Intel has clarified that Meteor Lake P-Cores and E-Cores are architecturally very similar to Raptor Lake. The Redwood Cove P-Cores and Crestmont E-Cores are very similar to the Raptor Cove P-Cores and Gracemont E-Cores. The biggest change is the move to the Intel 4 process node. Intel 4 is a 4nm process that offers higher efficiency and performance. This is achieved through a number of improvements, including a new architecture for the transistors, improved manufacturing accuracy and new packaging technology. As a result of these improvements, the Meteor Lake CPUs are expected to offer higher performance and efficiency than the Raptor Lake CPUs. The Meteor Lake CPUs will be introduced on December 14, 2023.
In an interview with ITHome, Timothy Wilson, vice president of the Design Engineering Group and general manager of the SOC Design Division at Intel, confirmed that Meteor Lake’s P- and E-cores are architecturally very similar to those of Raptor Lake.
Compared to the previous generation of Raptor Lake, the microarchitecture of both the P and E cores in Meteor Lake has some improvements. However, we introduced Meteor Lake with the new Intel 4 process. In general, when we introduce new processes, we tend to reduce the risk in terms of architecture. Once we achieve a stable process flow, we tend to make a bigger leap by improving the architecture. So, since this is a new big node update for us, and we can also get the energy efficiency benefits of Intel 4, we’ve made very few changes to the core architecture, so they’re architecturally very similar to Raptor Lake’s E-cores and P-cores.
Wilson states that while there will be some architectural improvements, they won’t be that significant because Meteor Lake CPUs are built on a brand new node. The bigger upgrades will only come when the process becomes more stable and better in terms of overall yield.
So it seems Intel has taken a less risky route with its first EUV and chiplet design. The bigger upgrade is expected to come the following year in the form of Arrow Lake, which also features new P-cores and E-cores and uses the Intel 20A process node.
Efficiency and performance
The Meteor Lake CPUs will focus on efficiency and performance. Codenamed Redwood Cove, the P-cores are designed for efficient performance by improving overall chip efficiency, increasing bandwidth per core, having an improved performance monitoring unit and improved feedback from Intel’s Thread Director. Each P-core has a 2 MB ML cache, 64 KB I-cache and 48 KB data cache.
The E-Cores, codenamed Crestmont, offer high performance per watt. They are optimized for simple tasks like web browsing and office applications.
Intel 4 process node
The Meteor Lake CPUs are manufactured on the Intel 4 process node. Intel 4 is a 4nm process that offers higher efficiency and performance. This is achieved through a number of improvements including a new architecture for the transistors, improved manufacturing accuracy and new packaging technology.
Outlook
Meteor Lake CPUs are expected to be introduced on December 14, 2023. They will be used in a wide range of products, including laptops, desktop PCs and servers.
The main improvements are:
- Improved IPC: Intel claims that the IPC of the Crestmont cores will be 4% higher than that of the Gracemont cores. This means that they will be able to do more work at a given frequency.
- AI Acceleration: The Crestmont cores have a new AI accelerator that should improve performance in AI applications.
- Improved Branch Prediction: The Crestmont cores feature a new and improved Branch Prediction that is designed to improve performance in branch-intensive applications.
- ImprovedFeedback with Intel’s Thread Director: The Crestmont cores provide improved feedback to Intel’s Thread Director, which is designed to help assign tasks more efficiently.
The Crestmont cores feature up to 4 MB of L2 cache, 32 KB of data cache (with ECC) and 64 KB of I-cache.
The combination of e-cores with different power profiles is expected to improve the overall performance and efficiency of Meteor Lake CPUs. The low-power E-Cores can be used for simple tasks like web browsing and email, while the non-LP E-Cores can be used for more demanding tasks like gaming and video editing. In addition, the Intel 4 process node itself will lead to some nice gains in terms of overall power efficiency. Intel 4 is a 4nm process that offers higher efficiency and performance. According to ZDNet, Meteor Lake CPUs will hit the market later this year in various laptops and mobility form factors, as well as pre-installed desktop PC designs.
Source: ITHome
Kommentieren