Intel's 5th Generation Core Processors

Intel's 5th Generation Core Processors Finally Arrive

Hello Broadwell, nice to finally meet you

Intel waited until CES to formally introduce its 5th Generation Intel Core processor family, essentially a die shrink of Haswell built on a 14nm manufacturing process. These are the Broadwell parts you've been waiting for -- yes, we've already seen the Broadwell architecture manifest in Intel's Core M processors released last year, but those CPUs were mostly intended for fanless 2-in-1 hybrid tablet devices.

These latest Broadwell parts will mostly come in Core i3, i5, and i7 varieties (along with Pentium and Celeron CPUs), first in dual-core form for laptops and later with quad-core models coming out. And if you're following Intel's "tick-tock" schedule, these would be a "tick," meaning Intel took last generation's architecture (Haswell) and shrunk it, as opposed to rolling out a brand new architecture.

That said, these chips boasts 35 percent more transistors (1.3 billion) than Haswell. That doesn't mean they'll blow Haswell out of the water, though you can expect improved performance, especially in graphics -- Intel is claiming a 22 percent bump in graphics rendering performance, with a 50 percent jump in video encoding.

Among the new chips, 10 are 15W processors with Intel HD Graphics and four are 28W products with Intel Iris Graphics.

In addition, Intel said it also started shipping its next generation 14nm processor for tablets codenamed "Cherry Trail" to device manufacturers. It's an SoC (System-on-Chip) design offering 64-bit computing, improved graphics, and better battery life.

You can find out more details on Intel's Fact Sheet (PDF).