Intel Pentium 2030M Review

Explore the Pentium 2030M! This Laptop processor is a highlight in Intel's entry-level range. Introduced in 2013, it has 2 cores and 2 threads. It operates at a base frequency of 2.5GHz, can hit up to 2.5GHz, and has a power consumption of 35W, ready to upgrade your gaming setup. The Pentium 2030M is designed on the Ivy Bridge 22nm architecture and is a part of the respected Pentium series.

And guess what? The Pentium 2030M is the ultimate successor to Intel's previous-gen gaming champion, the Pentium B980. The Pentium B980 was based on the legendary Sandy Bridge and 32nm process, and it made its grand entrance into the gaming scene back in 2012. But now, it's time for the Pentium 2030M to take the throne and conquer the gaming world!

The Pentium 2030M takes the best parts of the Ivy Bridge architecture, which gives you 15% more instructions processed per cycle (IPC) on average, and shrinks it down to a 22nm process. This creates a super powerful chip that performs awesome in all our tests, especially considering the competitive price, compatibility with most existing FCPGA988 motherboards, ability to overclock, and included cooler. Basically, it's a win-win!

The Pentium 2030M is the more expensive version of the Pentium 2020M, and it shows with its higher base and boost clock speeds: 2.5 GHz and 2.5 GHz, respectively. That's a nice boost in speed, but the real game changer is the higher power delivery (PPT). This lets the motherboard pump more juice (up to 142W) to the Pentium 2030M compared to the Pentium 2020M's limit of 35W. This extra power allows the Pentium 2030M to crank up the boost clocks even more aggressively, on both single and multiple cores. That means the performance gap between these two CPUs might be bigger than what the specs on paper suggest.

The Intel Pentium 2030M launched on on January 2013 for $134, which is pretty much the same price as the last-generation Pentium B980. At least there's no crazy price hike this generation!

Intel has been struggling lately to keep up with the new A4 processors. This has forced them to get creative with their existing lineup. The Intel Pentium 2030M isn't exactly new - it's basically a Pentium B980 with a higher clock speed. But there's one more twist...

One of the best things about the Intel Pentium 2030M is that it comes with a free CPU cooler! You can grab the Pentium 2030M for $134 without having to spend extra on cooling.

The Intel Pentium 2030M comes with a basic heatsink cooler, nothing fancy. But it gets the job done for this low-power CPU (TDP of 35W). You won't need a fancy aftermarket cooler unless you want to overclock it.

The Intel Pentium 2030M might not get a lot of hype, but it's a solid entry-level option that delivers a good experience for casual users.

If you don't care too much about overclocking and max boost speeds, then the Intel Pentium 2020M is a good option for $134. It also has 2 cores and 2 threads, but with slightly lower clock speeds (2.4GHz base and 2.4GHz boost).

Building on the success of mainstream Pentium CPUs, Intel is now attacking the entry-level market with the Pentium 2030M processors, available since on January 2013.