Intel Pentium Silver N5030

The Intel Pentium Silver N5030 is a quad-core SoC primarily for inexpensive notebooks and was announced late 2019. It runs at 1.1-3.1 GHz (Single Core Burst) and is based on the Gemini Lake platform. The 5030 is the refresh of the older Pentium 5000 and offers a 400 MHz higher Boost clock. Similar to the Apollo Lake predecessor, the chip is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFETs but offers slightly improved processor cores, double the amount of L2 cache, a smaller package, a better GPU architecture and a partly integrated WiFi support. Besides four CPU cores, the chip also includes a DirectX 12 capable GPU as well as a DDR4/LPDDR4 memory controller (dual-channel, up to 2400 MHz). The SoC is not replaceable as it is directly soldered to the mainboard.

Architecture

The processor architecture is still called Goldmont Plus. Compared to the older Goldmont cores in Apollo Lake, they feature an increased level 2 cache (to 4 MB). That means the per-clock-performance should be a bit better, but not near the Core CPUs like Kaby Lake Y.

Performance

The CPU performance of the Pentium Silver N5030 is thanks to the 400 MHz higher boost clock clearly faster than the old Silver N5000. Compared to the more expensive Core Y processors, especially the single thread performance is much lower in the Gemini Lake based SoCs. Still for basic tasks like office suits, webbrowsing with moderate multitasking the processor performance should be fine.

GPU Performance

The UHD Graphics 605 (Gemini Lake) is based on Intel's Gen9 architecture, which supports DirectX 12 and is also used for the Kaby Lake / Skylake / Apollo Lake graphics adapters (like HD Graphics 520). Equipped with 18 EUs and a clock of up to 750 MHz, the performance should be roughly on par with the older HD Graphics 5300 and HD Graphics 505 (Apollo Lake).

The chip also includes an advanced video engine with hardware support for the playback of VP9 and H.265 material (8-bit color-depth).

Power Consumption

Similar to the predecessor, Intel specifies the TDP with 6 Watts (SDP 4.8 Watts – Scenario Design Power). The chip can therefore be cooled passively in theory, but SKUs with fans are possible as well.

Series	Intel Gemini Lake
Codename	Gemini Lake Refresh
Series: Gemini Lake Gemini Lake Refresh	» Intel Pentium Silver N5030 2 - 3.1 GHz 4 / 4 Intel Celeron J4125 2 - 2.7 GHz 4 / 4 Intel Celeron J4115 1.8 - 2.5 GHz 4 / 4
Clock Rate	2000 - 3100 MHz
Level 2 Cache	4 MB
Number of Cores / Threads	4 / 4
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power)	6 Watt
Manufacturing Technology	14 nm
Max. Temperature	105 °C
Socket	FCBGA1090
Features	Intel UHD Graphics 605 (18 EUs, 200 - 750 MHz), Quick Sync, AES-NI, max. 8 GB Dual-Channel DDR4/LPDDR4-2400
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 605 (200 - 750 MHz)
64 Bit	64 Bit support
Architecture	x86
Announcement Date	11/04/2019

Benchmarks