A Grim Outlook
Intel in its current position is not that special. The last biggest generational uplift we saw was with Alder Lake. Raptor Lake didn’t bring in much to the table. Besides, all SKUs apart from the K/KF models are just Alder Lake refreshes. AMD’s Zen4X3D will walk all over Raptor Lake promising an up to 20% performance boost over standard Zen4. One year after Zen4X3D, MLID expects Zen5 to launch along with Zen5X3D at the same time. This without a doubt spells trouble for Intel because they’ll also have to manage everything in one go. Which architecture will help Intel then? You get the picture from here, however, Intel has slightly different plans. And oh boy, they are promising if things go right. To put it shortly, Intel will be releasing its mainstream HEDT Xeon lineup next year. This will offer a variety of options to content creators without breaking the bank on a server-oriented HEDT CPU. Similarly, the IPC gains we are about to see are just insane. Intel is expected to turn things around massively in the next few years if these rumors are true. Now let’s go over Intel’s upcoming generations one by one.
Meteor Lake
The successor to Intel’s 13th gen, Meteor Lake expected to arrive possibly in Q3-Q4 2023. Initially, there was a plan for a 24-core configuration, but Intel has decided to cancel this design. Meteor Lake will now arrive with a maximum of 22 (6 Redwood Cove P-Cores + 16 Crestmont E-Cores). Intel is using the same design as their -HX mobile CPUs for the desktop lineup. Based on the Intel 4 process, these CPUs may be clocked slightly slower than the current Raptor Lake. MLID expects the IPC improvement from the 13th -> 14th gen to be 15-25% courtesy of the Redwood Cove architecture. For the efficiency cores, Crestmont (Successor to the current Gracemont) is aiming for a 15% IPC improvement. Similarly, the new Foveros disaggregated design will help Intel efficiency-wise.
LGA 1851 Socket22 Cores (6+16) | Redwood Cove/Crestmont architecture15-25% Performance Core IPC Gain15% Efficiency Core IPC GainFocus on Efficiency2023 Release DateIntel 3 Process
Arrow Lake
Intel’s 15th gen ‘Arrow Lake‘ will launch sometime in 2024 and will be fabricated on 2 different process nodes. Read more about that here. To keep things short, due to some foundry or performance-related issues Intel may use TSMC’s 3N or 3NX node for the Arrow Lake desktop lineup. Whereas, the mobile variants are still expected to be produced on Intel’s own ‘20A‘ process. The highest-end configuration we see with Arrow Lake is equal to Raptor Lake at 24 cores (8 Lion Cove Performance cores + 16 Skymont Efficiency Cores). This may seem disappointing but the aim here is efficiency with performance. Stuffing more and more cores doesn’t make sense if it costs 50% more but performs just 10% better. Although, as per MLID Intel had plans for an 8+32P Core configuration for Arrow Lake. Now for the performance metrics, Arrow Lake aims to deliver 22-34% more IPC performance than Meteor Lake. That is insane! By 2024, we can expect a 50-60% IPC boost than we currently have now. This is a larger leap than Rocket Lake -> Alder Lake.
LGA 1851 Socket 22 Cores (6+16) | Lion Cove/Skymont architecture23-34% Performance Core IPC Gain‘Solid’ Efficiency Core IPC GainImpressive Clocks2024 Release DateIntel 20A/TSMC 3N/3NX
Lunar Lake
Following Arrow Lake, Intel aims to extend its lead with Lunar Lake. This generation of Intel CPUs is aimed at ultra-low power performance leadership or the mobile market. This is equivalent to Tiger Lake which launched alongside Rocket Lake (11th gen). Packed with 8 (4 Panther Cove P-Cores + 4 Skymont/Darkmont E-Cores), it will provide excellent performance at extremely low power levels. Did I mention the IPC gains? Oh yes, Panther Lake is a massive IPC gain akin to Lion Cove which was 23-34%.
8 Cores (4+4) | Panther Cove | Darkmont/Skymont architecture23-34% Performance Core IPC GainIntel Xe2 (Battlemage Architecture)2025 Release Date
Panther Lake
Finally, we have the generation to rule them all. MLID states about this generation and I quote “Aiming for top to-bottom leadership in all sectors“. Although due to the limited information we have, take these claims with a huge grain of salt. Panther Cove as stated above is a 23-34% IPC gain over Lion Cove.
LGA 1851 Socket Panther Cove | Darkmont/Skymont architecture23-34% Performance Core IPC Gain2025-26 Release Date
Conclusion
Before we wrap things up, we cannot thank MLID enough for providing us with these leaks. Intel is aiming to put its foot on the pedal in the next few years. Aside from that, another interesting thing is that the Xeon Extreme series is being reinstated with Fishhawk Falls coming next year. This lineup is based on Intel’s Sapphire-Rapids but aimed at mainstream consumers. Source: Moore’s Law Is Dead
