.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp)
Intel lays out CPU roadmap to 2024 and beyond
Intel has provided some new details on its upcoming CPU roadmap. Investor Day 2022 presentation.
We already know a little bit about Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors. They’re slated for release in the second half of 2022, and it’s clear they’re in good shape so far, as Intel showed off a working system with a Raptor Lake processor.
It will be an evolutionary upgrade to the 12th generation Alder Lake processors. It will include up to 8 newer P cores and 16 E cores, double the 12900K. Jim Johnson, senior vice president and interim head of the Client Computing Group, said Intel is targeting double-digit performance gains over its existing 12th-generation Core Alder Lake processors.
Intel also announced some new overclocking enhancements, and while we’ve long suspected it, it’s been confirmed that the 13th Gen processors will be compatible with existing 12th Gen motherboards.
Probably the most interesting part of the Raptor Lake update is the presentation of the AI accelerator in the M.2 form factor. It may not be of much use to gamers, but Nvidia supports its Tensor Cores that include AI capabilities. Could such an accelerator be used in a similar way?
The next Meteor Lake generation will see major changes. These are likely to be called 14th-generation processors and are currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2023. Meteor Lake will include a tile or chiplet-based architecture with multiple dies on the same package. The CPU blocks will be manufactured on Intel’s next-generation Intel 4 nodes. Since the design is highly modular, Intel can cut and change different tiles depending on its use case. Intel could add better Arc GPUs or omit the AI accelerator depending on the market segment.
What about 15th and 16th generation processors? Intel is also working on them. The first of these was code-named Arrow Lake. It is currently planned to replace Meteor Lake in 2024. It will be produced using Intel’s 20A node. It could be that Arrow Lake is another evolutionary upgrade following the major changes introduced by the Meteor Lake generation. Are the ticks back?
Then there’s Moon Lake, which could arrive as early as 2024, and it looks like it will co-exist with Arrow Lake. Intel mentions that it aims to regain the performance-per-watt lead with Lunar Lake, and says its ultra-low-power design means it’s likely to be a mobile architecture. Who knows, maybe with its tile-based architecture, adding ARM tiles isn’t impossible!
After years of 14nm and Skylake+++ memes, Intel has clearly shifted gears. Its process technology and roadmap look very aggressive. Its CPU roadmap, advanced packaging technology and developed graphics IP mean Intel is well positioned to take on AMD for years to come.