Two new Intel CPUs with surprising design coming soon

Intel is reportedly releasing two new Haswell-based processors in September 2013, but they’re not the ones we were expecting for the LGA1150 socket.

These are, in fact, processors on the new BGA socket, which fuses the processor together with the motherboard and solders it in nicely. From that point on, you will need skill and incredibly expensive equipment to take them apart again.

CPU-World says that their sources confirm that there will be a new Core i5 and Celeron processor released in September. While they are almost the same chip, there are some interesting differences that point to why Intel chose to move to BGA for future products.

CPU-World says that the Core i5 has more contact points on the board than the actual LGA1150 socket and the reason for this is that the processor still needs other external chips to help regulate its functions.

Model	Cores	Threads	Frequency	L3 cache	Socket	GPU	TDP
Celeron 2955U	2	2	1.4GHz	2MB	BGA1168	Intel HD	15W
Core i5-4200H	2	4	2.8GHz	3MB	BGA1364	N/A	47W

The Celeron 2955U is Haswell-based and does not share any silicon with the Atom family, but is also packaged on the BGA socket. It integrates the Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) for better power consumption and also integrates the PCH (Platform Control Hub), which is the chip that’s tasked with running things like USB ports, the integrated graphics and any attached displays, as well as other crucial roles to keep the system running.

The Core i5-4200H does not integrate the PCH on-die and also has a much higher TDP (Thermal Design Power) limit. Dual-core Core i5 processors are actually very close to dual-threaded Core i3 processors with some extra functionality unlocked, so it will be very indicative of the performance of Intel’s Core i3 family that will be releasing in late 2013. Intel has not made any mention of pricing for either chip or what kind of motherboard they’ll be available on.

My bet is that the Celeron will be on a H81 board in mATX and ITX variants, while the Core i5 will likely be bundled in mATX H87 boards as well as a new thin-ITX motherboard for All-In-One computers and Intel’s next-generation NUC.