The core architectures behind Intel’s 14th Gen Meteor Lake processors have been confirmed, spotted by @InstlatX64 over at the chipmaker’s open source database. As rumored earlier, Meteor Lake will be powered by the Redwood Cove and Crestmont core architectures. The former will succeed Golden and Raptor Cove while the latter will be the next-gen atom core after Gracemont. Expect an increased focus on the efficiency (low power) Crestmont cores with faster, wider Redwood “burst” cores. Refinement of the branch predictor and the front-end in the case of the latter are almost a given.
#Intel #MeteorLake perfmon events:https://t.co/uvP37DZTA5#Intel #MeteorLake CPUID A06Ax (#RedwoodCove + #Crestmont) confirmation:https://t.co/CfchtxWh1c https://t.co/sLSoFmGJFW pic.twitter.com/R9SmCzKrAQ
— InstLatX64 (@InstLatX64) July 21, 2022
Tom from Moore’s Law is Dead was the first to speak of Redwood Cove and Crestmont back in 2020 and has been backed up by multiple other sources ever since. The 14th Gen Meteor Lake processors will be a major step up both in terms of core architecture, process, and packaging technologies. It’ll be based on the Intel 4 process and feature a modular (tiled/chiplet) design with up to four disaggregated dies.
The iGPU die will be based on TSMC’s 3nm N3 process and boast the next-gen “tGPU” graphics engine, and some sort of integrated AI acceleration technology. Furthermore, Meteor Lake should be the first Intel family to properly leverage the power of the hybrid core architecture. Alder Lake, while impressive in its own regard, suffers from plenty of hitches, most notably higher than expected power draw and low utilization in older applications. Most of these issues should be ironed out with the Redwood Cove + Crestmont combo.
The 14th Gen Meteor Lake processors will also be the first to boast EUV lithography, bringing about a 20% improvement in performance per watt. The tapeout has already been announced, and the chips are on track for a 2023 launch, at least for the mobility offerings. Meteor Lake desktop lineup will launch alongside Arrow Lake-S sometime in 2024 and lock horns with AMD’s Zen 5-based Ryzen processors. By then, expect AMD to have one or more hybrid core processors as well.
