Intel announces new fifth-generation 'Broadwell' Core i7, i5 processors

Computex 2015 is well underway. So far, we have talked about the most-interesting new products that ASUS and SanDisk have unveiled, taking a look at Transformer Book T100HA, EeeBook E403SA, ZenWatch 2, and the Extreme 900 portable SSDs.

And now it is Intel's turn to woo us with its new products. The US chip maker today announced 10 fifth-generation (more commonly known as Broadwell family) Core processors, for desktops and laptops -- part of the mid-range i5 and high-end i7 lines. Also new are five professional Xeon E3 solutions.

All desktop Core i7 as well as Core i5 processors are offered with the powerful Iris Pro Graphics 6200, which is a first for the company's desktop lines. The only new processor unveiled with another graphics solution is the laptop-grade i7-5700HQ, which comes with the lesser HD Graphics 5600. All of the new processors announced today are expected to be available in new devices in the next 30 to 60 days.

The flagship Core processor unveiled today is Core i7-5775C, which is said to be up to 35 percent faster on the media performance front and over two times better in the graphics department compared to the previous fourth-generation Core i7-4790S, which is equipped with HD Graphics 4600.

The rise in performance is attributed to Iris Pro Graphics 6200, according to Intel. This 3.3 GHz quad-core processor has an MSRP of $366 and TDP of 65W, the latter of which, Intel says, allows it to be used in various configurations, including Mini PCs and all-in-ones.

Core i7-5775C is one of the five new processors meant to be used in desktops, with the other four being i7-5775R, i5-5675C, i5-5675R and i5-5575R. All are quad-cores (the i7 entry offers eight threads and 6 MB of L3 cache, as opposed to the four threads and 4 MB of L3 cache of the i5 offerings) with a TDP of 65W.

On the laptop scene, Intel's most-powerful offering is i7-5950HQ. This 2.9 GHz quad-core, eight-thread processor has an MSRP of $623, 6 MB of L3 cache, and a TDP of 47W. Intel says that this solution performs up to two times better in 3D graphics performance compared to the more energy-efficient (15W TDP) fifth-generation Core i7-5600U.

The other four are i7-5850HQ, i7-5750HQ, i7-5700HQ and i5-5350H. Of the five, only the i5 offering is a dual-core processor, four threads and 4 MB of L3 cache. It is also the cheapest with an MSRP of $289. All other solutions benefit from eight processing threads and 6 MB of L2 cache.

On the Xeon E3 side, Intel's professional-grade processors gain its beefy Pro Graphics P6300, which is touted to be "Intel’s most powerful data center graphics". These are built on the 14nm process, delivering up to 1.4 times higher and 1.8 times higher performance when it comes to video transcoding and 3D graphics, respectively.

Intel says that the E3-1200 v4 family of processors can give up to 4,300 simultaneous HD video streams per server rack. TDPs and prices vary between 95W and $557, respectively for E3-1285 v4 and 35W and $418, respectively for E3-1265L v4. All are quad-core offerings with 6 MB of L3 cache.