In the digital world recently, the most happening thing in the tech community should be the ‘Technology Feast’ in the smartphone industry.
However, just when everyone’s attention was being drawn by the new smartphones, Intel, next door, busy with computer processors, recently made a big splash.
Also, this month, at the Intel Innovation Technology Innovation Conference held in California, the vigorous 69-year-old CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, did two push-ups in front of the entire audience, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Following that, he introduced the latest Xeon product line, Intel 4 process technology, and, most relevant to us, the upcoming Meteor Lake Core i9 Ultra processor architecture that will be integrated into laptop platforms.
Tony is particularly excited to discuss the last one today because with the release of this new architecture, the battery life of Windows laptops may very well match Apple’s from now on.
In Intel’s own words, this architecture represents the most significant processor architecture change in Intel’s 40-year history.
Let’s continue.
You may still remember that Intel made a change to the processor architecture back in the 12th generation.
They divided numerous identical processor cores into a mixed architecture of ‘performance cores‘ and ‘efficiency cores,’ with one being larger and the other smaller.
They used it for barely two generations, and they’re at it again. Is it like the toothpaste company changing their age-old toothpaste formula?
Well, yes and no.
The last time Intel made changes was about dividing cores into more (E-cores) and more powerful (P-cores) cores, tailored for different software usage.
This time around, they’ve completely deconstructed and restructured things. Instead of building the processor’s basic framework around traditional computing cores (CPU), they’ve divided it based on functions. This further enhances computer performance and reduces power consumption.
It might sound a bit unclear, but DiskMFR can clarify things for you.
Previously, Intel talked about creating a heterogeneous mixed architecture, which essentially means stuffing two different types of cores into the processor: one for energy efficiency and one for performance.
The efficiency cores are like regular workers – there are many of them, and they do the job without much effort. The performance cores, on the other hand, are like ultimate workers with livers all over their bodies, capable of handling tough and challenging tasks. They can roll up their sleeves and get to work anytime.
But these were just changes in core sizes; fundamentally, it was still a single processor.
That’s going to change in the future.
Intel’s next idea is to transform the processor from being a ‘single processor’ into a ‘modular island‘ that can be viewed separately.
This is what Intel calls the Meteor Lake Separable Modular Architecture.
By this point, some of you might still be a bit puzzled – that’s okay…
To make sure everyone understands what Meteor Lake is all about, Intel held a presentation that lasted for over four hours. They really wanted to make sure they got the message across.
But before we move on, Tony will take a few minutes to explain this new architecture in a way that even a grade schooler could understand.
Alright, let’s get started!
First, let’s talk about the basics: In theory, Intel has divided the future processor chips into four functional modules:
- Compute Module
- SoC Module
- Graphics Module
- IO Module
The Compute Module corresponds to the traditional CPU, and inside it are the ‘heterogeneous-sized cores’ we mentioned earlier – the E-cores and P-cores.
But the real star of this new architecture is the SoC Module underneath it.
It includes independent components like an NPU AI engine, wireless Wi-Fi controller, memory controller, media encoding/decoding processing unit, display engine, power management unit, and more.
There’s also a row of E-cores, which consume even less power than typical low-power E-cores. Intel calls this section the ‘Low Power Island.
This change is actually the most explosive aspect of Intel’s new architecture design this time.
And it is this change that might give Windows laptops a chance to surpass Apple in terms of battery life.
Here’s the deal: In the past, the circular bus in computer processors operated in a kind of ‘serial’ state.
Think of it like this: Imagine working late at the office, and you’re the only one there. But there’s only one light switch, and when you turn it on, all the lights on the entire floor come on.
For just one person, having all the lights on for the entire floor increases electricity costs.
Processors in computers work in a similar way.
When we use a computer, there are often tasks that are time-consuming but don’t require a lot of performance, like browsing the web, reading documents, watching TV shows, and movies, or listening to music.
Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is inefficient, and in the past, these lightweight tasks were indeed assigned to E-cores.
However, even though E-cores focus on energy efficiency, they still need to run on the entire processor’s computing core. For laptops, this still leads to significant power consumption.
But in Intel’s new design, opening a browser or a Word document can be handled directly by the ‘tiny cores‘ in the SoC module. The rest of the computing unit can be powered off and offline.
Playing a video or connecting an HDMI monitor – if you look closely, the SoC module also contains a ‘2D display engine,’ and the entire GPU graphics processing module next to it can be powered off and offline.
It’s like the ‘SoC module’ has become a fully independent ‘mini-processor.
This way, in a laptop usage scenario, it means significant battery savings for other software that requires performance from the computing module.
From the previous architecture with ‘big-small cores‘ to the current architecture with ‘big-small processors,’ it’s clear that Intel is really taking on power efficiency head-on.
In addition to these energy-saving innovations, Intel has also introduced some new ideas in the graphics module.
The graphics module in Meteor Lake looks quite different from traditional integrated graphics because the functions of media encoding/decoding and display engines have been offloaded to the SoC module. So, the graphics module’s primary focus now is on rendering.
This generation of Intel’s integrated GPU architecture is named Xe LPG, which can be seen as a lower-power version of the dedicated graphics series, Arc Xe HPG. It offers twice the performance per watt compared to the previous generation Xe LP.
Furthermore, technologies like ray tracing and Intel XeSS (Intel’s equivalent of DLSS) from the Arc dedicated graphics series have also been incorporated into this integrated GPU to enhance performance.
According to leaks from various sources, Intel’s latest integrated GPU chip will come in two models: 8Xe and 4Xe, and they will be allocated to different processor configurations.
It seems like Intel is directly targeting AMD’s 780M integrated graphics with this move. Tony has a feeling that the future of the portable gaming PC market is about to witness a fierce battle…
All in all, Intel has put a lot of effort into the Meteor Lake architecture, and when it comes to energy efficiency, it’s one of the most impressive processors in Intel’s history, if not the best.
Currently, this architecture is only available for mobile platforms, while desktops still use Intel 7 technology. The upcoming 14th-generation desktop processors will continue with Raptor Lake.
However, Intel has given it a new name – Raptor Lake Refresh.
But that’s a different story.
Overall, I’m quite optimistic about Intel’s upcoming Meteor Lake for the mobile platform. If the optimization is done well, there’s a real chance for Windows laptops to make a comeback in terms of battery life.
However, how well it can be optimized ultimately depends on Microsoft’s efforts…
Recommended Reading:
- Why is the 13th Gen Core CPU Carefully Considered?
- China 22nm Chip Breakthrough: 256 Cores, Aiming for 1600
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