Intel’s new P-Core: Lion Cove is the biggest change since Nehalem

Intel revealed its next-gen Lunar Lake mobile processor at Computex 2024, to be released this summer. It will power Copilot+ PCs with its fast NPU and is supposed to be highly power efficient, but it’s also extremely interesting because its new CPU architectures are also coming to future Arrow Lake desktop CPUs. First up, we’ll take a look at the big P-Core architecture, which represents the biggest changes in many years. Read more “Intel’s new P-Core: Lion Cove is the biggest change since Nehalem” »

800-series boards from both CPU brands coming, AMD skips 700

In recent days, reports have leaked that AMD’s new generation of processors with Zen 5 will come out in July and August (for laptops), with Intel’s new Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake processors coming out in September. But at Computex 2024, we can expect some previews from companies, and in particular, boards for these CPUs will be on display for the first time. They’ll be coming out for both Arrow Lake and Zen 5, and with new chipsets. Read more “800-series boards from both CPU brands coming, AMD skips 700” »

Intel Arrow Lake desktop CPUs: core counts, 35W TDP on most SKUs

This year should be very fruitful for processors. First AMD’s  Zen 5 in the coming months, said to be the biggest leap since the first Zen. But Intel should have a breakthrough, too: The new Arrow Lake processors with their new LGA 1851 platform and a completely changed chiplet concept. There are also new CPU cores and GPU architecture derived from Alchemist graphics as well. But will the core and thread counts somehow change as well? Read more “Intel Arrow Lake desktop CPUs: core counts, 35W TDP on most SKUs” »

Cheap Arrow Lakes: Core Ultra 5 240F to have two versions again

Intel is preparing a new generation of desktop CPUs for the second half of the year. After three Alder/Raptor Lake generations on LGA 1700, it will be an all-new Arrow Lake architecture, with Core Ultra CPUs and an all-new LGA 1851 socket. Information about the first models is starting to appear, beginning with the cheaper SKUs: the Core Ultra 5 240F, which should be the next-gen successor to the popular cheap Core i5 ships. Read more “Cheap Arrow Lakes: Core Ultra 5 240F to have two versions again” »

Next-gen Xeon 6 has 128 Meteor Lake P-Cores and 500W TDP

We recently mused that Intel could catch up, if not overtake AMD in iGPU performance, but now there’s information suggesting upcoming Intel Xeon processors could close the gap with AMD in servers. In fact, the “Granite Rapids” processors appear to eliminate AMD Epyc processors’ long-standing lead in core count and will bring as many as 128 cores. However, these will probably use the not-so-successful Meteor Lake microarchitecture… Read more “Next-gen Xeon 6 has 128 Meteor Lake P-Cores and 500W TDP” »

Unstable Raptor Lake CPUs on the rise, Intel analyzes the issue

We recently reported on Intel Raptor Lake processors stability issues in games. Reports of crashes often accompanied by misleading messages about lack of video memory don’t seem to be subsiding, but rather multiplying, as do the number of games in which these problems are reported. Intel has not yet taken an official position on the matter, but is analyzing the problem. It is perhaps the biggest such issue with Intel processors in recent times. Read more “Unstable Raptor Lake CPUs on the rise, Intel analyzes the issue” »

Breaking records on an Asus mobo: 9.1 GHz with a Core i9-14900KS

An experienced group of extreme overclockers gathered around Intel’s latest and most powerful desktop processor (Core i9-14900KS) and managed to do unprecedented things. Namely, to reach over 9 GHz on the cores of this processor. That’s a high enough clock speed to break several world records in terms of speed measurements. In this short report, you will find what exactly was achieved. Read more “Breaking records on an Asus mobo: 9.1 GHz with a Core i9-14900KS” »

Intel announces 1.4nm process, first node with high-NA technology

This year, Intel is expected to complete its 2nm and 1.8nm production nodes (designated Intel 20A and Intel 18A) in culmination of their plan to develop five nodes (Intel 7, 4, 3, 20A and 18A) in four years and catch up with the technological lead of TSMC. Now, the company has revealed the next step that will come after this cycle, and a roadmap for enhanced nodes, reminiscent of the plus sign suffixes familiar from 14nm node era. Read more “Intel announces 1.4nm process, first node with high-NA technology” »

The Core i5-14400F analysis is complete. Rare stepping (C0) tested

For completeness of Intel Core i5-14400F processor tests we add the results of its second stepping. We’ve already tested the B0 variant, now it’s time for the C0. Its availability in stores is, at least at the moment, considerably worse and the question arises whether it is worth it at all. Is there any point in aiming for stepping C0 or is B0 also “okay”? Or does it “not matter” (what you get in the shopping lottery)? Read more “The Core i5-14400F analysis is complete. Rare stepping (C0) tested” »

Intel Core i3-14100F: Four cores whipped to the max

It’s the fastest Core i3 yet, but it’s also the hungriest. The 14100F’s (Raptor Lake Refresh) biggest competition in its own ranks is in the form of older models (13100F and 12100F). These are a bit slower, but lower-power. The “better” choice depends on what holds more weight on your scales. Maybe it will be that record-breaking speed? In this class (Core i3), power consumption is always relatively low. Read more “Intel Core i3-14100F: Four cores whipped to the max” »

Microsoft tightens Windows 11 requirements, breaks all Core 2 PCs

Windows 11 came out with fairly strict hardware requirements, causing worries with mandatory TPM2 for a while, for example. It also officially supports only a very limited list of new processors, with the vague threat that future updates may not work on older ones. Now Microsoft has quietly tightened the screws. Fortunately, it is not going to enforce this whitelist, but the system will stop working on a number of older processors. Read more “Microsoft tightens Windows 11 requirements, breaks all Core 2 PCs” »

Non-hybrid Intel gaming CPU? Bartlett Lake to have 12 big cores

Although releasing a fresh LGA 1851 desktop platform with brand new Arrow Lake processors this year, news are coming that Intel also plans another refresh of Raptor Lake processors as a plan B. But these chips, called Bartlett Lake, may yet be more interesting than one would expect. In fact, they might feature an entirely new, more powerful chip without E-Cores aimed at gaming performance, that would still run on the LGA 1700 socket. Read more “Non-hybrid Intel gaming CPU? Bartlett Lake to have 12 big cores” »

Arrow Lake CPU spotted. Missing HT and AVX-512 confirmed

Couple days ago, documents leaked on Arrow Lake-S processors and Generation 800 chipsets – Intel’s next-gen desktop platform with the new LGA 1851 socket, due out in the second half of the year. Besides the things we already analysed, those documents also indicate that Arrow Lake P-cores have only one thread. This has now been confirmed by a log from testing a sample of this CPU. After 22 years, Intel processors are dropping HT. Read more “Arrow Lake CPU spotted. Missing HT and AVX-512 confirmed” »

Arc A580’s “Power Saving Mode” doesn’t bring only benefits

One of the negatives of Intel Arc graphics cards is their high idle power consumption. Competing solutions from a similar class are, in short, significantly less power hungry. To some extent, the consumption of Arc graphics cards can also be reduced in a very simple way. However, the latter also brings unwanted side effects that are not convenient in common practice and the whole thing is likely to be discarded because of them. Read more “Arc A580’s “Power Saving Mode” doesn’t bring only benefits” »

Best price/gaming performance ratio? Sparkle Arc A580 Orc

AMD and Nvidia let the cheap graphics card segment “deteriorate” so much that Intel took advantage of it quite elegantly. The latest Arc A580 in the Sparkle (Orc) design has a lot of imperfections that you might not get over, but at the same time it has settled into the top spot when it comes to price/performance ratio in gaming. With this primacy, it profiles itself as one of the leading adepts into low-budget builds. Read more “Best price/gaming performance ratio? Sparkle Arc A580 Orc” »