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Raptor Lake Leaks + Intel 4 developments

Well, I'm just pointing out that they've already released their first 7nm chip this year (apparently Intel 4), called the Loihi 2. But what we don't know yet is the yields of Intel 4 with other chips.
 
There seems to be some kind of confirmation bias going on, e.g. lots of people believing that Raptor Lake has been confirmed + will have a really awesome spec etc.
 
Well, Intel hasn't said much about 7nm products yet, so probably not in 2022. What I speculated about a couple of days ago is likely to be incorrect, unfortunately.

The CEO said Meteor Lake is their 7nm product in a recent earnings call. What's interesting, is that investors don't appear to be asking any questions about new products in 2022, it's possible that there aren't any planned. I think Intel is still congratulating themselves for finally releasing a good product (Alder Lake) on a new fabrication technology. The CEO said the yields were now 'good' for 10nm CPUs, so I suppose Intel will focus on producing as many Alder Lake mobile and desktop CPUs as possible in 2022.

As far as I can tell, the only person who originally claimed that Rocket Lake was planned for 2022, was Moore's Law is Dead.
 
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Are you sure that document confirms that 'Rocket Lake S' is actually going to be released, and is planned for 2022?

Another possibility is that it may not release until 2023, perhaps alongside Meteor Lake, or just before 7nm CPUs release. So, it could allow people to upgrade their CPU on existing Alder Lake boards, without needing to buy a new motherboard (considering Meteor Lake is a new architecture, it seems unlikely to be supported on current Z690 boards).

New CEO, so not necessarily the same old Intel, that must release new generations CPUs every year, come what may.
 
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Unfortunately, I think Meteor Lake / 7nm and Zen 4 desktop CPUs will both release in 2023. There should be some Zen 4 server CPUs in 2022 though.

In 2022, Zen 3 + V-Cache will be a nice upgrade for people with recent AM4 boards.

Raptor Lake, as silly as it might sound, it could be 2023 for that as well. Intel got lots of Alder Lake CPUs to sell!
 
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Didn't Intel drop loads of hints / previews regarding Alder Lake well before it's release though? There were some leaked die shots of Alder Lake in 2020.

Where's all the usual noise Intel makes regarding a new product?

Tbf though nothing was officially confirmed about Alder Lake until CES, in January 2021, "Preview of Next-Generation “Rocket Lake” and “Alder Lake” Technologies". Link here:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...21-four-new-processor-families.html#gs.i9i27e

So, maybe they will announce something at CES, next January. Or not :D
 
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That's interesting. Intel does seem quite confident about Meteor Lake so far (enough to set their schedule for 2023). The prototype they announced recently I think was specced as a mobile CPU.
 
It's certainly not worth 'getting a stiffy for' another 8 CPU cores that perform like lower clocked 10th generation Intel cores.

If they can squeeze out a bit more power efficiency, I'd have thought another 2/4 performance focused cores would impress reviewers and customers much more. Or just a large boost to L3 cache instead of E-cores.

I could be wrong, maybe Intel are only thinking about competing in multi-core performance.

If there's anything new released in 2022, perhaps it will share some features of Sapphire Rapids server CPUs.

We know Sapphire Rapids server CPUs will use 'Golden Cove' Cores like Alder Lake, so is Intel likely to put more advanced CPU cores in 'Raptor Lake' CPUs, released around the same time? I find it doubtful.

The server CPUs are scheduled to launch for Q2 2022, according to this article:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/1679...-2022-q1-for-production-q2-for-ramp-h1-launch

EDIT - couldn't Raptor Lake just be a HEDT counterpart to Alder Lake CPUs, rather than mainstream desktop parts? That would imply quad channel memory support, and presumably higher L3 cache and higher core count for some models.
 
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Does anyone else think 'Raptor Lake' might actually be a HEDT counterpart to Alder Lake CPUs, with the same 'Golden Cove' cores?

We know the Sapphire Rapids server CPUs are due for mid 2022, equipped with the same 'Golden Cove' core architecture as Alder Lake /12th gen CPUs.

In terms of the HEDT market, you'd thought a new product was long overdue, and the 10nm yields are finally looking 'good'.
 
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I think rumours have blown it out of proportion, or likely misrepresented what it is. It makes no sense to design a new core architecture, then release server processors with 'Golden Cove' cores.
 
A HEDT series would allow them to charge about £1000 or more for the top model in the series, if the 'Cascade Lake-X' series is anything to go by. That would presumably be a model with 8-16 more cores than the 12900X and with more L3 cache.

If they could even release 'Raptor Lake' as a new desktop series on LGA1700, that would prevent them from selling a HEDT series for higher prices, since the core count would likely be the same.

The interesting bit, if they might be able to forgo the 'E-cores' entirely, in favour of all 'Golden Cove' cores. Power saving cores on a HEDT series would be a bit silly :)

As far as I can tell, Sapphire Rapids server CPUs have entirely Golden Cove cores...
 
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'Raptor Lake' is probably just Golden Cove cores in a different configuration imo.

I don't see much point in another desktop series in 2022. Most of the 'Golden Cove' desktop products are still to launch in 2022, and HEDT and server CPUs. Have Intel really got enough viable silicon to do all that, and produce another desktop series too on the same 'Intel 7' Process?

It's a lot of effort for not much gain, in reality I think their plans are focused on Meteor Lake and successive CPUs.

Another important thing to note, is that Intel has said nothing about a new core technology in between 'Golden Cove' and 'Redmond Cove' (the presumed name of the Meteor Lake architecture). As some have pointed out though, there might be some changes made to Golden Cove in some Intel CPUs. I find it unlikely there would be an IPC improvement, we didn't see this with Skylake iterations.
 
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Intel hasn't mentioned continuing the use of the big.LITTLE architecture though. Sapphire Rapids and Meteor Lake aren't hybrid designs like Alder Lake.

Sorry, but I just don't buy that they have a new, improved architecture ready for 2022, besides 'Golden Cove', which is barely out the door. If Intel had one, it would be going into their server CPUs in the 2nd half of 2022.

AMD is prioritizing their most advanced architecture (Zen 4, on TSMC's 5nm fab. tech) for their servers and cloud chips in late 2022... If you look under the Wikipedia entry for the fifth Zen generation, that's all it says. Link here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_(microarchitecture)#Fifth_generation

Zen 3 with V-Cache will be AMD's next desktop CPU series in 2022, they will compete well enough with these, especially because it's an easier upgrade path for many (should be able to just fit a new CPU and boot up...).
 
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You can see why it's in Intel's interests not to deny rumours about a desktop 'Raptor Lake' CPU generation in 2022 (or even confirm any plans for 2022).

They want people to upgrade to Alder Lake, but if people knew LGA1700 motherboards are likely to be a dead end after the 12th generation, they might not be so keen, and just wait for Zen 4 and Meteor Lake desktop CPUs in 2023.

Propaganda is a hell of a drug :)
 
Yes ofc I would, if they can build better CPUs (10% IPC improvement etc), who wouldn't want that?

They aren't official roadmaps. I don't understand why some people keep claiming they are, it confuses the hell out of people. No respected website (Such as Wikipedia or Wikichip) has said anything about 'Raptor Lake', because there is no official news from Intel.

Just taking MLID's word for is just gullible (sorry if that seems rude...), he's just one guy. It doesn't matter how many times he supposedly 'has been right' in the past (or not).

Notice how none of the 'leaks' give any significant detail about the 'Raptor Cove' core architecture itself? Odd isn't it? If I was leaking info, that's where I'd start.
 
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Let's stick with what we know, Meteor Lake is scheduled for 2023. It's a new core architecture that isn't Golden Cove. Intel has confirmed servers for the same 'Intel 4' process, here:
https://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2021/10/2021-10-24-image-j.webp

No one has a clue what Intel will do beyond that, except presumably an improved 7nm CPU, based on the 'Intel 3' process. Process roadmap here:
https://images.anandtech.com/doci/16823/Intel Accelerated Briefings FINAL-page-006_575px.jpg

It's not possible to speculate on future CPUs (beyond Meteor Lake), because they haven't even got the fabrication process technology ready yet.
 
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