Despite the obvious difficulties with the production of 14-nm chips in sufficient quantities, Intel continues to systematically expand the range of ninth-generation Core processors, code-named Coffee Lake Refresh. True, it is given to her with varying degrees of success. That is, formally, new products are indeed added to the lineup, but they appear very reluctantly in retail sales, and some models from among the new products presented immediately after the New Year have not been able to be noted on store shelves so far.
Nevertheless, based on official data, now for the LGA1151v2 platform there are already at least nine desktop Core models belonging to the nine thousandth series, among which there are processors with four, six and eight processing cores. Moreover, this family includes not only quite obvious representatives with predictable characteristics, but also unexpected CPUs that are ideologically different from all their predecessors. We are talking about F-series processors - mass desktop chips, the specifications of which do not declare an integrated graphics core.
Surprisingly, these offerings have expanded Intel's range of consumer processors for the first time in eight years, during which the company has exclusively offered integrated graphics solutions to the mainstream segment. However, now something has changed, and the microprocessor giant was forced to reconsider its principles. And we even know that: miscalculations in planning and difficulties with the commissioning of the technical process with 10-nm standards have led to a serious shortage of Intel processors in the market, which the company is trying to alleviate with all its might. The release of processors without integrated graphics is one of the fairly obvious measures aimed at achieving this goal. Thanks to it, the manufacturer was able to install in serial processors previously considered defective semiconductor blanks with a damaged graphics core, which even in eight-core Coffee Lake Refresh “eats off” up to 30% of the area of a 174-mm crystal. In other words, such a measure can increase the yield of suitable products and significantly reduce waste.
However, if for Intel the point in releasing F-series processors is quite obvious, then whether consumers benefit from the appearance of such offers is a very controversial issue. The tactic chosen by the manufacturer is such that processors cut down in their essence are sold without any discount, at the same price as their "full-fledged" counterparts. To understand this situation in detail, we decided to take for tests one of the representatives of the ninth generation Core lineup, devoid of integrated graphics, and try to look for hidden advantages in it.
The Core i5-9400F, the youngest six-core processor of the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, was chosen as an object for research. There is a special interest in this chip: its predecessor, , at one time was very popular due to its exceptionally attractive price-performance ratio. Officially announced four months ago, the Core i5-9400 (without F in the name) offers slightly higher frequencies for the same price, but it's almost impossible to find it on sale. But the Core i5-9400F is presented on the shelves everywhere, and, moreover, since the shortage does not apply to this model, its real retail price is as close as possible to the recommended one. However, this does not automatically make the Core i5-9400F a good option for "basic" configurations, because AMD now offers six-core Ryzen 5 processors in the same price category, which, unlike the representatives of the Core i5 series, have support for multi-threading (SMT) . That is why today's test promises to be especially meaningful: it should answer several questions at once and unequivocally show whether the Core i5-9400F has a chance to repeat the success of the legendary Core i5-8400.
Coffee Lake Refresh lineup
To date, two waves of announcements of processors have already passed, conditionally attributed to the Coffee Lake Refresh generation. Despite the fact that such CPUs are in many ways similar to their predecessors from the Coffee Lake family, Intel refers them to the ninth generation of Core and numbers them with indices starting with the number 9. And if such a classification can be partly justified for Core i7 and Core i9, After all, for the first time they acquired eight computing cores, the new processors of the Core i5 and Core i3 series received an increase in model numbers for the most part for the company. Basically, they only offer increased clock speeds.
At the same time, there is no need to talk about any improvements at the microarchitecture level at all. And to be honest, it's not surprising at all. The concept of development practiced by Intel is such that deep changes in processors are tied to the improvement of manufacturing technologies. Therefore, delays in the introduction of the 10nm process technology lead to the fact that we once again have to deal with the Skylake microarchitecture, which was released back in 2015. However, something else is surprising: for some reason, Intel does not seek to change features that do not require any noticeable changes. For example, officially Coffee Lake Refresh continues to focus on dual-channel DDR4-2666 memory, while AMD has been adding support for faster modes to its processors over and over again, reaching DDR4-3200 in the latest versions of mobile Raven Ridge. The only thing that Intel did in response was to increase the amount of memory supported in systems based on Coffee Lake Refresh to 128 GB.
Nevertheless, despite the absence of changes in the microarchitecture, Intel still manages to release quite interesting models using extensive methods - increasing the number of cores and clock speeds. The first wave of Coffee Lake Refresh announcements last October saw three flagship overclocking processors break new ground in performance: the eight-core Core i9-9900K and Core i7-9700K, and the six-core Core i5-9600K. With the second, New Year's wave, the list of the latest processors has been replenished with six more simpler CPU models. As a result, the complete nomenclature of Coffee Lake Refresh began to look like this.
| Cores/threads | Base frequency, GHz | Turbo frequency, GHz | L3 cache, MB | iGPU | iGPU frequency, GHz | Memory | TDP, W | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9‑9900K | 8/16 | 3,6 | 5,0 | 16 | UHD 630 | 1,2 | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $488 |
| Core i9‑9900KF | 8/16 | 3,6 | 5,0 | 16 | No | — | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $488 |
| Core i7‑9700K | 8/8 | 3,6 | 4,9 | 12 | UHD 630 | 1,2 | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $374 |
| Core i7‑9700KF | 8/8 | 3,6 | 4,9 | 12 | No | — | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $374 |
| Core i5‑9600K | 6/6 | 3,7 | 4,6 | 9 | UHD 630 | 1,15 | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $262 |
| Core i5‑9600KF | 6/6 | 3,7 | 4,6 | 9 | No | — | DDR4‑2666 | 95 | $262 |
| Core i5‑9400 | 6/6 | 2,9 | 4,1 | 9 | UHD 630 | 1,05 | DDR4‑2666 | 65 | $182 |
| Core i5‑9400F | 6/6 | 2,9 | 4,1 | 9 | No | — | DDR4‑2666 | 65 | $182 |
| Core i3‑9350KF | 4/4 | 4,0 | 4,6 | 8 | No | — | DDR4‑2400 | 91 | $173 |
The main part of the processors, added to the overclocking K-models released in the first place later, consists of chips that lack an integrated graphics core. Technically, the Core i9-9900KF, Core i7-9700KF and Core i5-9600KF are based on exactly the same semiconductor foundation and have exactly the same characteristics as the Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9600K, differing only in that that they do not offer an integrated GPU, which is hardware-locked in them at the production stage.
But in the list of new products of the second wave, you can see really new models. First of all, this is the Core i3-9350KF - the only quad-core processor among Coffee Lake Refresh with an unlocked multiplier. If you close your eyes to the lack of an integrated GPU, it can be considered an updated version of the Core i3-8350K, which was accelerated by the addition of Turbo Boost 2.0 technology and the new ability to automatically overclock to 4,6 GHz.
Another more or less full-fledged novelty in the second wave can be considered the Core i5-9400 and its fellow Core i9-9400F, which lacks integrated graphics. The value of these models lies in the fact that with their help, Intel significantly reduced the cost of the younger six-core Coffee Lake Refresh, allowing the use of the latest generation of CPUs in base-level configurations. However, there are not so many formal differences between the Core i5-9400 and last year's hit, the Core i5-8400. Clock speeds have increased by only 100 MHz, which is most likely due to the desire of the microprocessor giant to leave its younger six-core processors within the 65-watt thermal package. As a result, the gap in maximum frequencies in turbo mode between the older and younger six-core processors in the Coffee Lake Refresh family increased to 500 MHz, while in the Coffee Lake generation it was only 300 MHz.
Based on the specifications, it seems that the new Core i5-9400 and Core i5-9400F have nothing to trump on the background of the old Core i5-8400. However, the specifications in this case do not give a complete picture. During the announcement of the first Coffee Lake Refresh, Intel talked about indirect benefits as well. For example, for a new generation of chips, a change in the internal thermal interface was promised: a high-performance flux-free solder was supposed to take the place of polymer thermal paste. But does this have anything to do with the lower six-core ninth generation Core processors? It turns out not always.
Details about Core i5-9400F
It just so happens that with the release of Coffee Lake Refresh processors, Intel raked together several different variants of semiconductor chips with a 14 ++ nm process technology, and not all of them are actually new. The ninth generation Core processors can be based on both semiconductor crystals designed specifically for them, and relatively old silicon options that were actively used, including in the eighth generation processors, classified as Coffee Lake family.
In particular, at the moment it is known about the existence of at least four steppings of crystals that are installed in certain mass Core processors with numbers from the nine thousandth series:
- P0 is the only "honest" version of the crystal today, which is really legitimate to call Coffee Lake Refresh. This crystal has eight processing cores and is used in the overclocking processors Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9600K, in their F-variations Core i9-9900KF, Core i7-9700KF and Core i5-9600KF, as well as in the processor Core i5-9400;
- U0 is a six-core die that was previously used in Coffee Lake processors, that is, in the eighth generation of Core. Now it is used to create a six-core Core i5-9400F;
- B0 is a quad-core die that is used for Core i3-9350K processors. This silicon variant also came to this processor straight from the quad-core Coffee Lake, including the Core i3-8350K;
- R0 is a new stepping of the crystal, which is supposed to be transferred to the older ninth generation Core processors, starting in May. Currently, it is not found in serial CPUs, and therefore there is no specific information about its features and reasons for its appearance.
Thus, the Core i5-9400F, which we are talking about in this review, is a white crow: a one-of-a-kind processor that differs internally from the rest of the six-core and eight-core counterparts of the Coffee Lake Refresh generation. Strictly speaking, it is not a stripped down or slowed down version of the Core i5-9600K or Core i5-9400, but a slightly overclocked version of the old Core i5-8400 with the graphics core disabled.
And I must say, this is manifested not only in the screenshots of diagnostic utilities, which will show the old U5 stepping instead of the new P9400 for the Core i0-0F. The Core i5-9400F doesn't really have any of the Coffee Lake Refresh innovations at all. In particular, when assembling these chips, the soldering of the crystal to the heat distribution cover is not used, and the internal thermal interface is exactly the same polymer thermal paste that was used in Coffee Lake processors.
In addition, the Core i5-9400F, unlike the rest of the Coffee Lake Refresh generation processors, is assembled on a printed circuit board with a thinner textolite - the same as used for regular Coffee Lake.
And what's more, even the shape of the heat-distributing cover of the Core i5-9400F betrays the affinity of this processor with the eighth generation Core. After all, the purebred Coffee Lake Refresh lid has changed.
In other words, there is no doubt that the Core i5-9400F is actually not a Coffee Lake Refresh, but a rejection of previous generation processors with a disabled graphics core. Moreover, this applies to 5% of all currently shipped serial Core i9400-5F, which largely explains the wide availability of these processors at a time when noticeable problems continue to be observed with mass deliveries of the rest of the Coffee Lake Refresh. For example, formally announced simultaneously with the Core i9400-630F, its “full-fledged” brother with integrated UHD Graphics 0 graphics, which should be based on an “honest” PXNUMX stepping chip, is still not available in retail sales.
At the same time, the microprocessor giant does not exclude the possibility of transferring the Core i5-9400F to the “correct” P0 stepping in the medium term. But this will happen, obviously, only when all the warehouses of the Coffee Lake company with a defective built-in GPU are successfully sold out.
However, for most users, such a fact of forgery of silicon crystals is unlikely to be of any significance. Be that as it may, the Core i5-9400F is a true hexa-core without Hyper-Threading support, which under any load is 100 MHz faster than its predecessor, the Core i5-8400. This means that according to the frequency formula, the Core i5-9400F corresponds to the $10 more expensive Core i5-8500.
Despite the fact that the Core i5-9400F is claimed to have a relatively low base frequency of 2,9 GHz, in reality this processor is able to work much faster thanks to Turbo Boost 2.0 technology. With the Multi-Core Enhancements enabled (that is, in the default mode for the vast majority of motherboards), the Core i5-9400F is able to maintain a frequency of 3,9 GHz under full load, accelerating to 4,1 GHz with a single core load.
| Rated frequency | Max Frequency Turbo Boost 2.0 | ||||||
| 1 core | 2 core | 3 core | 4 core | 5 cores | 6 cores | ||
| Core i5-8400 | 2,8 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 3,9 GHz | 3,9 GHz | 3,9 GHz | 3,8 GHz | 3,8 GHz |
| Core i5-8500 | 3,0 GHz | 4,1 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 3,9 GHz | 3,9 GHz |
| Core i5-9400(F) | 2,9 GHz | 4,1 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 4,0 GHz | 3,9 GHz | 3,9 GHz |
Of course, we are not talking about any overclocking capabilities. The most that the Core i5-9400F is capable of is working at the maximum frequency allowed within the framework of Turbo Boost 2.0 technology. And on motherboards with H370, B360 or H310 chipsets, you won't be able to use faster memory than DDR4-2666. Higher speed modes are only available on boards with older Z370 or Z390 chipsets.
Source: 3dnews.ru