SOLVED: What Do The Suffix Letters on Intel Processors Mean

Intel used to have a pretty simple naming scheme for its CPU’s but as the market demanded more features, Intel started adding suffix letters to its processors.  Often the letters added on to the end of an Intel CPU number can mean enormous differences.

Below is a list of Intel CPU Suffix Letters:

C – Desktop processor based on the LGA 1150 package with high performance graphics
H – High performance graphics
K – Unlocked Frequency Multiplier – typically much more expensive gamer CPUs
M – Mobile as in laptops, tablets…
Q – Quad-core
R – Desktop processor based on BGA1364 (mobile) package with high performance graphics
S – Performance-optimized lifestyle
T – Power-optimized lifestyle and typically lower performance
U – Ultra-low power – always lower performance
X – Extreme edition – typically gamer and workstation CPU’s with as many as 10 cores
Y – Extremely low power – typically used in tablets and Ultrabook’s

To understand Intel’s CPU naming convention this example should help:

Lets look at an example of two common Intel CPU’s from 2017 with different letter suffixes to see the real difference:

Intel does a very nice job of showing the differences on their ark.intel.com site.