Intel was expected to add new members to its 9th-generation family of Intel Core processors according to some recent rumors.
Intel was expected to add up to six new CPUs without the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 (GT2) iGPU, indicated by the “F” suffix in the product names of the new chips.
Now, some prominent Norwegian and Finnish computer hardware retailers have listed four, yet to be announced, Intel 9th Generation Coffee Lake Refresh processors. The four CPUs listed are : Core i9-9900KF, Core i7-9700KF, Core i5-9600KF, and Core i5-9400F.
These chips are modified versions of the Intel Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K, Core i5-9600K, and Core i5-9400.
It’s not uncommon for Intel to release a High-End Desktop (HEDT) or Xeon processor without integrated graphics. The reason behind this is that if a customer can afford one of these high-end chips, there’s a high chance they would get a discrete GPU for it too. However, Intel rarely releases a mainstream chip without onboard graphics. The last mainstream CPU without any integrated graphics was the Intel Core i5-2550K from the Second Generation Sandy Bridge family. Despite being 100MHz faster than the Core i5-2500K, the chip never became popular amongst the consumers and releasing mainstream chips without onboard graphics was stopped.
Another thing to note is that chip manufacturing process isn’t quite simple and many processors that are produced carry defects. Intel can just disable some cores on the chip and sell those chips as a lower-end model. So, releasing chips without integrated graphics would let it sell the chips which carry defects in just the graphics units. The company is already facing a shortage of 14nm manufacturing capacity. These chips are expected to come with a die which includes integrated graphics, as the designing and fabrication of an entirely new die is quite expensive.
Other advantages of deactivating the integrated graphics include less consumption of power and less heat dissipation by the CPU. The disabled part of
The prices listed are not confirmed yet and shouldn’t be blindly trusted. The Norwegian retailer has listed the Core i5-9400F at a price of $255.15, the Core i5-9600KF is listed at $355.70, Core i7-9700KF at $528.17 and the Core i9-9900KF is listed at $684.07.
Both the Finnish and Norwegian retailers are expected to stock the new chips by January 3, 2019, which could mean a launch in the next couple of weeks.
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