It has been a while since Intel abandoned its long-adored and nostalgic Celeron and Pentium brandings - merging them into what we know today as the "Intel Processor." For the uninitiated, this lineup of CPUs caters to thin and light laptops and the mini-PC market with fanless 6/7W designs. Per momomo_us on X, Intel is planning to refresh its N-series offerings, but don't get your hopes up since they are likely based on Alder Lake silicon.
Under the Alder Lake-N series, Intel launched several processors using an all-efficient core layout under the hood last year. Like their leaked Core 200U/H brethren, Intel is allegedly prepping to refresh these CPUs as well - both rumored to be based on Alder Lake. This is slightly disappointing since home server enthusiasts would have loved to get their hands on a sub-10W Arrow Lake CPU, but that doesn't seem to be the case, at least yet.
Anyhow, let's go over the specifications. The new Intel N-series chips are clocked marginally higher than their predecessors. The cache layout (at least for the L3 cache) remains the same - at 6MB for each processor. The Core 3 N300 CPUs are poised to offer better performance than their N200 series counterparts, partly due to a doubling of the core count. We are unaware of the exact number of cores, but since this series is probably a refresh, we'll assume they are on par with the last generation.
| Specifications | Intel Processor N150 (New) | Intel Processor N100 | Intel Processor N250 (New) | Intel Processor N200 | Intel Core 3 Processor N350 (New) | Intel Core i3-N300 | Intel Core 3 Processor N355 (New) | Intel Core i3-N305 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 4? | 4 | 4? | 4 | 8? | 8 | 8? | 8 |
| Boost Clocks | 3.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz | 3.8 GHz | 3.7 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 3.8 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB |
The Core i3-N305 has a max turbo power of 15W, so it is safe to assume that the Core 3 N355 boasts similar traits. But at two times the power, you only get a minor 100 MHz bump in the clocks.
This is food for thought, but one can only imagine the efficiency Intel's Skymont can deliver at these levels. Sadly, it appears that packaging and other financial constraints are restricting Intel. Then again, lightweight Chromebooks, embedded devices, NAS, and other low-power systems don't exactly need all the horsepower available—you wouldn't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Interested consumers should wait until CES 2025 when Team Blue is expected to reveal its Core Ultra 200U/H, Core 200U/H, Core Ultra 200S non-K, and possibly even these new N-series processors.
