Is a 3rd Generation Intel Core i-3 better than 2nd Generation Core i-7

Question

I understand that Core i-7 is better than Core i-3, but how do they compare across generations. Simply put, can it be always said that a Core i-? of higher generation is always better in performance than any Core i-? of lower generation?

Solution

No, the i7 is always faster. The i3 is only a Dual core CPU, while the i7 is a quad core.

Here is the speed of an i3 Ivy vs i7 Sandy Bridge:

Intel Core i3-3245 @ 3.40GHz

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-3245+%40+3.40GHz&id=1934

Intel Core i7-2600 @ 3.40GHz

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600+%40+3.40GHz&id=1

The i7 has a nearly doubled score compared to the i3.

Comments

[Josh]

Maybe not for directly successive generations like 2 and 3, but I would probably say across 2 or more generations like 1 and 3 it would.

[Bon Gart]

You'd need to define performance.

[Josh]

Here is a link that compares the different generations of iCore processors. Clarksfield is the oldest and Sandy Bridge is the newest at the time the article was written. I think Ivy Bridge is the newest now.

[Josh]

Your answer is a little contradictory... You say the i7 is faster because it has more cores but then you put benchmarks for and i3 at 3.4 GHz and i7 at 3.4 GHz. 3.4 GHz for the i3 is the same speed as 3.4 GHz for the i7. Cores do not correlate to speed. However, they do correlate to performance if that is what you meant.

[magicandre1981]

??? He wants to know if a newer generation i3 is faster (in performance) than an older i7, which is not true. An i5 Haswell maybe faster than the 1st gen i7, but never an i3.

[Josh]

I understand that, but performance generally means efficiency, not raw speed. 3.4GHz is 3.4GHz no matter what device. The i7 is more efficient because it has more cores to process threads simultaneously, thus giving it a better performance rating. However, it cannot process each individual thread any faster than the i3 because they are both rated at 3.4GHz.

[Josh]

Here is an analogy. Imagine a car going 60mph and a diesel mack truck going 60mph. They are both going the same speed, but the car is more efficient since it is smaller and consumes less resources.

[Shamim Hafiz - MSFT]

A silly follow up question, I have a 3rd generation Core i7 laptop. Just based on processor, my next better purchase would be to get a 4th Gen Core i7 (already announced) and not 4th Gen Core i3 or i5( not yet announced).