Core i3-8145UE vs Core i7-7660U

Both the Core i3-8145UE and Core i7-7660U share an identical 2-core/4-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 3.9 GHz on the Core i3-8145UE versus 4 GHz on the Core i7-7660U — a 2.5% clock advantage for the Core i7-7660U (base: 2.2 GHz vs 2.5 GHz). The Core i3-8145UE uses the Whiskey Lake-U (2018−2019) architecture (10 nm), while the Core i7-7660U uses Kaby Lake (2016−2019) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core i3-8145UE scores 4,021 against the Core i7-7660U's 4,059 — a 0.9% lead for the Core i7-7660U. Cinebench R23 multi-core: 2,356 vs 1,759 (29% advantage for the Core i3-8145UE). Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,218 vs 1,150, a 5.7% lead for the Core i3-8145UE that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 2,356 vs 2,285 (3.1% advantage for the Core i3-8145UE). L3 cache: 4 MB (total) on the Core i3-8145UE vs 4 MB on the Core i7-7660U.

The Core i3-8145UE uses the FCBGA1528 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Core i7-7660U uses BGA1356 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-2400 memory speed. The Core i3-8145UE supports up to 64 GB of RAM compared to 32 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i3-8145UE) vs 12 (Core i7-7660U) — the Core i3-8145UE offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: Whiskey Lake (Core i3-8145UE) and SoC (Core i7-7660U).

Neither processor supports overclocking. Both support VT-x, VT-d virtualization. Both include integrated graphics — UHD 620 (Core i3-8145UE) and Iris Plus 640 (Core i7-7660U) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i3-8145UE targets Budget, Core i7-7660U targets Productivity. Direct competitor: Core i3-8145UE rivals Ryzen 3 3200U; Core i7-7660U rivals Core i5-8250U.