i3-2105

1152 -13.8%

Passmark CPU Single Core

EPYC 7281

1636 +3.7%

A8-7680

1611 +2.2%

Core i7-7Y75

1577

A10-6790K

1553 -1.5%

A10 PRO-7800B

1509 -4.3%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

A10-5800K

2960 +12.6%

Celeron G5905

2807 +6.8%

Core i7-7Y75

2629

Phenom II X4 840

2385 -9.3%

Celeron G4900T

2254 -14.3%