INTEL has been using the same iteration of the” 14nm” FinFET process node with the Skylake Architecture for many years. Comet Lake-S was also fabbed on this “aging” process node, which has held Intel back in terms of IPC uplift and efficiency gains over AMD’s Ryzen lineup.
The Rocket lake-S desktop platform is going to be the last CPU architecture to be based on an advanced 14nm process node. Intel’s Rocket Lake will use a 14++ nm back-port of the “Willow Cove” core architecture. Intel’s Rocket Lake is going to be the desktop equivalent of Tiger Lake, just a bit more portly.
For the past 5 years or so INTEL has been relying on the same old “refined” process node without giving us any significant IPC and/or efficiency gains. Now, some new info on Intel’s next-gen CPU core µarchs has been posted by MebiuW on twitter, coming via a “Weibo” user in China. According to this new leak we get a short glimpse on Intel’s upcoming CPU architectures.
Though these IPC gain numbers/figures seem a bit vague so I suggest you take this article with a “grain of salt”. With that being said, can we now focus on this new leak/rumor ?
According to this leaked finding, “Willow Cove” core µarchitecture which will be featured on the upcoming “Tiger Lake CPUs” for the Mobility platform might bring a 1.25X or 25% IPC uplift over Skylake. For the desktop platform Intel’s “Rocket Lake-S” lineup is also rumored to feature new Willow Cove arch. So we can again expect a 25% increase in IPC with Rocket Lake-S.
The “Sunny Cove” CPU µarch which was used in ICE LAKE CPUs (mobile), already brought an average of 18% IPC improvement over Skylake. Lastly, the “Golden Cove” core architecture featured on the upcoming “Alder Lake-S” Desktop CPUs might give us 1.50X or 50% gain in IPC over the Skylake µarch.
There is also a future 2022-2033 CPU architecture codenamed as “Ocean Cove“, which might feature an 80% IPC increase over Skylake, but like mentioned before these figures are just based on rumors. Golden Cove cores would utilize 10nm++, while Ocean Cove cores would utilize the 7nm or 7nm+ process technology.
We are more interested in the next-gen DESKTOP CPU lineup which would be Rocket lake-S and Alder Lake-S respectively. The 11’th Gen Rocket Lake-S desktop CPUs are also going to be compatible with the current Z490 chipset and LGA 1200 socket motherboards.
Rocket lake-S CPUs are going to support the PCIe 4.0 standard and interface, and as per some rumors Rocket Lake -S might launch at the end of this year, or early 2021. But this places Intel’s Z490 platform longevity in a difficult position, since INTEL won’t be supporting even the LGA 1200 socket for long. LGA 1200 based motherboards are probably not going to stay for a long time, as Z490 is only expected to support Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S CPU series, while Alder Lake-S is already rumored to feature the LGA1700 socket.
Intel’s Alder Lake-S on the other hand is going to be a successor to Comet Lake-S, and will feature a new socket LGA 1700. This socket will have support for at least three generations of Intel CPUs. Most importantly, Alder Lake-S is expected to feature a new “big core / small core” architecture, featuring Golden Cove and Gracemont cores.
Alder Lake-S will be the first Intel architecture to offer ARM’s big.LITTLE approach to desktop processors. These upcoming CPUs would be featuring up to 16 cores, in which 8 would be ‘Big’, and the rest would use the ‘Small’ architecture.
According to one report it is now speculated that these architectures are Golden Cove (Willow Cove successor) and Gracement (Tremont successor) respectively. Willow Cove is expected to appear in the upcoming Rocket Lake-S series of processors.
LGA 1700 socket is getting a support for 3 generations of Intel CPUs. This is something new for INTEL because the company has been known to support a short socket lifespan till now. These rumors indicate that Intel’s LGA1700 socket will compete with AMD’s AM5 socket in terms of platform longevity.
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Competition is gooooood.
Intel’s future has been uncertain for a long time now. I hope it pans out.
The future is Ryzen.
The past, present, and the future has always been ‘Ryzen’. 😀
Lol, by the time Intel uses the 7nm node, AMD would have already been on 5nm, or even 3nm process node by 2022/2033. !
Ryzen FTW!
“There is also a future 2022-2033 CPU architecture codenamed as “Ocean Cove“, which might feature an 80% IPC increase over Skylake, but like mentioned before these figures are just based on rumors.”
Well, even if the IPC ends up half of that, it seems having gone with a 3800X last summer, will result in perfect timing. Likely will be due for an upgrade around 2022-2023. I hope Intel having its teeth kicked in by AMD, will result in a serious response by that time, and those IPC rumors may end up being fairly accurate.
I’d happily go back to Intel, if they are the best CPU for the money at that time. Or, I’d just go with another AMD, if they are still holding the crown. I have precisely zero brand loyalty.
In any case, I have absolutely no regret in going with the 3800X, and aside from possible hardware failure, I can’t see myself changing it up before 2022.
The 3800X is going to be plenty and more than enough for the next 2-3 years future PC titles, or even more, who knows ?
“” I have zero brand loyalty.””
Same here. I don’t favor any camp. I just go for the best ‘bang for buck’ product my wallet can offer.
14+++++++++++++++
Hey, you are correct about the DMI stuff, but I’m afraid Intel might go for that “big.LITTLE” approach even for the desktop platform. This rumor is based on official internal leaked documents.
But how this will work in real life remains to be seen. They won’t drop HT though. My guess is that when the PC is in idle mode, or when the load is very low, then the system might switch to the “small” gracemont cores more like.
Gonna believe it when reviewers confirm it, not before.
Those IPC numbers seem very unlikely, but if real – we can only thank AMD for that. Competition is good.
AMD said a few months ago they want to increase the IPC by at least ~15% with each new architecture revision. If Zen 3 has ~15% higher IPC than Zen 2, it means it’s all going according to plan and it might be likely a future Zen 4 will keep a similar increase… and if AMD can do it, so can Intel. Also, Intel has a lot more money for research and development, their problems with 10 nm manufacturing will not go on forever and while I do not expect another Pentium 4 – Core 2 situation, I do believe it will become very interesting on the CPU arena. Perhaps one year AMD will be on top, the other – Intel. For us, consumers, it means lower prices and a more meaningful upgrade.
I’m currently using a Ryzen CPU but I consider myself brand agnostic. If an Intel platform will offer a better price/performance ratio than an AMD offering, I will buy an Intel – and vice versa. I will, however, always root for AMD because… well, competition is good.
If Intel keeps changing chipset, support for at least three generations of Intel CPUs will become meaningless.