Intel has been pretty quiet on the desktop CPU market lately, but they’ve been working quite a bit behind the scenes. And it’s evident with this relatively stealthy release.
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Signage with logo at the Silicon Valley headquarters of computer hardware manufacturer Intel, Santa Clara, California, August 17, 2017.
WCCFTech reported that Team Blue released a handful of Tiger Lake B-Series CPUs in a rather low-key fashion, launching it for the 11th gen platform. There were a total of four different CPUs launched, namely the i9-11900KB, i7-11700B , i5-11500B, and the i3-11100B.
These four chips are likely the last of the Intel Tiger Lake series as Team Blue has been preparing for the imminent launch of their Alder Lake line.
It also looks like the new Intel chips are intended for both small form factor and enthusiast systems, with their respective core counts and low TDPs (65 watts).
It looks like Intel also quietly added these CPUs to their Ark database shortly before launching them, according to a report by Tom’s Hardware. It was there that the desktop designations of these chips were confirmed early.
Read also: Tiger Lake CPU Performance: Intel’s 11th Gen Processors Run Up to 4.8 GHz Single Core Turbo with Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Intel Tiger Lake-B: A Closer Look
All of the new Tiger Lake CPUs are pretty interesting, because of a single letter in their names: the “B” suffix.
What this means is that the chips come in a special form factor called BGA or Ball Grid Array.
In its most basic definition, BGA is a way of permanently mounting a microprocessor, such as a CPU, onto a specified mainboard. In other words, these new Tiger Lake processors from Intel cannot be removed for upgrades. You buy them, and you’re stuck with them for their entire lifespan.
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ANTALYA, TURKEY – FEBRUARY 15: In this illustration photo Intel processor is seen in Antalya, Turkey on February 15, 2021.
But it’s not all bad, though, if you’re indeed stuck with CPUs like these. Because specs-wise, these new Tiger Lake chips are not pushovers. A quick look at what’s under the hood proves this point.
The 11700B and the 11900KB both feature 8 cores and 16 threads at a very efficient 65-watt TDP, according to the Intel Ark database.
As for the 11500B, users will get 6 cores and 12 threads, while the 11100B gets 4 cores and 8 threads; plenty of power for modern workloads. It also appears that all of the CPUs support Intel’s brand new Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) tech, which can boost the clocks to a maximum of 5.3 GHz without much trouble.
It is still unknown, however, if this is an all-core or single-core boost. But even without TVB, the boost clocks can still go up to 4.6-4.9 GHz, which is still quite impressive.
Good Enough to Tide Fans Over Until Alder Lake?
As previously mentioned, these recently released Tiger Lake chips cannot be upgraded, which means they’re going to be platform-locked and not allow an upgrade to Alder Lake.
If you’re really gunning for those upcoming 12th generation chips, then maybe you could give the new Tiger Lake CPUs a wide berth. Besides, it looks like Alder Lake is coming soon anyway, with HWinfo already adding support for a few LGA 1700 motherboards in its database in early May.
Related: Intel Alder Lake-S Sample CPUs Leak: 16C/24T Models Feature Massive Boost Clocks
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Written by RJ Pierce
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