Intel Core i3 N300 is a Core Processor with Just E-cores That Somehow Isn't an Atom or Pentium Silver

[mplayerMuPDF]

I know that there are going to be a lot of haters again but I have to say this is really, really cool. I was wondering for some time when they would release an octacore Atom (like octacore phone and tablet SoCs) and now it has finally happened. This will probably have fantastic performance per watt and there is no stupid, insecure SMT garbage. I just hope it will not only appear in trash quality laptops. We need this in NUCs and other mini PCs.

 

[flim]

Faster than my i7-4790

 

[_JP_]

Least ye not forget that the last Intel named models like "Nxxx" was this:

 

[Haile Selassie]

Perhaps a new home firewall chip of choice?

 

[R0H1T]

Least ye not forget that the last Intel named models like "Nxxx" was this:
View attachment 263711

Not really, the last Nxxx (Pentium) scores ~

 

[Valantar]

Maybe with this someone could make a cheap Windows tablet that doesn't suck.

Sadly it likely kind of would, as system responsiveness with only low clocked E cores would be pretty bad.

 

[ARF]

Sadly it likely kind of would, as system responsiveness with only low clocked E cores would be pretty bad.

8 cores that are faster than the original Skylake core are not bad at all. The system responsiveness will be great.
But for a tablet, they have to decrease the TDP even further down to 2 watts or 3 watts maximum..

 

[Valantar]

8 cores that are faster than the original Skylake core are not bad at all. The system responsiveness will be great.
But for a tablet, they have to decrease the TDP even further down to 2 watts or 3 watts maximum..

Faster than Skylake in terms of IPC. The low clock speeds is what will cause poor system responsiveness - there's a reason why CPUs boost to their peak clock from idle in just a few ms, as that greatly benefits perceived system responsiveness in desktop usage. And clocks will be low, given the small TDP, even if these are all E cores. It might be able to run two cores at close to 4GHz, but no more than that, and likely not for long either.

 

[lexluthermiester]

My only complaint about this CPU is the single channel RAM. 100% deal-breaker. It would otherwise be a solid little CPU. Way to glimp a good CPU Intel..

 

[trparky]

What the heck?

That's what I'm thinking. Where's the market for this? Dumb terminals?

 

[_JP_]

Not really, the last Nxxx (Pentium) scores ~
View attachment 263715

Granted, those were well slotted in the market, for Pentiums. I was referencing the actual "N" followed by just 3 digits. The last ones were Atoms and they were not, in fact, anywhere near acceptable performance.

That's what I'm thinking. Where's the market for this? Dumb terminals?

1L sized desktops for office work. A heavy-duty NAS. A stremaing/IPTV box. The next high-tech outrageous-number WiFi compatible router. Handhelds. Entry-level laptops.
I mean, this chip has better scores than the i5 8365U I'm typing in right now and I feel the i5 is no slouch.

 

[R0H1T]

8 cores that are faster than the original Skylake core are not bad at all. The system responsiveness will be great.
But for a tablet, they have to decrease the TDP even further down to 2 watts or 3 watts maximum..

They'll go against Mendocino probably, so maybe 5-10% between them overall. The AMD chips will have much better GPU though.

AMD Ryzen and Athlon 7020 "Mendocino" 6nm Processors Launched for Entry-level Notebooks

AMD today launched the Ryzen 7020 and Athlon 7020 lines of entry-level mobile processors that pack a unique combination of AMD processor, graphics, and I/O technologies that promise a superior experience and battery-life in the entry-level notebook segment that's usually forsaken by processor...

www.techpowerup.com

The last ones were Atoms and they were not, in fact, anywhere near acceptable performance.

The last (original) Atoms died on 22nm when Intel gave up the mobile/tablet market. Since then they've generally been getting progressively better, Intel also had this internal goal (target?) that Atoms will not exceed 50% performance of the "big" cores. Not sure if this has changed recently but it was the case for a long time.

 

[Luke357]

Sadly it likely kind of would, as system responsiveness with only low clocked E cores would be pretty bad.

Compared to your typical 2 or 4 core Pentium, Celeron or Atom it would be nice and snappy. As they have very slow clockspeeds too. This should run circles around my old Surface 3 (Atom X7 Z8700) and might even outperform my old 4690K in a few scenarios.

 

[Valantar]

Compared to your typical 2 or 4 core Pentium, Celeron or Atom it would be nice and snappy. As they have very slow clockspeeds too. This should run circles around my old Surface 3 (Atom X7 Z8700) and might even outperform my old 4690K in a few scenarios.

The 4690k? Yes, absolutely. Higher IPC and likely similar clock speeds, though there's a question of whethet L3 cache latency differences would complicate things. Modern core-based celerons or pentiums would depend entirely on the specifics of that cpu - the architecture and how high they clock, and how aggressively they are power limited in short term boost. Of course, any 2c2t CPU would be too busy with background tasks to be responsive in the first place, so that's kind of a given too. But any modern i3 would most likely kick its butt in regular desktop use simply from more headroom to boost high(er) and more frequently.