Celeron

Celeron
source
Name	Celeron
Caption	Logo for the Intel Celeron brand.
Produced	Start = 1998
Designer	Intel
Max cpu speed	266 MHz to 4.8 GHz
Fsb speed	66 MHz to 5 GT/s
Arch	x86
Sock	Slot 1, Socket 370, Socket 478, LGA 775, LGA 1156, LGA 1155, LGA 1150, LGA 1151, LGA 1200, Socket M, Socket P, FCBGA
Code name	Covington, Mendocino, Coppermine-128, Tualatin-256, Northwood-128, Prescott-256, Cedar Mill-512, Conroe-L, Allendale, Wolfdale, Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, Broadwell, Skylake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, Comet Lake, Jasper Lake, Alder Lake
Predecessor	Intel i486
Successor	Intel Atom (for low-power mobile)

Celeron. Celeron is a brand of budget x86 and x86-64 microprocessors designed and marketed by Intel. Introduced in April 1998, the brand has served as the company's primary entry-level offering for desktop and mobile computers, positioned below the Pentium, Core i3, and Core i5 lines. Throughout its long history, Celeron processors have been utilized in a vast array of value-oriented systems, from basic home desktops to affordable laptops and Chromebooks.

History

The Celeron brand was launched by Intel in 1998 as a direct response to the growing market for sub-$1,000 personal computers, a segment being contested by rivals like AMD and Cyrix. The first processor, based on the Pentium II Deschutes core but lacking any secondary cache, was codenamed Covington and offered poor performance. A significant turnaround came with the Mendocino core later that year, which integrated 128 KB of L2 cache directly on the die, a feature that became a hallmark of the brand. Over subsequent decades, Celeron lines were derived from nearly every major Intel microarchitecture, including NetBurst, Core, Nehalem, and Sandy Bridge, often by disabling features or reducing cache sizes from their more expensive counterparts. The brand has persisted through the era of Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 10, maintaining a presence in emerging markets and specific device categories even as Intel's focus shifted to the Core series.

Features and specifications

Celeron processors are typically characterized by reduced specifications compared to Intel's mainstream offerings. Historically, this has meant smaller amounts of L2 cache or L3 cache, lower clock speeds, and the disabling of advanced technologies like Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, and AVX instruction sets. Many mobile Celeron chips also feature lower Thermal Design Power ratings. Architecturally, they have shared the same underlying technology as contemporary Intel designs, such as the Pentium 4's NetBurst or the Core 2 Duo's Core microarchitecture, but with strategic limitations. More recent generations, based on architectures like Alder Lake, may include integrated UHD Graphics but often with fewer execution units enabled compared to Core i3 models.

Performance and market positioning

Performance of Celeron processors has consistently targeted basic computing tasks, such as web browsing, email, and light productivity work within environments like Microsoft Office. They are not intended for demanding applications such as video editing, 3D rendering, or high-end gaming. This positioning made them a staple in budget consumer desktops, low-cost laptops from manufacturers like Acer, Dell, and HP, and particularly in the education market via Chromebooks. In the retail channel, systems featuring Celeron CPUs often competed directly with platforms built around AMD's Sempron or later Athlon processors. The brand's value proposition has been challenged at times by the performance-per-dollar of AMD's APU designs and by the rise of ARM-based processors in mobile devices.

Models and generations

The Celeron brand has encompassed a wide array of models across numerous sockets and process technologies. Early desktop units used Slot 1 or Socket 370, while notable mobile lines included the Celeron M for the Socket 479. The brand transitioned through core families such as the Coppermine-128, Tualatin-256, and Northwood-128. With the shift to multi-core designs, dual-core Celeron processors emerged, like those based on the Conroe-L core for LGA 775. In the modern era, Celeron lines have included processors based on the Sandy Bridge (e.g., Celeron Gxxx), Haswell, and Skylake microarchitectures. Recent offerings include low-power Gemini Lake and Jasper Lake systems-on-a-chip for Chromebooks and mini-PCs, and desktop chips from the Comet Lake and Alder Lake families, maintaining the brand's role in Intel's product stack.

See also

* Pentium * Intel Atom * Core i3 * AMD Sempron * List of Intel microprocessors

Category:Intel microprocessors Category:Computer hardware Category:X86 microprocessors