Pentium and Celeron CPUs are dead – but Intel N-series could save budget laptops
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At CES 2023, currently taking place in Las Vegas, Intel took the stage to reveal the processors that will power the next generation of budget laptops known as the Intel Processor N Series.
This follows Intel axing its Pentium and Celeron brands late last year, and the new chips will be used in entry-level computers, including laptops and Chromebooks.
The new series includes an Intel Core i3 chip, which is aimed at people who want a device that is a little more powerful than the standard N series, but still affordable, such as students.
According to Intel, the new N Series offers up to 28% better performance and 64% better graphics performance than the previous generation – while the i3 CPU provides an additional 42% performance boost and an additional 56% graphics performance boost.
Analysis: Could be good news for budget laptops
Intel Processor N-series laptops apparently have up to 10 hours of battery life, which is impressive on paper, but Chromebooks using a rival ARM architecture have been easily reaching 10 hours on battery for a while now.
Computers with the new Intel chips will benefit from the latest connectivity features, including Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, as well as new efficient ‘Gracemont’ cores and support for LPDDR5, DDR5 and DDR4 memory.
Here are the following N-series processors that Intel has unveiled:
| processor name | Cores | Wires | Max Turbo Freq | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i3-N305 | 8 | 8 | 3.8GHz | 15W |
| Intel Core i3-N300 | 8 | 8 | 3.8GHz | 7W |
| Intel processor N200 | 4 | 4 | 3.7GHz | 6W |
| Intel processor N100 | 4 | 4 | 3.4GHz | 6W |
In this current climate, it’s good to see companies working on new products for the budget market (note, Nvidia).
Many people simply can’t afford expensive devices right now, but that doesn’t mean they have to put up with sub-par performance, so we’ll be happy to try out laptops with Intel’s new processors to see if they can live up to the promises. Intel’s earlier Pentium and Celeron CPUs were more often than not associated with poor performance and low prices – probably why Intel decided to drop those brands. However, the company will want to make sure that the new N-series CPUs don’t suffer the same fate.
According to Intel, we should have plenty of devices to try, with more than 50 products running Windows or Chrome OS expected by 2023 from the likes of Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Asus.
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