ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap

ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap

ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap

ARM has been dominant in the mobile market for quite some time, sitting at the core of most mobile phones and tablets, though so far the architecture hasn’t been able to challenge x86 in the desktop/notebook space. 

Today, ARM has revealed their first forward-looking public roadmap, showcasing the company’s expectations for their future core designs, promising not only continued improvements in computational power per watt, but performance levels that can take on Intel’s i5 series of low-power, U-series, processors. 

Starting this year, ARM plans to offer performance improvements of 15% or more per year, starting with their Cortex-A76, which takes advantage of cutting-edge 7nm process technology alongside architectural benefits, which combined are said to offer a 35% performance boost. 

  

ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap

ARM Cortex A76 cores are set to be used on products later this year, with ARM projecting that this core design can offer similar performance levels to Intel’s Core i5 7300U. 2019 will bring with it ARM’s Deimos 7nm core design, and 2020 will bring the company’s 7nm/5nm Hercules core microarchitecture, which is each designed to deliver 15% performance gains over their respective predecessors. 

With these new core designs, ARM is in a position where they could take market share from Intel within the notebook market with future Windows 10 on ARM and Chromebook notebooks, leveraging their built-in 5G modems to develop a range of “always on”/always connected devices. 
 

  
ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap  
With this announcement, ARM promises to deliver increased performance levels, support for the latest process technology and maintain their power commitments over the coming years, taking advantage of Intel’s recent stagnation in the desktop market, which is primarily due to the company’s long-delayed 10nm process node. 

The main challenge for ARM is to convince both consumers and laptop makers to adopt ARM over x86, a prospect which has only delivered failure in the past, despite continued efforts from companies like Microsoft and Qualcomm to make the change viable. Will ARM be able to take market share from Intel and AMD? 

  

ARM targets Core i5 in latest client roadmap

You can join the discussion on ARM’s plans to create laptop-class processors on the OC3D Forums.Â