1st Generation vs 2nd Generation i7 | 1st Generation and 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 Processors features compared
1st generation Core i7 processors were introduced in 2010. 1st generation core i7 processors were based on the Nehalem and Westmere architectures. 2nd generation Core i7 processors were introduced on 2011 and they were based on the Sandy Bridge architecture. There were single core i7 Extreme Edition processor and twelve Core i7 processors introduced in this series. Three of the Core i7 processors were desktop processors and the rest were mobile processors. Core i7 processors are considered as the high end processors of the Core ix family.
First generation Intel Core i7 processors
First generation Core i7 processors were introduced in 2010 and they were based on the Intel’s Nehalem and Westmere architectures. The first Core i7, which was brand named Core i7-9xx was a Bloomfield processor with four cores and an 8 MB L3 cache. Core i7 processers are considered as the high end processors of the Core ix family and are the most expensive of the family. Desktop processors of the 1st generation Core i7 family were quad core processors and supported Hyper-threading and Intel Turbo Boost Technology. But they did not support integrated Intel HD graphics. 1st generation Core i7 mobile processors came in dual core and quad core options and supported Hyper-Threading and Intel Turbo Boost Technology. Only the dual core version contained integrated Intel HD graphics.
Second Generation Intel Core i7 Processors
2nd generation Core i7 processors were introduced in 2011 and these are based on the Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture, which is 32nm microarchitecture. These are the first Core i7 processors to integrate the processor, memory controller and graphics on the same die, making the package comparatively smaller. 2nd generation Core i7 family includes a core i7 Extreme Edition processor and twelve Core i7 processors where three of them were desktop processors. 2nd generation Core i7 processors include several new features to enhance graphics performance. Intel Quick Sync Video enables faster video transcoding by performing encoding in hardware. Intel InTru 3D / Clear Video HD allow playing stereoscopic 3D and HD content on a TV using HDMI. WiDi 2.0 enables streaming of full HD with the 2nd generation processors. Additionally, 2nd generation Core i7 processors include Intel® Smart Cache, where the cache is dynamically allocated to each processor core depending on the workload. This gives a significant reduction in latency and improves performance.
What is the difference between 1st Generation and 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 Processors?
Intel introduced the 1st generation Core i7 processors in 2010 and the 2nd generation Core i7 processors in 2011. The 2nd generation Core i7 processors are built on the Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture, which is 32nm microarchitecture, while 1st generation Core i7 processors were built on Intel’s Nehalem and Westmere architectures. Additionally, 2nd generation Core i7 processors include new features for improving the graphics performance of the processors such as Intel Quick Sync Video, Intel InTru 3D / Clear Video HD and WiDi 2.0 that were not available in 1st generation Core i7 processors.