Coffee Lake Thread

[SteelCrysis]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-...39871.html

Intel announced the F-series line in January as a way to mitigate the effects of its processor shortage. The CPUs were nearly identical to their predecessors: they were based on the same Coffee Lake microarchitecture; built using the same 14nm process; and boasted the same core counts, TDPs, and frequencies. Even the prices were the same. The only difference was that Intel disabled the integrated GPUs on its F-series models.

Like we said at the start, that seemed like a hard sell, but it was actually pretty clever on Intel's part. The company was able to increase supplies during its CPU shortage without having to compromise on price, introduce completely new products, or rush processors built using the 10nm process to market. At least people who didn't need integrated graphics (which includes many enthusiasts) could upgrade their systems despite Intel's supply chain woes.

That gambit paid off. CRN reported on Friday that, according to "a top Intel channel executive," the F-series line "now accounts for more than 10 percent of total desktop CPUs sold to system builders through the company's U.S. authorized distributors." Much of the line's success likely stemmed from its expansion to Pentium processors and its availability during the CPU shortage. But it was also said to have resulted from incentives from Intel.