If you are excited about the new Intel 8th generation CPU’s, you’re not alone. After almost a decade, the CPU’s wars between AMD and Intel have spiced up and we as consumers are clear winners. Intel released their 8th Gen mobile and desktop CPU offerings early which took everyone by surprise. AMD’s Zen architecture based Ryzen CPU‘s have started a price/performance war all over again and we guess Intel was prepared. While on the desktop and HEDT space, we don’t really have a clear winner yet, however, on the mobile side Intel is the only dominant force. The midsegment thin and light laptops are where their Core i5 lineup sites today. The 7200U is the most common CPU that is present on the entry-level ultrabooks, and we decided to do an Intel Core i5 8250U vs i5 7200U spec comparison.
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Intel launched 4 SKUs, namely the i7 8650U, i7-8550U for the high-end segment and Core i5-8350U and i5-8250U for the mid-segment. Expected performance improvements of up to 40% over its predecessor, the 7th generation Kaby Lake parts.

Source: Intel
Intel Core i5 8250U vs i5 7200U
For a detailed side-by-side specifications overview, See below:
Intel Core i5 8250U vs Intel Core i5 7200U | ||
Processor Cores / Threads / Speed | 4 Cores / 8 Threads Base Clock: 1.6 GHz Turbo Core Frequency: 3.4 GHz | 2 Cores / 4 Threads Base Clock: 2.5 GHz Turbo Core Frequency: 3.1 GHz |
CPU Cache | 6 * 32 KB L1 Data Cache 6 * 32 MB L1 Instructions Cache 6 * 256 KB L2 Cache 6 MB Shared Smart Cache ‘L3 Cache’ | 6 * 32 KB L1 Data Cache 6 * 32 MB L1 Instructions Cache 6 * 256 KB L2 Cache 3 MB Shared Smart Cache ‘L3 Cache’ |
CPU Features Supported | 8th Gen Architecture (Formerly Kaby Lake R) Turbo Boost 2.0 AES, AVX2, FMA3, Intel-VT, & SSE4.1/4.2, TSX PCI-Express: 3.0 Memory Support: DDR4-2400, LPDDR3-2133 Integrated GPU: ‘Intel 4K UHD Graphics 620’ Base Clock: 300 MHz Turbo Clock: 1.1 GHz Frame Buffer: 32 GB-Max DirectX 12 & OpenGL 4.4 Support | 7th Gen Architecture (Formerly Kaby Lake) Turbo Boost 2.0 AES, AVX2, FMA3, Intel-VT, & SSE4.1/4.2, TSX PCI-Express: 3.0 Memory: DDR4-2133, LPDDR3-1866, DDR3L-1600 Integrated GPU: ‘Intel 4K UHD Graphics 620’ Base Clock: 300 MHz Turbo Clock: 1.0 GHz Frame Buffer: 32 GB-Max DirectX 12 & OpenGL 4.4 Support |
TDP (Average Power Consumption) TDP – UP TDP – DOWN | 15 Watts 25 Watts @ 1.80 GHz 10 Watts @ 800 MHz | 15 Watts 25 Watts @ 2.70 GHz 7.5 Watts @ 800 MHz |
Socket | FC-BGA1356 | FC-BGA1356 |
Manufacturing Technology | 14 nm ++ (Optimization) | 14 nm + |
Interconnect BUS Speed (QPI) | 4 GT/s – OPI | 4 GT/s OPI |
As you can see from the table above, the 8th Gen has a clear performance advantage over the 7th gen due to high single core clock speeds and more cores. The GPU turbo clock is also bumped up by about 100 MHz to get you some extra frame rates in basic gaming.
The Intel Quick Path (QPI) high-speed interconnect speeds is unchanged at 4 GT/s. The maximum number of PCIe lanes also remains unchanged at 12 (1×4 – 2×2 – 1×2+2×1 & 4×1). The lower p-states helps the CPU to run cooler while idling and we can expect extra battery life.
Conclusion
Overall, we can expect a good performance gain (25-40%) at lower TDP levels. Considering the same 14nm process, we think it is quite an achievement for Intel. Currently, the laptops with 8th Gen CPU’s cost less than $100 more over its 7th gen counterparts. With better performance, we strongly recommend going with the newer CPUs instead.
We hope you like our Intel Core i5 8250U vs i5 7200U spec comparison article. Comments and feedbacks are welcome down below.
Indrajit
Feedback taken. Tweaked that last line. Cheers!
Ken
Regarding your last statement: "You can get a Snapdragon 835 powered Android device at hal...
Indrajit
6 core 12 threads?