One of probably the most important occasions of final six months in cell computing has been Intel and the launch of their disaggregated Meteor Lake SoC structure. Meteor Lake, together with the brand new Core and Core Ultra product manufacturers, heralds the daybreak of Intel’s first chiplet structure for mass-market cell units, courtesy of the Intel four node and Foveros packaging expertise.
In December final yr, Intel unveiled their premier Meteor lake-based Core Ultra H collection, with 5 SKUs starting from three with 16 CPU cores, and one other two SKUs with 14 cores. Since then, many distributors and producers have launched notebooks capitalizing on Intel’s newest multi-tiled Meteor Lake SoC structure as the center of energy and efficiency, driving their newest fashions into 2024.
Today, we’ll take our first deep dive into Meteor Lake’s efficiency with our evaluate of Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H processor. This is an upper-tier (however not flagship) Core Ultra SKU, that includes all 16(!) of Meteor Lake’s CPU cores, and is geared toward mainstream efficiency laptops. With a base TDP of 28 Watts – and a turbo TDP as excessive as 115 Watts – the 155H is meant to go in all the things from desktop alternative laptops to highly effective ultrabooks.
Which brings us to our evaluate pattern for this launch: the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405MA), a thin-and-light pocket book design that has been sampled by Intel as their launch automobile for Core Ultra. Much of the eye on this pocket book is (understandably) centered on how the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with its 6P+8E+2LP CPU core configuration and eight Arc Xe built-in graphics cores performs. As the primary brand-new shopper chip structure out of Intel since Alder Lake in 2021, Meteor Lake is a vital milestone launch for the corporate on a number of ranges.
Still, the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405MA is greater than only a vessel for Intel’s new CPU, and ASUS has outfitted it loads of options inside its glossy Ponder Blue coloured shell to make it very attention-grabbing. Included is a 14″ 2.8K (2880 x 1800) touchscreen OLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh fee, 32 GB of LPDDR5X reminiscence (soldered), and a 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD for storage, all with the purpose of manufacturing a aggressive and compelling highly-portable laptop computer.
Intel Meteor Lake SoC Architecture: A Quick Recap
Before we dive into our evaluate of the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405MA) with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H cell processor, we’ll rapidly recap what’s new with Intel’s Meteor Lake SoC. Below is an inventory of our complete and detailed commentary on Intel’s Meteor Lake SoC:
In September final yr, Intel outlined the technical specs for Meteor Lake as a part of their Innovation 2023 occasion, showcasing their intention to depart from manufacturing standard monolithic processors and as a substitute go for a multi-tiled design. This method makes use of Intel’s Foveros 3D packaging and combines totally different tiles from totally different course of nodes to create a chiplet-based CPU. As Intel has highlighted a number of occasions, Meteor Lake is an completely cell structure designed for laptops and notebooks.
The Meteor Lake SoC is inherently composed of 5 interconnected tiles – compute, graphics, SoC, I/O, and base – every incorporating new developments, such because the compute tile with Redwood Cove Performance (P) cores and Crestmont Efficiency (E) cores. The Compute tile is particular as a result of it’s constructed utilizing the most recent Intel four node, designed to enhance energy and effectivity over earlier generations. A notable addition to the compute tile and the efficiency and effectivity core construction is the inclusion of two energy-efficient LP-E cores embedded inside the SoC tile, that are designed for low-intensity duties.
The SoC tile is Meteor Lake’s plexus hub and, together with the I/O tile, is…
