Intel "Coffee Lake" Based Pentium Gold Processors Begin Selling

[btarunr]

Even as Intel is giving final touches to its massive 8th generation Core family product stack expansion with up to eight new SKUs, retailers have started stocking up, and secretly selling some of these chips. Last week, we brought you the story of Newegg beginning to sell new Core i5 and Celeron 49xx series SKUs, namely the Core i5-8600 (non-K), the i5-8500, the Celeron 4920, and the Celeron 4900. We're now hearing of three other SKUs that have made it to the shelves, the Core i3-8300, and three Pentium Gold models.

The Core i3-8300, like the i3-8350K, is a quad-core chip that lacks HyperThreading, but unlike the current entry-level i3-8100, features a hearty 8 MB of L3 cache. It lacks the unlocked multiplier of the i3-8350K. It is clocked at 3.70 GHz, and lacks Turbo Boost. It's selling at USD $134.99 in tray quantities, so we expect its boxed retail unit price to be $139-$149. The Pentium Gold family consists of 2-core/4-thread chips backed by 4 MB of L3 cache. Leading the pack is the Pentium Gold G5600, clocked at 3.90 GHz, followed by the G5500 clocked at 3.80 GHz, and the G5400 at 3.70 GHz. The three could occupy price-points ranging between $80-$99.



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[RejZoR]

These "medal" designations are so stupid. If they had 4 models only and ranged them from Bronze to Platinum, it would make sense. But just tossing them around a bit here and a bit there is silly as it doesn't help anything.

 

[ShurikN]

All those Pentiums that are close at $100 go up against R3 2200G. And that part is unlocked with 4 proper cores. And a capable GPU. A tough sell imo.

 

[btarunr]

These "medal" designations are so stupid. If they had 4 models only and ranged them from Bronze to Platinum, it would make sense. But just tossing them around a bit here and a bit there is silly as it doesn't help anything.

In case of Pentium, it's useful. "Gold" identifies socketed Pentium chips based on Intel's bigger CPU micro-architectures; while "Silver" identifies BGA chips based on low-power x86 architectures.

 

[RejZoR]

In case of Pentium, it's useful. "Gold" identifies socketed Pentium chips based on Intel's bigger CPU micro-architectures; while "Silver" identifies BGA chips based on low-power x86 architectures.

But is that REALLY actually useful? It's too fiddly information to be useful for broader consumption that could be designated with pretty much anything else. Like "B" for BIG and "L" for "LOW POWER" attached to the existing models. Or something.

 

[dj-electric]

IMO, selling any of the Pentiums above 90$ is a suicide. I can see the top part selling well at 70$ or under. Hopefully the Celerons will dive under 50$. A dual core part for 40$ wouldn't be a bad deal over all for many use cases

 

[ironcerealbox]

There is a thing called "doing your homework" especially since most of us that are members here have access to the net. Companies can call their products whatever they want even at their own detriment [in sales] but it all comes down to knowing what you are buying.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

In case of Pentium, it's useful. "Gold" identifies socketed Pentium chips based on Intel's bigger CPU micro-architectures; while "Silver" identifies BGA chips based on low-power x86 architectures.

Seems like a confusing way to go about it, but even AMD has done it with the old Athlon name. Really, the only time it could get confusing is when buying a prebuilt Pentium-branded system, where you'll likely see a sharp decline in performance going from Gold to Silver if you're not paying attention. Since the sub-gold Pentiums are BGA only, it's not like you'll accidentally buy one for a system build.

 

[birdie]

Without entry-level 300 series chipsets these CPUs make zero sense. Either motherboards based on the said chipsets are already coming or most price-conscious buyers will avoid these CPUs for the time being.

DDR4 memory pricing also makes everything complicated unless you can survive with 4gigs of RAM which nowadays is not sufficient even for an office PC.

 

[Ruru]

So, are these new chips or just Kaby Lake in LGA 1151-V2 package like the i3 line?

 

[Vya Domus]

Even if it is priced incredibly low (which , knowing Intel , wont be the case) , the much faster GPU inside the 2200G will render these Pentiums pretty much useless , no reason whatsoever to pick one up. And I still don't understand whats the deal with all of these versions with just 100mhz difference between them , useless product segmentation.

Not to mention that B360/H310 motherboards are no where in sight. Intel fucked up with the mid-range and especially with the low-end big time this time around. Turns out they really did rush Coffee Lake and relied too much on mindshare.

 

[TheGuruStud]

81/8300 is DOA. AMD murdered it. The others are useless and already rotting costing as much as the 2200G. Next.

Whoever buys these needs taken out back and beaten.

 

[TheDeeGee]

A better codename would be Meltdown or Spectre.

 

[john_]

The G4560 Pentium was probably the best value CPU of the last decade at under $70, when it came out. If Intel starts selling the new ones at $80, probably it means that they don't want to repeat the same mistake. But G2200 would be a better bet in that case. Of course the Pentiums will sell better because, well, they come with Intel's logo. Also I see G4560 selling for around 50-55 euros here (63 dollars on newegg). This makes those new Celerons a really bad idea, which explains once more why Intel made the new platform incompatible with Kaby lake CPUs.

 

[Ruru]

I had G4560 and it was absolutely the best max 100eur CPU I've ever used. I even upgraded my GTX 970 to 970 SLI when I had that CPU and I had a signaficant boost in games.