For new items we will come back. ©Intel
Intel is currently playing two fields when it comes to its processors. The first, which is currently attracting all the attention, is the Core Ultra line of processors featuring Meteor Lake architecture and an NPU, which are helping to fuel the euphoria for AI PCs. The second aspect is less promising, since it concerns desktop PC processors and high-performance processors for laptop PCs. The latter are now enriched with 14th generation Intel Core, while awaiting an architecture more suited to pure performance than Meteor Lake.
A simple refresh of the range with the appearance of a renaming
Thus, desktop PCs are entitled to no less than 18 references divided between versions with a thermal envelope of 65 watts, those of 35 watts (-T series) and those without integrated graphics (-F series). The new features can be counted on the fingers of one hand since the Raptor Lake architecture is renewed, with depending on the model increases in the number of E-Cores (on certain Core i7s) or an increase in operating frequencies.
Compared to the 13th generation of Intel Core processors, the generational gains should therefore be minimal, with the exception of the Core i7s which should perform better in multitasking due to the increase in the number of E-Cores. However, we will have to be vigilant about the increase in consumption, as we saw during the test of the Core i7-14700K.
Intel Core-HX for laptops
As for the -HX series, processors for high-performance laptop PCs, the range is simplified with the passage from 9 to 5 references. There is now only one Core i9 left, the 14900HX (24C/32T), which gains 200 MHz on its boost frequency and 100 MHz on its nominal frequency. The Core i7-HX retains its number of cores but gains around 3 MB in cache and a few hundred megahertz in operating frequencies. The Core i5-HX, for their part, makes do with a few additional megahertz.
There are only five Intel Cores -HX left. ©Intel
Finally, on the low-consumption processor side, Intel retains a few models equipped with the Raptor Lake architecture of the 13th generation of Core. However, they get new names, and are now called Intel Core 7 150U, 5 120U and 3 100U.
They come from the Intel Core i7-1365U, Core i5-1335U and Core i3-1315U, whose operating frequencies have been increased. They will probably be used by integrators in laptops priced below €800, with Intel Core Ultra processors equipped with the Meteor Lake architecture remaining too expensive for these purposes.
The “non-Ultra” Intel Cores are models from the 13th generation with increased frequencies. ©Intel
For 2024, Intel is forced to turn its back, whether on laptops or desktop PCs. The new Meteor Lake architecture of the Intel Core Ultra is designed for energy efficiency and is not able to replace the Intel Core 13 series -H and -HX. We will therefore have to wait for the arrival of the Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake architectures to observe real new features in these series.