Intel boasts 15% better performance and 30% more density with their 18A node

Intel 18A is now ready – Intel boasts significant performance and density increases with their 18A lithography node

On Intel’s website, the company has confirmed that its 18A lithography node is “ready,” with chip tape-outs happening in the first half of 2025. With its new 18A node, Intel claims to have the “first sub-2nm advance node manufactured in North America ” and boasts “industry-first” technologies like PowerVia backside-power delivery.

With their new 18A node, chips will have 30% increased transistor density and 15% more performance per watt. That’s what Intel claims with their internal testing. This is compared to Intel’s older Intel 3 (3nm) lithography node, which was used for server processors. Note that Intel’s Alder Lake and Raptor Lake CPUs use Intel’s Intel 7 lithography node.

This year, Intel plans to launch 18A “Panther Lake” processors. These processors will feature new P-core and E-core designs from Intel alongside next-gen Xe3 graphics.

Below is what Intel has to say about their new 18A lithography node.

Intel 18A Differentiation

• Up to 15% better performance per watt and 30% better chip density vs. the Intel 3 process node. The earliest available sub-2nm advanced node manufactured in North America, offering a resilient supply alternative for customers.
• Industry-first PowerVia backside-power delivery technology, improving density and cell utilization by 5 to 10 percent and reducing resistive power delivery droop, resulting in up to 4 percent ISO-power performance improvement and greatly reduced inherent resistance (IR) drop vs. front-side power designs.2
• RibbonFET gate-all-around (GAA) transistor technology, enabling precise control of electrical current. RibbonFET allows further miniaturization of chip components while reducing power leakage, a critical concern for increasingly-dense chips.
• HD MIM capacitors, significantly reducing inductive power droop, enhancing stable chip operation. This capability is crucial for modern workloads like generative AI, which require sudden and intense computational power.
• Full support for industry-standard EDA tools and reference flows, enabling a smooth transition from other technology nodes. With EDA partners providing reference flows, our customers can start designing with PowerVia ahead of other backside power solutions.
• A robust assembly of more than 35 industry-leading ecosystem partners, ranging across EDA, IP, design services, cloud services, and aerospace and defense, helping ensure broad customer enablement to further ease adoption.

(Intel’s Clearwater Forest server CPUs will use Intel 18A and Intel Foundry’s advanced packaging technologies)

18A is a pivotal node for Intel, as it returns Intel to cutting-edge silicon manufacturing status. Innovations like PowerVIA and RibbonFET transistors enable increased power efficiency, helping to elevate chip performance while keeping power levels down. Later this year, we will see what Intel can achieve with this new node. The company has claimed that Panther Lake “just raises the bar” over Lunar Lake. Will this claim prove to be true?

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