CPU-Z reports I3 processor as I5?

Kenjiro · 22 Sep 2012

Hi,

My I3 3220 CPU is reported as I5 3550. Is this normal?

marsmimar · 22 Sep 2012

I don't believe that's normal unless an i5 was installed by accident. You could try a couple other utilities like Speccy or SIW (System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala) to see what they say.

Speccy - System Information - Free Download

http://gtopala.com/

Kenjiro · 22 Sep 2012

Speccy also reports it as "Intel Core i5 3550"

Am I in trouble?

Pedroc1999 · 22 Sep 2012

in cpuz in one place it says i3 but in the other it says i5 so i dont think he installed the wrong cpu because the specs correspond to the i3

Kenjiro · 22 Sep 2012

I personally installed the CPU and pretty sure it is i3 3220. What is this i5 3550 thing going on?

Dwarf · 22 Sep 2012

Nothing to worry about.

Scott Mueller, Upgrading and Repairing PCs said:

One interesting thing about this is that as a manufacturer gains more experience and perfects a particular chip assembly line, the yield of the higher-speed versions goes way up. So, of all the chips produced from a single wafer, perhaps more than 75% of them, check out at the highest speed, and only 25% or less run at the lower speeds. The paradox is that Intel often sells a lot more of the lower-priced, lower-speed chips, so it just dips into the bin of faster ones, labels them as slower chips, and sells them that way. People began discovering that many of the lower-rated chips actually ran at speeds much higher than they were rated, and the business of overclocking was born.

I think that you have actually got an Intel Core i5 3550, which has been marked up as an Intel Core i3 3220.

marsmimar · 22 Sep 2012

pedroc1999 said:

in cpuz in one place it says i3 but in the other it says i5 so i dont think he installed the wrong cpu because the specs correspond to the i3

I didn't mean to imply he installed the wrong CPU. It just seems a bit odd that Processor Name is Intel Core i5 3550 while Processor Specification is Intel Core i3 3220. I would think that both values would match up. And what makes it even stranger (IMHO) is that a second system information tool (Speccy) also reports it as an i5.

@Kenjiro: No, you're not in any kind of trouble that I can think of. I'm just as puzzled as you as to why the CPU would have two different values.

EDIT: Guy, my apologies. I apparently typed over your response. Thanks for the excellent clarification

Kenjiro · 22 Sep 2012

Dwarf said:

Nothing to worry about.

I think that you have actually got an Intel Core i5 3550, which has been marked up as an Intel Core i3 3220.

Well CPU casing is also says i3 3220. But you say it might actually be an i5 3550. Is there anything I should do in this case?

Pedroc1999 · 22 Sep 2012

Brag about it. i paid so, so, less and got something much better than i actually wanted.

no but i think that its nothing major as in it wont blow up or nothin

Hopalong X · 22 Sep 2012

It is an i3. 2 cores 4 threads.
Also if you look at CPU-Z Specification line it is listed as i3.

An i5 3550 is a quad core hyperthread. 4 cores and 8 threads.
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