Making sense of Intel and AMD CPUs naming

Intel

Core

The line up for the core family is i3, i5, i7 and i9. As of January 2023, the current generation is Raptor Lake (13th generation).

The brand modifiers are:

• i3: laptops/low-end desktop
• i5: mainstream users
• i7: high-end users
• i9: enthusiast users

How to read a SKU ? Let’s use the i7-12700K processor:

• i7: high end users
• 12: 12th generation
• 700: SKU digits, usually assigned in the order the processors are developed
• K: unlocked

List of suffixes:

Unlocked, what does that means ? A processor with the K suffix is made with the an unlocked clock multiplier. When used with some specific chipset, it’s possible to overclock the processor.

Raptor Lake (13th generation)

Raptor lake is an hybrid architecture, featuring both P-cores (performance cores) and E-cores (efficient cores), similar to Alder lake. P-cores are based on the Raptor cove architecture, while the E-cores are based on the Gracemont architecture (same as for Alder lake).

Available processors:

For the Raptor Lake generation, as for the Alder lake generation, the supported socket is the LGA₁₇₀₀.

List of Raptor lake chipsets:

Alder Lake (12th generation)

Alder lake is an hybrid architecture, featuring both P-cores (performance cores) and E-cores (efficient cores). P-cores are based on the Golden Cove architecture, while the E-cores are based on the Gracemont architecture.

This is a good article to read about this model. Inside the processor there’s a microcontroller that monitors what each thread is doing. This can be used by the OS scheduler to hint on which core a thread should be scheduled on (between performance or efficiency).

As of December 2021 this is not yet properly supported by the Linux kernel.

Available processors:

• support DDR4 and DDR5 (up to DDR5-4800)
• support PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 (16 PCIe 5.0 and 4 PCIe 4.0)

For the Alder Lake generation, the supported socket is the LGA₁₇₀₀.

For now only supported chipset for Alder Lake are:

Xeon

Xeon is the brand of Intel processor designed for non-consumer servers and workstations. The most recent generations are:

The following brand identifiers are used:

• platinium
• gold
• silver
• bronze

AMD

Ryzen

There are multiple generation for this brand of processors. They are based on the zen micro architecture.

The current (as of January 2023) generation is Ryzen 7000.

The brand modifiers are:

• ryzen 3: entry level
• ryzen 5: mainstream
• ryzen 9: high end performance
• ryzen 9: enthusiast

List of suffixes:

EPYC

EPYC is the AMD brand of processors for the server market, based on the zen architecture. They use the SP3 socket. The EPYC processor is chipset free.

Threadripper

The threadripper is for high performance desktop. It uses the TR4 socket. At the moment there’s only one chipset that supports this process, the X399.

The threadripper based on zen3 architecture is not yet released, but it’s expected to hit the market in the first half of Q1 2022.

Sockets/Chipsets

The majority of these processors use the AM4 socket. The threadripper line uses different sockets.

There are multiple chipset for the AM4 socket. The more advanced ones are the B550 and the X570.

The threadripper processors use the TR4, sTRX4 and sWRX8 sockets.

Zen 3

Zen 3 was released in November 2020.

• support PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0 (except for the G series)
• only support DDR4 (up to DDR4-3200)

Zen 4

Zen 4 was released in September 2022.

• only supports DDR 5
• all desktop processors feature 28 (24 + 4) PCIe 5.0 lanes
• all desktop processors feature 2 x 4 lane PCIe interfaces (mostly for M.2 storage devices)

December 29, 2021