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Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y

Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y: Compact Energy Efficiency for Basic Tasks

April 2025

Introduction

The Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y processor, released in 2017, is still found in budget laptops and ultra-portable devices. Despite its outdated architecture, it remains relevant for certain use cases. In this article, we will explore who might benefit from such a CPU in 2025 and what compromises need to be considered.

Architecture and Process Technology: Modest Capabilities

Cores, Threads, and Clock Speeds

The Pentium Gold 4415Y is built on the Kaby Lake architecture (14 nm) and falls into the category of ultra-budget low-power processors. Its main specifications are:

- 2 cores and 4 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading.

- Base frequency: 1.6 GHz. There’s no Turbo mode—this is a fixed frequency even under load.

- Cache: 2 MB L3.

Integrated Graphics

The built-in GPU is the Intel HD Graphics 615 with 24 execution units (EUs) and a frequency of up to 850 MHz. This is a modest graphics accelerator capable of handling 4K video (with hardware decoding) but not designed for modern gaming.

Power Consumption and TDP: Focus on Battery Life

The CPU's TDP is 6 W, allowing it to be used in devices without active cooling (such as tablets or ultra-thin laptops). This is a key advantage for formats where the following are important:

- Silent operation.

- Minimal thickness.

- Long battery life.

However, the low TDP limits performance—the CPU cannot maintain high frequencies for long due to the lack of thermal headroom.

Performance: Realistic Expectations

Office Tasks and Multimedia

- Office applications (Word, Excel, browser with 5-10 tabs): The processor handles it, but experiences delays when multiple programs run simultaneously.

- Video playback: 4K/60 FPS on YouTube or local files (thanks to VP9 and HEVC decoders).

- Photo editing software: Basic retouching in Lightroom or Photoshop is possible, but rendering will take longer.

Gaming

The HD Graphics 615 is suitable for casual projects:

- Minecraft (30-40 FPS on low settings).

- CS:GO (720p, low detail, ~25-30 FPS).

- Modern AAA games (like Cyberpunk 2077) — won't run.

Turbo Mode: Lack of Dynamic Overclocking

The absence of Turbo Boost is a significant drawback. Even under load, the frequency remains at 1.6 GHz, which limits performance in resource-intensive tasks.

Use Cases: Who is the 4415Y Designed For

1. Students — for working with text documents, presentations, and online courses.

2. Office workers — email, documents, video conferencing.

3. Portable device users — compact convertible laptops (for example, Microsoft Surface Go with similar CPUs).

4. Backup devices — as a secondary laptop for travel.

Not suitable for:

- Video editing.

- 3D modeling.

- Modern gaming.

Battery Life: Up to 10 Hours Under Ideal Conditions

Thanks to the 6 W TDP, laptops with the Pentium Gold 4415Y demonstrate battery life of 8-10 hours under moderate load (screen brightness at 50%, Wi-Fi, office tasks). Contributing factors include:

- SpeedStep technology — dynamic frequency reduction during idle times.

- Low power mode in Windows/Linux.

However, battery life heavily depends on the capacity of the battery. For example:

- A laptop with a 38 Wh battery (ASUS VivoBook) — up to 7 hours.

- A device with a 50 Wh battery (Lenovo IdeaPad) — up to 10 hours.

Comparison with Competitors: Competing in the Budget Segment

AMD Athlon Silver 3050e (2020)

- 2 cores/2 threads, Vega 3 GPU.

- 6 W TDP, but graphics performance is 15-20% stronger.

- Better for gaming but worse for multi-threaded tasks.

Apple M1 (2020)

Not a direct competitor, but by 2025, even used MacBook Air with M1 ($400-500) will outperform the Pentium Gold in all parameters, including battery life.

Intel Celeron N4500 (2021)

- 2 cores/2 threads, 6 W TDP.

- Lags in multi-threading due to the absence of Hyper-Threading.

Conclusion: The Pentium Gold 4415Y in 2025 is only relevant in devices priced up to $350. With a budget of $400 or more, it makes more sense to choose laptops based on Intel Alder Lake-N (e.g., N100) or AMD Ryzen 3 7320U.

Pros and Cons

Strengths

- Low power consumption and noiselessness.

- Support for 4K video.

- Affordable device prices ($300-450).

Weaknesses

- Low performance in multitasking.

- Outdated 14 nm process technology.

- Absence of Turbo Boost.

Recommendations for Laptop Selection

1. Device type: Ultrabook or convertible (for example, HP Pavilion x360).

2. Minimum specifications:

- 8 GB RAM (4 GB in 2025 will be painful).

- 256 GB SSD (not HDD!).

- IPS screen with 1920x1080 resolution.

3. Optimal models:

- Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15IGL05 ($330) — 15.6", 8/256 GB.

- ASUS Laptop 14 F415MA ($299) — 14", 4/128 GB (requires an upgrade).

Avoid:

- Laptops with 1366x768 screens.

- Configurations with 4 GB of RAM.

Final Conclusion: Who is the Pentium Gold 4415Y Suitable For

This processor is a choice for those who:

1. Are looking for a cheap laptop for basic tasks.

2. Value battery life and portability.

3. Do not plan to run demanding applications.

Key Benefits:

- Low device cost.

- Ability to work all day without recharging.

- Sufficient performance for web surfing and office tasks.

Alternative for 2025: If the budget allows adding $100-150, consider laptops based on Intel N100 or AMD Ryzen 3 7320U — they offer better performance and modern technologies (Wi-Fi 6, USB-C with Power Delivery).

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

April 2017

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

4415Y

Code Name

Kaby Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

1.60 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCBGA1515

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

6 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

1x4 | 2x2 | 1x2+2x1 and 4x1

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

LPDDR3-1866 | DDR3L-1600

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

16 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

4 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

29.8 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 615

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

300 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

850 MHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

16 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@24Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096x2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

2 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel Clear Video Technology

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.4

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes