Intel Core i7-4578U vs Intel Core i5-7200U vs Intel Core i7-4940MX

Intel Core i7-4578U

Intel Core i5-7200U

The Intel Core i5-7200U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.5 - 3.1 GHz and integrates HyperThreading to work with up to 4 threads at once. The architectural differences are rather small compared to the Skylake generation, therefore the performance per MHz is very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card (clocked at 300 - 1000 MHz). It is manufactured in an improved 14nm FinFET process at Intel. Compared to the old Skylake based Core i5-6200U, the i5-7200U offers a 300 MHz higher clock speed.

Intel Core i7-4940MX

The Intel Core i7-4940MX is a high-end quad-core processor for laptops and successor of the i7-4930MX. It is based on the Haswell architecture and was launched in Q1/2014. Due to Hyperthreading, the four cores can handle up to eight threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 3.1 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.9 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 4.0 GHz (for 1 active core). Furthermore, the Extreme CPUs offer an unlocked multiplicator for easy overclocking.

Architecture

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports, increasing the performance per clock by about 5 - 10 percent. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Performance

Compared to the Core i7-4930MX, the 4940MX is clocked just 100 MHz higher and therefore only slightly faster. Overall, the performance is similar to the Desktop Core i7-4770K. Even extremly demanding software or multitasking will be handled easily.

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 offers 20 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 400 MHz up to 1350 MHz with Turbo Boost, making it about 30 % faster than the HD 4000. This is slightly slower than the AMD Radeon HD 8650G, but similar to a dedicated GeForce GT 720M.

Power Consumption

The i7-4940MX is rated at a TDP of 57 W including graphics card, memory controller and VRMs.  Therefore, the CPU is only suited for laptops 17-inches or greater.