Intel Core i3-8310U Dual-Core, Quad-Thread Mobile CPU Leaks With 3.4GHz Turbo Clock

It appears that Intel is looking to make a run at AMD and its Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Ryzen processors in the lower end of the mobile market. Having already released quad-core Core i7 and Core i5 processor variants based on its Kaby Lake Refresh (Kaby Lake-R) architecture, a new dual-core Core i3-8310U processor based on Kaby Lake-R has leaked to the web, with a full spec sheet to boot.

According to data gather up by Laptop Media, the Core i3-8310U sport two physical cores and four threads to throw at tasks. It has a 2.2GHz base clockspeed, which at first glance is not all that impressive considering that the 2-core/4-thread Core i3-7130U is clocked significantly faster at 2.7GHz. However, the Core i3-8310U is capable of Turbo boosting, whereas the previous generation processor is not. When Turbo kicks in, the Core i3-8310U can hit 3.4GHz.

Turbo clocks are generally more important than base clocks, provided there is adequate cooling to maintain the faster clockspeed when needed. That will depend almost entirely on notebook makers and their ability to design laptops with enough cooling and airflow to keep the Core i3-8310U firing on all cylinders.

Provided they can, along with the architectural optimizations that Kaby Lake-R brings to the table, the Core i3-8310U should be a noticeably faster processor than the Core i3-7130U. The Core i3-8130U also features more cache than its predecessor—4MB versus 3MB. On the graphics side, it uses the same Intel UHD Graphics 620 running at 300MHz to 1GHz.

As for battery life, the Core i3-8130U has a TPD of 10-15W, compared to 7.5-15W on the Core i3-7130U. So, it should be capable of providing similar battery life in ultrabooks.