Intel is going through a complicated situation which means that even the technological giants are not safe from the ups and downs of the sector. After several years of absolute comfort, thanks to the failure of the modular architecture bulldozer, the arrival of the Zen was an unexpected blow for the Intel.
With the Zen architecture in AMD, they have developed a complete range of solutions that includes Ryzen processors for general use, Ryzen Mobile processors and the homonymous APUs for laptops, Threadripper processors for the HEDT market and EPYC CPUs for the professional sector.
These products can compete with the next generation of core processors not only in terms of raw performance but also in terms of efficiency and above all price, as they are much cheaper than the corresponding Intel models.
More cores and better prices
The return of AMD has brought Intel a spoon of reality that the giant of cloud in which it was, and has forced it to make major changes that have resulted in the arrival of processors for general consumption with a greater number of cores, and also in a significant drop in prices.
We have already told you this in previous news, but we must be aware that this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Intel must continue to move the chip to maintain the level and prevent AMD from positioning itself above it in the main sectors of the CPU market, and to achieve this, it must address the problems associated with the leap to the 10 nm process.
For the time being, they have no choice but to maintain the 14 nm process and continue the refinements under the “+” sign. At the moment we are going through the 14 nm++ process and with the arrival of the Core 9000, we could see the jump to the 14 nm+++ process. We do not expect any major changes at the silicon level beyond increasing the number of cores and possible security corrections to mitigate Spectre (variants 1, 2 and 3) and meltdown vulnerabilities.
AMD has made progress in the 12 nm process and expects to bring 7 nm processors to market by the end of 2019. If it achieves its goals, it will have clearly outperformed Intel, and this advantage could give it the leeway to refine its architecture and work frequencies to definitely outperform the company in terms of gross performance.
Intel’s short-term response to the Ryzen 2000 series will be in the Core 9000, a generation that will bring the first processor of the all-purpose chip giant with eight cores and sixteen threads. We have no information on the price, but it is said that it could be around EUR 450-500, and thanks to a leaked roadmap we know that it will arrive at the end of the third quarter of the year, which prompts us to think about September.
28-Core, 56-Wire Processors
Another segment where Intel needs to strengthen its product offering to compete with AMD is HEDT (High-Performance Computing). Sunnyvale completes the launch of the Threadripper 2990WX, a top model with 32 cores and 64 wires, which can operate at up to 4 GHz air-cooled thanks to its maximum TDP of 250 watts.
This processor has everything it takes to become the most powerful in its class and surpasses everything Intel currently has on the market. A few years ago it would have been crazy to think that AMD could bring more powerful, cheaper and more efficient processors than the Intel Core Extremes to the market, but the first generation of Threadrippers has proven that it is not impossible and the second generation of Threadrippers will be the dedication of Sunnyvale’s good work.
To cope with these new processors, the Santa Clara-based company will begin a renovation of its Skylake X series, which currently includes models with up to 18 cores and 36 threads. The most powerful model is expected to have 28 cores and 56 threads, although we don’t know its operating speed or TDP. However, we assume that Intel will have to adjust the frequencies to avoid temperature problems.
It will be available by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018 and will be compatible with LGA2066 (X299 chipset) motherboards.
Twin Lake has a long life, not 10 nm until 2019
The Gemini Lake platform is based on the Goldmont Plus architecture and follows the current Goldmont platform on the Apollo Lake platform. The basis for this is an architecture designed to achieve low power consumption and low processor performance.
This platform is mainly used in trays, laptops and low-cost compact PCs.
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