Consumercarts is reader-supported. Learn more
Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y vs Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U: Comparison
8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y vs 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U l3 cache compared
L3 cache is where these two genuinely part company, 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y 4 MB against 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U 8 MB, a 50% lead for 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U. 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U also leads on l2 cache, 0.5 MB on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y versus 1 MB on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U. Tdp is not the same on both, 5 W on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y versus 15 W on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U. There is a split on socket as well, FCBGA1515 on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y versus FCBGA1528 on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U.
Who each one is for
Take the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y for premium fanless 2-in-1 and ultraportable designs wanting the strongest available chip in Intel's ultra-low-power tier. It is the wrong buy for any performance-focused computing, the 5W power budget is a genuine ceiling on sustained throughput. Take the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U for premium ultraportable laptops wanting genuinely stronger integrated graphics than standard UHD configurations. It is not the one for buyers needing dedicated gaming or heavy creative graphics capability, a discrete GPU remains necessary for that.
What 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y and 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U have in common
Everything else lines up. Efficiency cores, integrated graphics, product line, form factor and release year read the same on both, so those are not worth weighing. They match on 2 further specifications as well.
Frequently asked questions
Do the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y and 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U differ on total cores?
Yes. Total Cores reads 2 on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y versus 4 on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U.
Is the Market Segment the same on the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y and 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U?
It is. Both are listed at Laptop, so it is not a reason to pick one over the other.
Specs and benchmarks
Brand
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Intel
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Intel
Product Line
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Core i7
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Core i7
Form Factor
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Laptop
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Laptop
Model Number
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 8500Y
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 8557U
Codename
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Amber Lake Y
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Coffee Lake
Release Year
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 2019
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 2019
TDP
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 5 W
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 15 W
iGPU
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Intel UHD Graphics 615
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
Market Segment
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Laptop
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Laptop
Microarchitecture
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Amber Lake, 8th Gen Intel Core
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Coffee Lake, 8th Gen Intel Core
Socket
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- FCBGA1515
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- FCBGA1528
Process Node
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 14 nm
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 14 nm
Total Cores
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 2
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 4Best
Performance Cores
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 2
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 4Best
Efficiency Cores
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 0
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 0
Total Threads
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 4
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 8Best
SMT Enabled
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Yes
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Yes
P-Core Base Clock
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 1.5 GHz
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 1.7 GHz
P-Core Boost Clock
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 4.2 GHz
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 4.5 GHz
L2 Cache
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 0.5 MB-50%
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 1 MBBest
L3 Cache
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 4 MB-50%
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 8 MBBest
Base Power
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- 5 W
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- 15 W
Memory Type
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- DDR3L-1600, LPDDR3-1866
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- DDR4-2400, LPDDR3-2133Best
Integrated Graphics
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8500Y
- Yes
- Intel 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8557U
- Yes
Which one should you pick?
Choose 8500Y if you already have it on hand or find it at a lower price.
Choose 8557U if you want the higher L2 cache (1 MB vs 0.5 MB) and the higher L3 cache (8 MB vs 4 MB).


