New Intel 9 Generation Processors: Core Minus GPU
We continue to publish processor development news and follow the market launch of ninth generation processors. The new portion has a slightly unusual feature for the Intel Core: the lack of a graphics core, which is emphasized by the special letter F in the model names. However, there was a place in it for the “standard” Core, which opens the class i3 in the current generation.
The top model in this family, Core i9-9900KF, has exactly the same characteristics as the previously presented Core i9-9900K, except for the absence of a graphics core. In fact, it is physically available there, but it is disabled to increase the profitability of the production process. The same picture with Core i7-9700KF Core i5-9600KF processors - they are identical to their predecessors up to the GPU.
| Kernels / Threads | Frequency | Igp | DDR4 | Tdp | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i9-9900KF | 8/16 | 3.6 / 5.0 GHz | - | 2666 | 95 W | $ 499 |
| i7-9700KF | 8/8 | 3.6 / 4.9 GHz | - | 2666 | 95 W | $ 385 |
| i5-9600KF | 6/6 | 3.7 / 4.6 GHz | - | 2666 | 95 W | $ 263 |
| i5-9400 | 6/6 | 2.9 / 4.1 GHz | UHD 630 | 2666 | 65 W | $ 182 |
| i5-9400F | 6/6 | 2.9 / 4.1 GHz | - | 2666 | 65 W | $ 182 |
| i3-9350KF | 4/4 | 4.0 / 4.6 GHz | - | 2400 | 91 W |
As for the Core i3-9350KF, this is a representative of a new class: a 4-core processor with the possibility of overclocking, no hyper-trading and a graphics core, with a high base (4 GHz) and turbo (4.6 GHz) frequency. Core i5-9400F is a six-core processor without hyper-trading and a GPU, which, on the contrary, has a low base frequency. The Core i5-9400 is its twin brother with Gen9's integrated Intel HD 630 graphics.
It is interesting to note that the F character has once been featured in the names of Intel processors, but these were Xeon with an embedded OmniPath matrix. And now it stands for the mass Core model with no graphics core - Intel has not had such products for a long time. Obviously, the goal is to reduce the technological culling, when the computational cores are working normally, and the graphics do not correspond to the required characteristics.
According to official information, the start of sales of new processors is expected in the first quarter of this year. It will be interesting to see whether the absence of the graphics core affects the overclocking capability or, conversely, on the energy efficiency indicators. Perhaps you tell about it when you try it yourself?