The mixture of Intel’s capacity to drive 10nm product onto the cabinets coupled with silicon provide chain shortages has put into query precisely what is likely to be coming into the market later this 12 months on the consumer aspect of the enterprise. A couple of weeks in the past Intel acknowledged that throughout the corporate 5 CPU platforms can be coming to market in 2021: Rocket Lake, Jasper Lake, Ice Lake Xeon, Alder Lake, and the Tiger Lake-H sequence of processors. Tiger Lake-H at 45W+ will come to market in Q2, nevertheless AnandTech has realized and confirmed that later in 2021 Intel may even be launching a refresh of its pocket book 15-28W Tiger Lake-U processors as effectively, known as TGL-R.
The unique Tiger Lake-U household was launched in September 2020 utilizing Intel’s 10nm SuperFin manufacturing course of. The silicon design used 4 of Intel’s newest Willow Cove processor cores, with the highest 28 W mannequin providing a turbo frequency as much as 4.eight GHz and a base frequency of three.zero GHz. Tiger Lake additionally permits 96 execution items of the brand new Xe-LP graphics know-how, as much as 1350 MHz, with assist for DDR4-3200 and LPDDR4X-4266.
Technically Intel acknowledged that Tiger Lake-U additionally supported LPDDR5-5400 when the product was launched, nevertheless now we have not seen a Tiger Lake-U design with this function. A Tiger Lake-Refresh might need this key function enabled with a brand new household of processors, alongside minor frequency will increase as Intel is ready to optimize its 10nm SuperFin manufacturing course of.
During Intel’s presentation the place TGL-U refresh was talked about, it was specified that the refresh will solely apply for 15-28 W processors. Earlier this 12 months Intel launched TGL-H35, which is a deceptive title because it makes use of the U-series processors however brings them as much as 35 W (the title suggests a 45W H-series processor decreased in energy, but it surely isn’t). Going on what was introduced, these 35W variations of the U-series silicon won’t get an equal refresh, at the very least primarily based on this slide speaking particularly about 2021.
There are two methods to consider Intel launching TGL-R.
First is that Intel has already introduced that its next-generation Alder Lake processors, utilizing a Core + Atom hybrid design, will likely be popping out later this 12 months for cell and desktop. That platform would appear to learn closely from having the high-efficiency Atom cores in pocket book designs greater than a TGL refresh. It would appear odd for Intel to supply a Tiger Lake-U refresh if Alder Lake was near being prepared; and so one would possibly conclude that the cell variations of Alder Lake are extra of a late This fall dialogue.
The second is the LPDDR5 angle, assuming that’s working. Intel might now have validated the silicon for LPDDR5-5600 which could not have been potential when TGL-U was launched, or LPDDR5 availability might now be at a stage that Intel’s OEM companions can deploy it at an affordable price. A totally populated LPDDR5-5600 cell processor would allow a peak reminiscence bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, which is 75% above DDR4-3200 or 31% above LPDDR4X-4267. For graphics workloads, this may absolutely increase efficiency.
If Intel would not have LPDDR5 techniques with TGL-R, then we absolutely anticipate the brand new line of processors to solely have frequency updates.
