Tech

Intel launches three Core M CPUs, promises more Broadwell “early 2015”

U-series Core i3, i5, and i7 Ultrabook chips will be the next ones released.

Andrew Cunningham – Sep 5, 2014 10:30 am | 64

A Core M CPU package. Intel's low-power CPUs include both the CPU/GPU die and the chipset die to reduce the amount of motherboard space needed to house the chip. Credit: Intel

There’s not a whole lot more information we can give you about Core M, the new CPU from Intel based on its delayed Broadwell architecture. We’ve given you the high-level architectural information, along with quite a few details about how it will perform, the kinds of systems it will fit into, and what the power savings will be compared to a previous-generation Haswell chip.

Today Intel is formally announcing the specific CPUs that will be going in these Core M tablets and convertibles, along with model numbers, clock speeds, and thermal design power (TDP) numbers. We’ll talk about those first, comparing them to last year’s Haswell-Y processor. Then we’ll move on the actual Core M systems that have been announced so far and what we know about the more powerful members of the processor family. If you want details about Broadwell’s new 14nm process and how Intel has shrunken Core M to get it into fanless systems, our original post has all of that information for you.

The first Core M chips—click to enlarge for details. Credit: Intel

All of the chips have a default TDP (not SDP, mind you) of 4.5W, less than half of the 11W TDPs that the Haswell chips had last year. Intel has made some small sacrifices to get there, though most people shouldn’t really notice them—the biggest is that the Core M 5Y10 and 5Y10a both share a base CPU clock speed of just 800MH and a GPU base clock speed of just 100MHz. The top-end 5Y70’s base CPU clock is just a little higher, at 1.1GHz. Compare that to Haswell-Y chips from last year.

Haswell-Y, the predecessors of Core M. Credit: Intel

Those chips have higher base clock speeds, sitting at around 1.3 or 1.4GHz. All of these CPUs fluctuate up and down in clock speed so frequently that in normal usage the “base” speed doesn’t really matter—the processor will either Turbo Boost past it to get something done quickly or slow down at idle to conserve power. However, for heavier workloads, the base clock rate is still the fastest speed at which the processor should be able to run at all times, and Intel is keeping it low to keep Core M from overheating fanless systems.

Intel’s “Turbo Boost” feature is predicated on the idea that most computer use is “bursty,” though, and for all but the heaviest workloads, that’s the right move to make. If you’re gaming or editing media, you’re hitting your CPU and/or GPU with a fairly heavy workload most of the time. If you’re doing nearly anything else—Web browsing, e-mailing, social networking, even doing heavy multitasking where you have a lot of windows open, your CPU is going to have a lot of time to sit idle. When it’s called into action, Turbo Boost makes sure your system feels like it has a 2.0GHz CPU in it, not an 800MHz one.

In those use cases, Core M is actually quite a bit faster than Haswell-Y. The lower-end 5Y10 chips have single- and dual-core clock speeds of 2.0GHz, and the higher-end 5Y70 goes all the way up to 2.6GHz. We don’t know quite how long the systems will be able to sustain those speeds—it’s going to vary depending on system size and cooling capacity—but despite their lowered TDPs and base clock speeds, Core M should usually deliver on Intel’s promised speed improvements over last year’s chips.

The Intel HD 5300 GPU is the first of Broadwell’s new integrated graphics processors that we’ve seen—Intel’s figures claim a 40 percent improvement in speed over the Intel HD 4200 GPU from last year, though as we pointed out above, those numbers may be a little fudged. The high-end 5Y70’s GPU can go up to 850MHz, while the 5Y10 chips go to 800MHz. Don’t expect to use any of these processors for heavy gaming in any case.

The 5Y70 and 5Y10a have additional configurable TDPs of 6W and 3.5W, available for OEMs who are building both larger and smaller systems (the 5Y10 can only go down to 4W). Remember, TDP doesn’t dictate how fast the CPU is, just how long it can sustain those Turbo Mode speeds—raising or lowering the TDP increases or decreases the amount of time you can have the CPU sustain these higher speeds.

Finally, the top-end 5Y70 also supports business-friendly features like Intel’s vPro, Trusted Execution Technology, and VT-d—given that two of the Core M systems we’ve seen so far have been business convertibles, this makes sense. Finally, all of the chips share 4MB of L3 cache and support for 1600MHz DDR3L and LPDDR3, the low-power memory that usually makes its way into tablets, convertibles, and Ultrabooks.

Core M systems

We’ve already seen five Core M systems announced as part of IFA in Berlin—HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus all appear to be among the first to climb aboard the Broadwell train, and they’re focusing mostly on the fanless, convertible machines that Intel is pushing. We have more details about those systems in our two IFA PC roundups, but we’ll summarize in short.

HP is releasing two new convertibles under the “Envy x2” banner, one 13-inch model and one 15-inch model. Both are fanless Core M tablets with kickstands that connect to Surface-esque keyboard covers rather than relying on a stiffer, more laptop-like base and hinge. The amount of space that the Surfaces need to spread out and their relative instability in the lap make them harder to recommend than some systems in our list, but they have front-facing speakers and some 1080p IPS displays you might like.

Up next are two laptop-like convertibles, the Dell Latitude 7000 series 2-in-1 and the second-generation Lenovo ThinkPad Helix. Both are aimed at business users more than consumers (the Latitude and ThinkPad labels are both “professional” brand, not consumer ones), but as a consumer who gravitates toward the understatedness and sturdiness of business PCs I’m sure they’ll find some fans on both sides of the fence. Both machines are actually fanless Core M tablets that slot into a keyboard dock to become laptop-alikes. Based on what we’ve seen so far, we think the Latitude looks like a slightly more elegant tablet, while the ThinkPad’s “Pro” keyboard option (complete with red TrackPoint nub) and the extra batteries in the dock will make it a somewhat more desirable laptop.

Finally, Asus’ Zenbook UX305 ignores all of this tablet and convertible business and puts the Core M into a straight-up laptop. There’s no touchscreen here, detachable or otherwise, but the 13.3-inch display does have a resolution of 3200×1800. Usually Intel’s lowest-power chips are confined to tablets (and sometimes smaller 11.6-inch notebooks and convertibles), but Asus seems confident that Core M will be fast enough to drive this laptop comfortably. Expect most computers like the Zenbook to continue using faster U-series Ultrabook chips.

Intel says a fifth OEM will join the list of vendors planning a Core M system by the end of 2014 and that it is “tracking” about 20 different PC designs in total. This is roughly in line with what we saw with both Ivy Bridge and Haswell Y-series CPUs: they often showed up in just one or two PCs per OEM, usually in premium thin-and-light tablets and convertibles. We’d guess that the bulk of Intel’s volume still comes from faster, less-specialized chips—U-series CPUs for Ultrabooks, some Chromebooks, and some mini-desktops; mainstream and high-end laptop CPUs for everything from midrange Windows PCs to Retina MacBook Pros; and mainstream and high-end desktop CPUs ranging from dual-core Celerons to quad-core i7s. Intel is still keeping a lid on information about most of these, but we’ll share what we know.

Going forward

As some of you mentioned in the comments of our first Core M feature article, these Broadwell CPUs aren’t really the ones that will get most enthusiasts excited—you’re mostly waiting for higher-power chips, beginning with beefier (but still low-power) U-series Ultrabook chips and moving all the way up to high-end desktop parts. On this front, there is a mix of good and bad news.

The good news is that Intel is still on track to get other Broadwell chips out the door in “early 2015,” beginning with Core i3, i5, and i7 chips intended for Ultrabooks. These U-series chips will apparently be in volume production by the end of 2014, so we should expect to see our first proper Broadwell Ultrabooks late this winter or early next spring. Chips for other systems will follow.

However, we can report that certain members of Intel’s lineup will not be receiving a Broadwell refresh—specifically, low-end to midrange socketed desktop CPUs. An Intel representative confirmed that we definitely won’t be seeing Broadwell Celerons and Pentiums for the desktop, and the only socketed Broadwell chips we’re sure that we’re getting are the high-end models with Intel’s top-shelf Iris Pro GPU. Iris Pro was previously available only to desktop and laptop CPUs in a BGA (read: soldered to the motherboard) package. Many others will remain on the Haswell architecture until Skylake, Broadwell’s successor, is released.

We’ll hopefully be getting our first Broadwell systems in for review in the next month or two, and we’ll continue to report on new Broadwell chips as they trickle out. We’ve had to wait several months longer than we were originally supposed to for these chips—hopefully they’ll prove to be worth the wait.

Listing image: Intel

Andrew Cunningham Senior Technology Reporter

Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.

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