What's the difference between i3 i5 and i7?
Isabella Bartlett
Updated on January 23, 2026
Core i3 processors have two cores, Core i5 CPUs have four and Core i7 models also have four. Some Core i7 Extreme processors have six or eight cores. Generally speaking, we find that most applications can't take full advantage of six or eight cores, so the performance boost from extra cores isn't as great.