Initially reserved for the market laptopthe new ones processors Intel Meteor Lake are blowing the winds of change.
Intel has been talking to us about Meteor Lake for several months (years?) now. At least two generations that we are timidly observing as the Alder Lake range evolves while awaiting the arrival of this little revolution.
Meteor Lake is today made official and presented in detail by Intel, which notably mentions the release of no less than 11 references ranging from the small Core Ultra 5 125U to the mazy Core Ultra 9 185H.
Foveros 3D to go further than chiplets
“ Intel AI Everywhere » was the name of the conference held by the American brand to present its new generation of processors to the world. “AI everywhere”, a vast program.
Artificial intelligence may be everywhere, but Intel’s presentation was above all an opportunity to put our finger on what the new Meteor Lake range will really be, which not only introduces the new nomenclature of the brand’s processors, but also innovates on the engraving process (Intel 4) and manufacturing side with the assembly of several die of different technologies via the Foveros 3D technique.
To put it simply, thanks to Foveros 3D, Intel is able to take the chiplet structure dear to AMD – but not only – to go a little further and adjust the components assembled on the substrate according to needs, and this, little by little. imports the technology of these die.
On this subject, we invite you to (re)take a look at the report that we had the opportunity to do at the Intel factory in Penang, Malaysia. A factory entirely focused on Foveros and CPU packaging.
Intel details the main characteristics of its processors © Intel
P-Cores, E-Cores and LP-E-Cores
At the center of Meteor Lake processors is what Intel calls the Compute Tile. A unit which takes care of the heaviest calculations and which benefits from the classic duo of high-performance cores (Redwood Cove) and efficient cores (Crestmont).
The Compute Tile and its two types of cores © Intel
Besides this, as if to take care of all the essential operations, Intel has imagined the SoC Tile. This has its own cores, two LP-E-Cores which, therefore, will consume even less energy than the efficient cores, in English the E-ores. It is particularly at this level that Foveros 3D intervenes since if the Compute Tile is engraved in Intel 4, this SoC Tile is entrusted to TSMC and its radically different N6 process.
The third “tile” of a Meteor Lake processor, the Graphics Tile brings in a third engraving process, TSMC’s N5. We immediately better understand the importance of Foveros 3D in the eyes of Intel. The graphics part of Meteor Lake processors is based on the ARC architecture with, depending on the model, from 7 to 8 Xe-Cores. Please note, some Meteor Lakes do not include an ARC solution, but an aging Intel Graphics. Damage.
The ARC integrated graphics solution is a great new feature © Intel
When checking the Meteor Lake CPU embedded in the PC of your dreams, you will therefore need to pay close attention to the nature of the graphics part: Intel ARC or Intel Graphics, it is not at all the same mayonnaise.
Eleven Core Ultra references
Finally, a fourth and final tile makes up the Meteor Lake processors, this is the I/O Extender Tile. Always engraved using the N6 process, therefore by TSMC, this one takes care of everything that is input/output.
Technical details of embedded technologies © Intel
Intel is not very talkative when it comes to this fourth utility which, it must be admitted, is not the sexiest of the lot. A batch which consists of eleven processor references. This is both a lot and a little, because Intel has accustomed us to much more massive launches with its laptop chips: it must be said that here we are only talking about two ranges (“H” and ” U”) due to the disappearance of the “P” models.
As you can see in the summary table published by Intel, these eleven processors are also an opportunity to introduce the brand’s new nomenclature with Core Ultra 5, Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9… until the release of additional ranges?
While these Core Ultra processors are only available on laptops, Intel has logically put forward its Intel EVO program which must certify the content of PCs so that the user does not have any unpleasant surprises. Of course, in the ranks for this EVO certification, we find most of Intel’s partners, whether ACER, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI or Samsung to name just a few. .
The availability ? Well, apart from the Core Ultra 5 134U, Core Ultra 7 164U and Core Ultra 9 185H processors which will only be released during the first quarter of next year, the other models are immediately on sale through machines available in most shops. All we have to do now is get our hands on a few “example” laptops to check out Meteor Lake’s performance.
Source: Intel
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