Thursday, April 12th 2018
Intel's 8th Gen Core-B Processors Are BGA Solutions for AIOs
Intel has announced, in-between the flurry of announcement sin the past week, that they're introducing a line of BGA (Ball-Grid Array) microprocessors to their 8th Gen line-up with the Core-B branding. The new CPUs look to deliver easily installed, scalable, premium processor options for all sorts of limited Z-height computing packages, such as the ones found in AIOs, without sacrificing performance in order to keep TDPs in check.
This means that these processors ship with a 65W TDP - higher than Intel's top-performing mobile H solutions. This move may come in handy for some users that wonder regarding upgradeability of a given AIO they're eyeing - if it comes with a Core-B processor, you know it won't be user-serviceable, much less upgradeable. The line-up will start with the Core i7-8700B, i5-8500B, and i5-8400 (yes, there's an absence of a B there) processors, all shipping with a 65 W TDP, and equivalent to their desktop counterparts - core counts, base frequencies, turbo frequencies, memory support, Optane support, and integrated graphics are all the same. The only difference is that these CPUs are likely - and should be expected - to be placed into TDP-limited scenarios enabled through firmware.
This means that these processors ship with a 65W TDP - higher than Intel's top-performing mobile H solutions. This move may come in handy for some users that wonder regarding upgradeability of a given AIO they're eyeing - if it comes with a Core-B processor, you know it won't be user-serviceable, much less upgradeable. The line-up will start with the Core i7-8700B, i5-8500B, and i5-8400 (yes, there's an absence of a B there) processors, all shipping with a 65 W TDP, and equivalent to their desktop counterparts - core counts, base frequencies, turbo frequencies, memory support, Optane support, and integrated graphics are all the same. The only difference is that these CPUs are likely - and should be expected - to be placed into TDP-limited scenarios enabled through firmware.