Intel Comet Lake surfaces in Linux drivers - Intel going for 10 cores for desktop procs
New pending desktop processors from Intel under codename Comet Lake-S, seem to get a maximum of 10 cores. The decacore proc will follow the Core i9 9900K, and is a modified version of the Skylake architecture.
To avoid any confusion, these are being produced at 14 nanometers. The discovery was made as some entries surfaced in Linux drivers now another infusion of Skylake architecture is mentioned for the first time. The drivers list CML processors, which is the abbreviation for Comet Lake in Intel's nomenclature. The procs get GT1 and GT2 integrated graphics units (ninth generation of Intel's integrated graphics chips) and that indicates a fourth gen Skylake architecture.
INTEL_WHL_U_GT2_IDS(&intel_coffeelake_gt2_info),
INTEL_AML_CFL_GT2_IDS(&intel_coffeelake_gt2_info),
INTEL_WHL_U_GT3_IDS(&intel_coffeelake_gt3_info),
INTEL_CML_GT1_IDS(&intel_coffeelake_gt1_info),
INTEL_CML_GT2_IDS(&intel_coffeelake_gt2_info),
INTEL_CNL_IDS(&intel_cannonlake_info),
INTEL_ICL_11_IDS(&intel_icelake_11_info){ CPUID_COMETLAKE_U_A0, "Cometlake-U A0 (6+2)" },
{ CPUID_COMETLAKE_U_K0_S0, "Cometlake-U K0/S0 (6+2)/(4+2)" },
{ CPUID_COMETLAKE_H_S_6_2_P0, "Cometlake-H/S P0 (6+2)" },
{ CPUID_COMETLAKE_H_S_10_2_P0, "Cometlake-H/S P0 (10+2)" }
The indications that desktop procs will get up to ten cores and notebooks up to six cores. Interesting is the CML-S which has a design with ten cores, ie a Decacore for desktop systems. The processor would follow the eight-core Core i9-9900K (test) and, as usual, use an optimized Skylake microarchitecture.
Comet Lake seems to be a reaction to the launch of Zen 2, aka Ryzen 3000. There are expected models with eight, twelve and sixteen cores coming towards the PC mainstream segment.
Codename | Core Generation | node | Cores + graphics | iGPU | Launch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arrandale | 1st gene | 32 nm | 2 + GT2 | Gen5.75 | 2010 |
Sandy Bridge | 2nd Gen | 32 nm | 2 + GT2 | Gen6 | 2011 |
Ivy Bridge | 3rd gene | 22 nm FinFet | 2 + GT2 | Gen7 | 2012 |
Haswell (HSW-ULT) | 4th Gen | 22 nm FinFet | 2 + GT2, 2 + GT3 | Gen7.5 | 2013 |
Broadwell (BDW-U) | 5th Gen | 14 nm FinFet | 2 + GT2, 2 + GT3 | Gen8 | 2014 |
Skylake (SKL-U) | 6th gene | 14 nm FinFet | 2 + GT2, 2 + GT3e | Gen9 | 2015 |
Kaby Lake (KBL-U) | 7th gene | 14+ nm FinFet | 2 + GT2, 2 + GT3e | Gen9.5 | 2016 |
Kaby Lake Refresh (KBL-U R) | 8th gene | 14 ++ nm FinFet | 4 + GT2, 4 + GT3e | Gen9.5 | 2017 |
Cannon Lake (CNL-U) | 8th gene | 10 nm FinFet | 2 + GT2 (deactivated) | GEN10 | 2018 |
Whiskey Lake (WHL-U) | 9th gene | 14 ++ nm FinFet | 4 + GT2 | Gen9.5 | 2018 |
Comet Lake (CML-U) | 9th gene | 14 ++ nm FinFet | 2 + GT2, 4 + GT2, 6 + GT2 | Gen9.5 | 2019 |
Ice Lake (ICL-U) | 10th gene (?) | 10+ nm FinFet | 4 + GT2 | Gen11 | 2019 |
Tiger Lake | 11th gene (?) | 10 ++ nm FinFet | ? | Xe (?) | 2020 (?) |
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Senior Member
Posts: 358
Joined: 2018-08-04
If you throw them from the roof yes.
And how your 2080ti sli works? :p
Senior Member
Posts: 358
Joined: 2018-08-04
Careful with this statement.
Remember the time when Sandy Bridge launched? Yes, everyone stated that AMD is dead.
Yet, they struggled and did their homework and Ryzen is the winning ticket. My next rig will be Matisse, thanks to them. But that doesn't make Intel dead or irrelevant.
Understand, the vast majority of people will buy Intel just for the name alone singing the Intel tune from 99's commercial. They don't have a clue what a CPU is and don't want to know. And for the same demographic, AMD runs hot and is slower, right?
Intel has enough money and brand trust still to withstand this vawe.
The main issue is how they will adapt, how well they will respond.
For clarification: I buy whatever brand gives best price/performance ratio. I own AMD and Intel and love them both. No brand loyalty, just being frank with my own pocket.
I am no one fan and agree with you to buy best price/performance radio.
I am doing the same but current intel looks like MS windows 10.
Every few monts some new security issue basicly same performance old/new gen cpu's thanks to AMD they add more cores but still cant skip from 14nm.
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Posts: 982
Joined: 2010-11-06
Intel has limited fab capacity, Making a die with no igpu limits what you can use it for.
Ie intel can sell this silicon as mobile parts instead, if they can't sell them as desktop parts.
The mobile market is both larger and more profitable than desktop, so no its not a waste of die space.
(This chip will probably end up being used for ultrabooks, more than anything else)
If they were to do what you said, they would be left with a pile of parts that nobody will use in a year when icelake is on the market, and have wasted fab time on it that could have been used for something else.
Dont they have multiple production line? Dies of different type coming out of those lines?
Senior Member
Posts: 2488
Joined: 2016-01-29
They have no extra capacity. If you were to have a choice. Produce a chip with graphics on two lines that can be sold as either mobile or desktop , or produce 2 different chips on different lines. The option with graphics on both still ends being better in this case, since the chips arent that different in size , and you can sell left overs more easily.
This is better than producing a 10 core with slightly better yields(or a chip with more cores) that you cant sell.
Edit: what is more likely however ,is that intel is replacing an existing chip with graphics , and cannot sacrifice that capacity for something without graphics.
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Joined: 2014-07-21
Take previously offered HEDT performance with slight improvements in MT/ST, sell for the same amount or more and stuck it in mainstream consumers throats as the holy grail.
Mainstream highend cpus cost the same as HEDT X299 or more(9900k vs 7820x) and same goes as the highend z390 motherboards. Why is still called "mainstream" again, is beyond me.
Talking about for the European market since the 9900k is going for ~€525+shipping on my end + €250-300 for a "good" board.
I know, I know. I'm ranting a bit and plenty can argue all the above but I will just wait to see the price of this "new" 10-core mainstream desktop cpu.
I share that thought, that price is about what I paid for the enthusiast platform when I bought my current rig, 5930K and Rampage 5 mainboard.
By that time, "mainstream" CPUs like the 4790K and a matching mainboard was significantly cheaper than right now, and it's merely two or three years difference. So while they want to give the impression that with their new, hexa and octa cores in CPUs at the top end of the "mainstream" segment, you actually get what the enthusiast platform was, at the enthusiast platform's price. They merely changed the naming scheme to bring low end enthusiast hardware to name it high end mainstream, the price is the same.