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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).

    More comparisons in Processors (CPUs)