Intel Releases New Core i5 & Mobile Celeron Processors

Intel quietly rolled out 7 new processor models this past weekend, 3 belonging to the desktop Core i5 family and 4 belonging to the mobile Celeron family. With this launch also comes Intel’s first “P” models (E, K, S and T weren’t enough, it seems!), which simply denotes that the processor does not include integrated graphics – something that at this point knocks about $10 off the price.

The Core i5-2550K is a bit of an interesting beast, because it matches the i7-2600K’s frequency (3.40GHz), but still suffers the same i5 limitation of no HyperThreading and lesser L3 cache (6MB, from 8MB). The price difference between the two models is considerable, however, with the 2550K being priced at $225 and the 2600K at $317. The price premium over the 3.30GHz i5-2500K is $9.

There is no direct equivalent to the i5-2450P, as it slots in just under the i5-2500 (3.20GHz vs. 3.30GHz, respectively), but the i5-2380P does match the i5-2400 specs-wise. The removal of the IGP brings the price of that CPU down to $184, from $195 – not a bad savings if an IGP simply isn’t needed.

On the mobile Celeron side, all four of the models listed above are mere speed bumps, boosting the frequency of the model directly below it by 100MHz. Normally, a speedbump can be equated with a price increase, but not here, as the prices remain exactly the same. Hopefully we’ll see system builders jump on these updated models very soon.