Intel Lakefield CPU Combines fast and economical cores
Intel has been talking about Lakefield, the processor will use different stacked CPU cores inside the package, making it a hybrid design based on Foveros technology. The processor only measures 12 by 12 mm and will get one main core and four atom cores combined with a chipset and LPDDR4X.
Intel presented the Lakefield chip at the CES 2019, it is intended for convertibles and uses a design of several vertically stacked dies in an effort to achieve performance with high efficiency in the smallest possible space. Lakefield in idle only would use 2 milliwatts.
The design consists of three parts and is strongly reminiscent of those used in smartphones, with one big difference: instead of putting memory on a die, Intel pairs two all managed by the so-called 3D Foveros packaging technology, which basically is 3D stacking to connect multiple chiplets. Intel uses an interposer, which is produced in a 22FFL process and contains I/O functions such as SATA or USB. On top of that, through-contacted (TSV) there will be a 10nm based compute die as well as the RAM controller with a 64-bit interface, and at the top then the LPDDR4X main memory as a classic PoP (Package on Package). Intel previously strictly differentiated between core and Atom processors, the Compute-Die combines these two types of x86 CPU cores; a bit like ARM's big-LITTLE methodology. A Sunny Cove core, that's the name of the architecture of the upcoming Ice Lake chips, is expected next to four Tremont cores (next-gen Atom cores). The five cores will share 4 MB of L3 cache and are tied to a Gen11 GT2 integrated graphics unit with 64 execution units.
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Kinda gets me to wonder why they didn't take these hints the first time around. ARM is successful in their market for a reason, and Intel just completely ignored all of the reasons why during their first attempt at mobile processors. I'm skeptical they actually learned and understood what they did wrong the first time.
Are the Atom cores any good, though?
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From Intel's first attempt? No, not at all. At least, they weren't any good at what they were supposed to be.
As for Lakefield, there's not enough info for anyone to make judgment.
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I dunno, I think it would most likely use up a lot of precious die space and see very little use in desktop systems. People already complain about the amount of die space that Intel's iGPUs use, saying it could be used for more cores instead. The big.LITTLE design makes sense for smartphones and tablets, which need to maximize battery life. Not so much for desktops (laptops are a different story, but laptops need to cater to desktop tasks as well).
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if it's like the 8 core one we have at work: yes it does it not so slow it was expected (

This should be nice as most user doesn't use all the core of their computer (exemple my wife use 2T at max on her 4C\8T... what a waste of money lol)
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What I don't understand is why Intel (or AMD for that matter) hasn't done this big.LITTLE-like architecture years ago. Every task is different. Some work best with long single-threaded pipelines. Some can easily make do with short pipelines at low clocks. Some don't need any advanced instruction sets at all. Others work best multi-threaded. Having a single CPU with a variety of cores that excel at different workloads would really maximize efficiency. Such a CPU wouldn't be much interest to those with more constant workloads (like workstations or servers) but it'd be great for pretty much everything else.
Both AMD and Intel (but mostly AMD) are leading us to believe that what we need is more cores, but what we really need are specialized cores. Despite what a lot of people think, many CPU-bound tasks are never going to become multi-threaded, nor should they. That's not to say having more cores is a bad thing, but rather, it's not the only thing we should be focusing on.
Kinda gets me to wonder why they didn't take these hints the first time around. ARM is successful in their market for a reason, and Intel just completely ignored all of the reasons why during their first attempt at mobile processors. I'm skeptical they actually learned and understood what they did wrong the first time.
Are they done with lakes? This a different product lineup.
Either way, funny observation.