The generation of processors Arrow Lake is more and more talked about, while its release is not expected, at best, before mid-2024.
For years, one of the most prominent data on processors will have been its frequency. Then there was the number of cores, and today the size of the memory cache seems to take precedence.
Gradual rise over generations
Let’s stay on relatively recent generations, let’s not even mention the case of AMD with its Ryzen X3D and their oversized L3 cache. At Intel, therefore, we are already seeing a clear upward trend.
Thus, on the Alder Lake generation, the high-performance cores make do with 1.25 MB of L2 cache, while the efficient cores have 2 MB per group of 4 cores. This situation is changing with Raptor Lake, where the L2 cache is progressing on both core types.
We end up with 2 MB per efficient core, and we observe a doubling of this cache on efficient cores. However, it remains shared, at the rate of 4 MB per group of 4 cores.
+100% cache vs. Alder Lake
Meteor Lake will therefore be the next generation of Intel processors, and it should arrive in September. There, the increase in cache seems to have stopped, at least for high-performance cores.
The latter, Redwood Coves which replace the Raptor Coves, remain at 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and we have no details for the efficient cores. On the other hand, VideoCardz relays the rumor launched by Golden Pig Upgrade on the BiliBili forums. According to the insider, it would be a question of moving to 3 MB of high-performance cache per core on Arrow Lake.
The cores in question, called Lion Cove, will be engraved with Intel’s 20A process and would sign a doubling of the L2 cache compared to the Alder Lake generation, launched 3 years earlier. Of course, we are waiting to find out if efficient hearts will benefit from such treatment.
Remember that the latest news, Arrow Lake should be released in the second half of 2024. It will be the “real” new generation desktop for Intel, Raptor Lake Refresh, scheduled for the end of 2023, being only a… refresh.
Sources: BiliBili, VideoCardz
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