Intel details “Lunar Lake” CPU advancements ahead of Computex
Intel reveals huge advancements with “Lunar Lake” ahead of Computex 2024
Ahead of Computex 2024, Intel has given us a briefing about what to expect from the company’s CPU roadmap and their upcoming Lunar Lake processors. Lunar Lake will be available in Q3 2024, targeting the low-power segment of the PC market. For higher wattage systems, Intel will be releasing Arrow Lake later this year, which targets a Q4 launch.
With Lunar Lake, Intel plans to improve its mobile processors in every conceivable way. For starters, we have new P-core and E-core architectures. Both of these changes promise users “significant IPC and Perf/W” gains. Beyond that we have a new Xe2 “Battlemage” GPU, which comes with XMX Engines for AI acceleration. Next, we have a new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that boasts 45+ TOPS of AI performance. That represents a greater than 3x NPU boost over Meteor Lake. All in all, Lunar Lake promises to deliver gains in all areas.
Expect to hear a lot about AI PCs at Computex 2024. Between its Xe2 GPU and new NPU, Lunar Lake will boast over 100 TOPS of combined AI performance across its GPU and NPU. Intel has also worked to deliver high levels of software support for its AI accelerators, with over 500 models being supported. That means that Intel’s AI performance is readily usable by consumers.
On the CPU side, Intel has also confirmed that they have a new version of Thread Director that should help Intel Lunar Lake CPUs to better utilise its P-cores and E-cores. Beyond that, Intel’s “Low Power Island”, features two times as much compute performance as Meteor Lake. That means that Intel can now deliver a lot more performance in its lowest power states.
GPU-wise, Intel has also promised users a performance boost of around 50% over Meteor Lake. That will make Intel’s Lunar Lake processors a lot stronger when used for gaming applications. This would make Lunar Lake ideal for a new MSI Claw-like PC gaming handheld.
Intel Lunar Lake Power Consumption
With Lunar Lake, Intel plans to put to rest reports that x86 processors are inefficient. When doing typical business workloads, with Intel’s example being a 3×3 Microsoft Teams Conference call, Intel claims 30% and 20% lower power draw than AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840U and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 respectively. That lowered power draw is critical for low-power, battery-constrained devices.
While Intel’s numbers sound impressive, it is worth noting that we expect to see new CPUs from Intel’s competitors at Computex. This means that Intel’s data here could be very out of date by the time Computex ends. I’d be shocked if AMD didn’t showcase new Zen 5 based CPUs at the event.
Al-in-all, Intel appears to be taking a major step forward with Lunar Lake. AI performance is receiving a huge boost with both NPU and GPU improvements. Additionally, raw CPU performance should also see a boost with Intel’s new Lion Cove and Skymont P-cores and E-cores. Power efficiency has also received a significant boost, which is something that will certainly make Intel’s new mobile CPUs more appealing.
We expect to hear a lot more about Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs in the near future. We will keep you updated with Intel’s latest Computex 2024 announcements, and what it means for PC enthusiasts.
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