Intel's global foundry operations are crucial to the company's revenue generation, and impacting any part of the supply chain directly harms the business. When explosions occurred at Fab 28 in Kiryat Gat, Israel, Intel's operations there briefly halted 10 nm node production for two weeks. During this time, the assessment of both equipment and production output is estimated to result in about $300 million of lost revenue in the upcoming Q4 2026, as well as another $300 million in Q1 2027. Just two weeks of downtime has destroyed a massive amount of 10 nm wafers that Fab 28 has been manufacturing.

Intel CFO David ZinsnerWe have been shut down for about two weeks. We feel like we are going to be starting up production here by the end of this week. While we are doing that, we are trying to assess all the wafers that are in the line and what is usable and what is not usable from those materials. This is somewhat of an early assessment, both really of 4Q and of 1Q. But I think the current thinking is that we will have about a $300 million impact to the fourth quarter. That is likely to be similar in the first quarter.

Last week, it was reported that Intel is bringing back its Core "Raptor Lake" client microarchitecture a second time under the "Raptor Lake Next" internal codename, and newer Core (non-Ultra) nomenclature, to cater to the PC crowd benefiting from its DDR4 memory backwards compatibility to save on memory costs. It turns out that the company is also bringing this second refresh to the gaming notebook segment, specifically the HX segment that uses discrete GPUs. These processors will feature Core (non-Ultra) series 2 (200 series) processor model numbering to align with Intel's new naming scheme.

Intel uses a common silicon for its desktop S-segment and the HX-segment, so the top SKU based on "Raptor Lake Next-HX" will max out the silicon, with a core-configuration of 8P+16E, with HyperThreading enabled on the P-cores, for a total logical processor count of 32. The monolithic die is built on the Intel 7 foundry node, and the lack of low-power island E-cores mean that these will be power hungry chips by contemporary standards. The HX segment calls for a processor base power of 55 W, and a three-figure maximum turbo power. For reference, the Core i9-14900HX from the "Raptor Lake Refresh" generation came with 55 W base power, and 159 W of maximum turbo power, requiring notebook OEMs to bundle power bricks with 320 W on tap, with some OEMs even including 400 W bricks.

GMKtec officially announces the launch of its latest high-performance Mini PC, powered by the 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13500H processor. Designed for users seeking a compact yet powerful desktop solution, the new Mini PC combines strong productivity performance, triple-display 4K output, advanced connectivity, and flexible storage expansion in an elegant ultra-small form factor. The new GMKtec Mini PC is now available globally with special launch pricing and limited-time discounts.

Compact Size, Powerful Performance
At the heart of the system is the Intel Core i5-13500H processor, featuring 12 cores and 16 threads with a turbo frequency up to 4.7 GHz. Built on Intel 7 process technology, the processor delivers strong multitasking capabilities and excellent energy efficiency for both professional and entertainment workloads.

Intel will continue to ensure production of its 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" desktop processors, 700-series motherboard chipset, and ensure continued availability of the Socket LGA1700 platform. In an interview with Club386, Intel's VP and GM of client segment technical marketing, Robert Hallock, said that Raptor Lake remains a big part of Intel's client segment strategy, and that these processors will continue to be "abundantly available." Hallock also hinted that Intel could get motherboard vendors to innovate boards with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory slots, so consumers can choose between the two memory types, picking cheaper DDR4 memory, and upgrading to DDR5 down the line.

"Raptor Lake is a big part of our strategy - I want to be very clear about that," says Hallock. "It's still really, really good, even with multiple generations of hardware from other vendors coming after it, so it's not going anywhere. I want people to understand that Raptor Lake will continue to be abundantly available," Hallock said. "You've also seen some new motherboard announcements that support both DDR4 and 5 on Raptor Lake, as kind of like a bridge between worlds for people," he added. "That is reflective of our overall confidence and expectations." Companies like ASRock are already innovating such boards, and we could expect more such products in 2026.

Intel's long-awaited gaming CPU king, the Core 200 "Bartlett Lake-S," is an intriguing CPU generation that isn't actually meant for gaming. The top version, the Core 9 273PQE, is a 12-core, 24-thread processor launched exclusively for commercial and industrial PC OEM markets as an edge/embedded design, and it's not available for the DIY PC crowd. Intel didn't plan for these CPUs to run on commercial motherboard chipsets, and major motherboard manufacturers have confirmed this. However, a modder has achieved something remarkable by booting Intel's "Bartlett Lake" Core 9 273PQE processor into the Windows operating system on a standard Z790 motherboard. Previously, these chips could only reach the POST stage on consumer LGA 1700 boards, but they couldn't run a fully functioning operating system.

Built on the Intel 7 node and designed for Socket LGA1700, "Bartlett Lake" is a non-hybrid chip featuring up to 12 "Raptor Cove" P-cores without any E-core clusters. It was not intended to be compatible with consumer Intel Z790 chipset motherboards. However, main issue was never the socket itself. "Bartlett Lake" shares the same physical LGA 1700 layout as Intel's "Raptor Lake" chips, but that doesn't automatically make it compatible with consumer boards. Typically, the absence of official BIOS and microcode support prevents proper CPU initialization. Earlier attempts usually resulted in startup failures, blank screens, or error codes before progressing further. This recent success changes that narrative. By modifying the motherboard firmware to accept the processor during early boot, the modder overcame the hurdles that had previously caused failures. Once the system accepted the chip at initialization, Windows loaded successfully.

Intel Core 200 "Bartlett Lake" is probably the most interesting processor gamers can't buy—built on the Intel 7 node and designed for Socket LGA1700, "Bartlett Lake" is a non-Hybrid, pure P-core chip, a monolithic silicon, with 12 "Raptor Cove" P-cores, and no E-core clusters. The 12-core/24-thread chip was launched earlier this month as an exclusive for the commercial and industrial PC OEM markets, as an edge AI PC processor, it is not drop-in compatible with consumer Intel Z790 chipset motherboards, or at least that was the plan.

A motherboard UEFI firmware mod by "kryptonfly" got a consumer ASUS Z790-AYW OC motherboard to POST with an Intel Core 9 273QPE "Bartlett Lake" processor. The modder used Claude AI to mod the UEFI firmware of the board without tripping safeguards that prevent the motherboard from booting with modded firmware. The 273QPE is a 12-core/24-thread pure P-core processor with 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its uncore components and iGPU are carried over from "Raptor Lake-S." The 273QPE has a base frequency of 3.30 GHz, an all-core boost frequency of 5.30 GHz, and a single-core TVB frequency of 5.90 GHz. The chip has 125 W processor base power, and 250 W maximum turbo power. You can watch kryptonfly's firmware mod video from the source link below.

Intel used its MWC conference in Barcelona to showcase its most core-dense Xeon 6+ processor, codenamed "Clearwater Forest." As one of Intel's most complex chiplet designs, the package combines 12 compute chiplets manufactured on an Intel 18A node with three active base tiles on Intel 3 and two I/O tiles on Intel 7. In this configuration, each compute tile contains six modules of four "Darkmont" efficiency cores, providing 24 E-cores per tile and a maximum of 288 "Darkmont" E-cores on a single socket. A two-socket system, therefore, approaches 576 cores. The design connects clusters with a high-bandwidth on-chip fabric and stacks die using Foveros Direct 3D, while EMIB links connect multiple tiles in a 2.5D arrangement.

Each "Darkmont" E-core comes with a 64 KB instruction cache, a wider front end, and a larger out-of-order window to sustain more in-flight work. Execution resources and the number of execution ports have been increased to improve parallel integer and vector throughput. Physically, clusters are grouped in four-core units sharing about 4 MB of L2 cache per group, and the package-level last-level cache can exceed a gigabyte, with about 1,152 MB of combined last-level cache across the package. "Clearwater Forest" supports the existing Xeon server platform socket, 12 memory channels, and broad I/O, including 96 PCIe 5.0 lanes and 64 CXL 2.0 lanes. Memory speed targets push toward DDR5-8000.

Yesterday, after the equity market closed, Intel announced its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings, along with weaker-than-expected guidance for Q1 2026. As a result, Intel's stock is anticipated to open 11% lower today. During the Q4 earnings call, Intel's CFO, David Zinsner, explained the reasons behind the reduced outlook, despite the increasing demand for Intel products. The situation arose due to hyperscalers demanding more units. Intel's discussions with these customers indicated a preference for high core count solutions rather than increased unit shipments. Consequently, Intel adjusted its inventory and internal wafer supply to maintain reasonable stock levels while consistently shipping new units. However, hyperscalers have since been ordering larger quantities, leading to a temporary shortage of Xeon processors for the Data Center and AI (DCAI) group. To address this, Intel plans to redirect some resources from the Client Computing Group (CCG) to support Xeon CPU production.

Intel CFO David ZinsnerBoth (DCAI and CCG) will be down as a function of supply. Obviously, we're shifting as much as we can over to data center to meet the high demand, but we can't completely vacate the client market. So we're trying to support both as best we can and obviously work our way out of this supply issue. I do believe that the first quarter is the trough. We will improve supply in the second quarter. Part of the challenge is that in the third and fourth quarter of 2025, we lived off of supply, but we also had a reasonable chunk of finished goods inventory to also work through. Unfortunately, that is now down to kind of 40% of what it was at peak levels.

Intel is gearing up for a return to the high-end desktop (HEDT) workstation market with the launch of the "Granite Rapids-WS" Xeon processors. A well-known hardware leaker, @momomo_us, has provided a list of potential SKUs, detailing their L3 cache capacities and clock speeds. At the top of this preliminary list is a SKU labeled as the "698X," featuring 336 MB of L3 cache and a clock speed of 2.0 GHz across all cores. The lower clock speed combined with naming conventions suggesting it's a top end SKU tier suggests this should be a higher-core SKU, though this is yet to be confirmed. The Granite Rapids-WS design is based on Intel's XCC server compute dies, incorporating two compute tiles that deliver up to 86 cores with two I/O tiles for connectivity, such as PCIe and memory controllers. To exceed 86 cores, Intel would likely need to adopt the larger UCC die and a bigger package.

The specifics of memory support for the workstation SKU are still uncertain. However, the server XCC family supports DDR5-6400 and can achieve higher effective speeds with MR-DIMMs. For workstations, Intel is likely to opt for an eight-channel memory configuration to balance capacity and board complexity, although a 12-channel memory setup is also possible. The Granite Rapids-WS processors are derived from Intel's server XCC dies, allowing for a quicker path to higher core counts in workstations. These "Granite Rapids" server dies are modified with a new socket and package to suit the specific needs of workstations. Intel manufactures the I/O die for Granite Rapids on the Intel 7 node, while the compute tiles are produced using Intel 3.

Intel's Q3 earnings delivered a solid number, but a few interesting things are happening at Intel's Fabs that aren't related to any leading-edge node production. According to Intel CFO David Zinsner, "In Q3, Intel Foundry delivered Intel 10 and 7 volume above expectations," indicating that demand for Intel's products built on these nodes is significantly exceeding supply. Zinsner noted, "Capacity constraints, especially on Intel 10 and Intel 7, limited our ability to fully meet demand in Q3 for both data center and client products," suggesting strong demand for Core and Xeon processors built on these nodes.

Intel first introduced Intel 7 node, previously known as 10 nm Enhanced SuperFin, with 12th Generation "Alder Lake." However, that is now discontinued and Intel continues to ship 13th Generation "Raptor Lake" and 14th Generation Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" client CPUs on the Intel 7 node. For Xeon server chips, the company uses the Intel 7 node for the 4th Generation "Sapphire Rapids," 5th Generation "Emerald Rapids" Xeon Scalable and manufactures the I/O die for the latest "Granite Rapids" Xeon 6, where the compute dies are made on the Intel 3 node. High demand from the gaming sector for 13th and 14th Gen gaming CPUs, along with strong demand for Xeon processors, has created a manufacturing bottleneck. Intel will prioritize delivering data center products first and gaming products second.

Intel has been quietly increasing prices on its older desktop CPUs over the past few weeks, particularly affecting budget and mid-range chips that are popular among consumers. According to South Korean pricing tracker Danawa, the Core i3-14100F has risen by 15%, from 121,000 won to 140,000 won between late September and mid-October. Similarly, the Core i5-14600KF has climbed 13% to 298,000 won. In Japan, the Core i5-14400 has seen a significant 20% increase in some stores. Meanwhile, the more expensive Core i7 and i9 chips have experienced only modest price adjustments of around 5%. This indicates that Intel is not raising prices uniformly but is instead targeting the high-volume sellers that constitute the majority of their desktop sales.

The timing of these price hikes coincides with the release of Intel's current desktop "Arrow Lake" processors. The Core Ultra 200S chips were intended to showcase Intel's latest advancements, but mixed performance reviews and aggressive pricing have led many builders to continue purchasing older generations. Despite the introduction of new models, DIY builders are still opting for older generation chips, enabling Intel to achieve better margins on products manufactured using its mature Intel 7 and Intel 10 process nodes. Unlike Arrow Lake, which relies on TSMC's external foundries and limits Intel's flexibility, these older chips are entirely under Intel's control regarding production costs and pricing decisions.

Intel used Hot Chips to pull back the curtain on "Clearwater Forest", its next-generation E-core Xeon. The company has paired major architectural upgrades with its newest 18A process and advanced 3D Foveros packaging paired with EMIB. The chip replaces "Sierra Forest" and is built around the new "Darkmont" efficiency cores. Intel says Clearwater Forest will ship in a massive chiplet package using the 18A node for the compute pieces while relying on Foveros Direct 3D for stacking. The company is pitching this design as a showcase of what its foundry and packaging teams can now deliver.

Under the hood, the Darkmont E-core leans heavily on a wider, more parallel front end and a beefed-up out-of-order engine. Intel disclosed a 64 KB instruction cache per core and an expanded decoder that can handle more instructions per cycle than the previous "Crestmont" E-core design. Reorder and allocation structures have evolved, allocation units have been increased, and the out-of-order window has been enlarged to accommodate more in-flight work. Execution resources were also multiplied, with many more execution ports for integer and vector math, allowing the cores to sustain much higher parallel throughput.

Intel just reported its Q1 revenue results, and there are several interesting highlights from the earnings call. Intel Foundry, long touted for a comeback, is generating most of its revenue from a single customer, and it isn't the latest node. Intel's biggest customer is actually itself, predominantly using the "Intel 7" node (Intel's name for its 10 nm SuperFin process), which underpins the Alder Lake and Raptor Lake consumer CPU generations as well as the Sapphire Rapids Xeon server generation. As Intel ramps up 18A-node production and external clients begin testing their ASIC designs, 18A still isn't the Foundry division's primary revenue driver. Instead, demand for Intel 7 wafers is being fueled by massive orders for Intel's 13th- and 14th-generation Raptor Lake processors.

During the Q1 earnings call, Intel CFO Dave Zinsner noted, "Intel Foundry delivered revenue of $4.7 billion, up 8% sequentially on pull-ins of Intel 7 wafers and increased advanced packaging services." He also commented on the Q1 Foundry operating loss of $2.3 billion, attributing it to "startup costs associated with the ramp of products on Intel 18A." While the 18A node is gradually scaling to volume production for upcoming internal and external products, older nodes continue to fuel the revenue stream. Zinsner further confirmed that "we have a lot of important building blocks in place, including the ramp of Intel 18A in the second half of 2025 to support the launch of our first Panther Lake SKU by year-end, with additional SKUs coming in the first half of 2026."

Intel's latest AI-focused laptop processors, "Lunar Lake" and "Meteor Lake," have encountered slower-than-anticipated uptake, leading device manufacturers to increase orders for the previous-generation "Raptor Lake" chips. As a result, Intel 7 manufacturing lines, originally intended to scale up production of its newest AI-ready CPUs and transition to newer nodes, are now running at full capacity on "Raptor Lake" output, limiting the availability of both the new and legacy models. In its first-quarter 2025 financial report, Intel recorded revenue of $12.7 billion, essentially flat year-over-year, and a net loss of $821 million. The results fell short of the industry's expectations, and the company's stock declined by more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Management attributed the shortfall to cautious buying patterns among OEMs, who seek to manage inventory in light of ongoing US-China tariff discussions, and to consumer hesitancy to pay higher prices for AI-enabled features that are still emerging in mainstream applications. CEO Lip-Bu Tan outlined plans to reduce operating expenses by $500 million and lower capital expenditures by approximately $2 billion to address these challenges in 2025. He also confirmed that workforce reductions are planned for the second quarter, though specific figures were not disclosed. Looking ahead, Intel intends to focus on strengthening its data-center business, where demand for Xeon processors remains robust, and to prepare for the late-2025 introduction of its Panther Lake platform. The company will also continue efforts to encourage software development that leverages on-device AI, aiming to support wider adoption of its AI-capable hardware.

As a quick follow-up to last week's "Arrow Lake-S" de-lidding by Madness727, we now have a line-up of a de-lidded Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake-S" processor placed next to a Core i9-14900K "Raptor Lake-S," and the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake-S." The tile-based "Arrow Lake-S" is visibly larger than the two, despite being made on more advanced foundry nodes. Both the 8P+16E "Raptor Lake-S" and 8P+8E "Alder Lake-S" chips are built on the Intel 7 node (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin). The "Raptor Lake-S" monolithic chip comes with a die-area of 257 mm². The "Alder Lake-S" is physically smaller, at 215 mm². What sets the two apart isn't just the two additional E-core clusters on "Raptor Lake-S," but also larger caches—2 MB of L2 per P-core, increased form 1.25 MB/core, and 4 MB per E-core cluster, increased from 2 MB/cluster.

Thanks to high quality die-shots of the "Arrow Lake-S" by Madness727, we have our first die-area estimations by A Hollow Knight on Twitter. The LGA1851 fiberglass substrate has the same dimensions as the LGA1700 substrate. This is to ensure the socket retains cooler compatibility. Using geometrical measurements, the base tile of the "Arrow Lake-S" is estimated to be 300.9 mm² in area. The base-tile is a more suitable guideline for "die-area," since Intel uses filler tiles to ensure gaps in the arrangement of logic tiles are filled, and the chip aligns with the base-tile below. The base tile, built on an Intel 22 nm foundry node, serves like a silicon interposer, facilitating high-density microscopic wiring between the various logic tiles stacked on top, and an interface to the fiberglass substrate below.

Supply chain insiders have claimed that Intel is working on extending the lifespan of its LGA 1700 platform—a BenchLife report proposes that the "Bartlett Lake-S" processor family is due soon, courtesy of Team Blue's Network and Edge (NEX) business group. Only a few days ago, the rumor mill had placed "Bartlett Lake-S" CPUs in a mainstream desktop category, due to alleged connections with the Raptor Lake-S Refresh series—the former is also (supposedly) based on the Intel 7 processor process. BenchLife believes that DDR4 and DDR5 memory will be supported, but with no mention of possible ECC functionality. Confusingly, chip industry tipsters believe that the unannounced processors could be launched as 15th Gen Core parts.

BenchLife has a history of discovering and reporting on Intel product roadmaps—apparently Bartlett Lake-S can leverage the same core configurations as seen on Raptor Lake-S; namely 8 Raptor Cove P-Cores and 16 Gracemont E-Cores. An insider source claims that a new pure P-Core-only design could exist, sporting up to twelve Raptor Cove units. According to a leaked Bartlett Lake-S series specification sheet: "the iGPU part will use (existing) Intel Xe architecture, up to Intel UHD Graphics 770." The publication alludes to some type of AI performance enhancement as a distinguishing feature for Bartlett Lake-S, when lined up against 14th Gen Core desktop SKUs. Folks salivating at the prospect of a mainstream DIY launch will have to wait and see (according to BenchLife's supply chain insider): "judging from various specifications, this product belonging to the Intel NEX business group may also be decentralized to the consumer market, but the source did not make this part too clear and reserved some room for maneuver."

Intel's upcoming high-end desktop (HEDT) processor lineup for enthusiasts and prosumers is around the corner, and today, we managed to see the flagship SKU - the Xeon W9-3595X. Spotted recently on Geekbench benchmarks, this new chip packs a whopping 60 cores and 120 threads, making it Intel's highest core count HEDT offering yet. The Xeon W9-3595X is based on Intel's advanced Sapphire Rapids architecture, built using the Intel 7 process node. It succeeds the previous flagship 56-core W9-3495X, with four additional cores crammed into the new 350 Watt TDP envelope. Clock speeds have taken a slight hit to accommodate the extra cores, with the maximum turbo frequency lowered from 4.8 GHz on the 3495X to 4.6 GHz on the new 3595X.

However, with more cores, the 3595X should still offer a significant multi-threaded performance uplift for heavily parallel workloads. The Xeon W9-3595X will drop into existing LGA-4677 motherboards, like the ASUS PRO WS 790-ACE, after a BIOS update. It features 112 MB of L3 cache, 120 MB of L2 cache (2 MB per core), and continues Intel's push towards higher core counts for enthusiasts, content creators, and workstation users who need maximum multi-threaded horsepower. Pricing and availability details remain unannounced as of now. But with an appearance on public databases, an official launch of the 60-core HEDT juggernaut seems imminent. These new Sapphire Rapids SKUs will likely have extra AI features, like dedicated AI acceleration engines, in the same manner that server-class SKUs do.

Intel today concluded its client-segment processor launch series with the introduction of the new 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" desktop processor family with 65 W (non-K) models. These would fill the gaps between the various unlocked "K" 125 W SKUs Intel launched in October 2023. All processor models in the series come with base power values of 65 W, with maximum turbo power ranging between 110 W for the Core i3 4P+0E processors, to roughly 154 W for the Core i5 6P+8E processors, to 220 W for the Core i7 8P+12E processors, and as high as 225 W for the top Core i9 8P+16E models.

The Core i9-14900 and i9-14900F offer a maximum P-core boost frequency in line with their K and KF counterparts, of 6.00 GHz, although their base frequency is lowered in line with their reduced base power. The Core i7-14700 and i7-14700F tick at speeds of up to 5.60 GHz. The Core i9 and Core i7 series processor models make use of the "Raptor Lake Refresh" silicon that has 2 MB of L2 cache per P-core, 4 MB of L2 cache per E-core cluster, and up to 36 MB of L3 cache; while the 65 W Core i5 series is based on the smaller silicon that has 1.25 MB of L2 cache per P-core, 2 MB of L2 cache per E-core cluster, and up to 30 MB of L3 cache.

Intel's current generation mobile processor product stack is vast, to say the least. In Q4-2023, the company launched its Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processors spanning the U-segment (7 W to 28 W), and H-segment (35 W to 45 W). Today, the company capped the upper end of the stack with the 14th Gen Core HX-series mobile processors based on "Raptor Lake Refresh," which dial up core counts to 8P+16E. And now, the company is adding more choice to the U-segment with the Core Processor Series 1, based on a lower core-count variant of the "Raptor Lake Refresh" architecture.

The Core Processor Series 1 follows the same nomenclature as the Core Ultra, where the "Ultra" denotes the latest "Meteor Lake" architecture. Processor model numbering and case badges are similar between Core Processor Series 1 and Core Ultra, except the lack of the "Ultra" brand extension. These chips are built on the monolithic "Raptor Lake Refresh" dies on the Intel 7 foundry node, and lack innovations such as the Low-power Island cores, 3D Performance Hybrid architecture, the all important AI Boost and on-silicon NPU; as well as that 2x faster Arc Xe-LPG integrated graphics, but use existing combinations of "Raptor Cove" and "Gracemont" CPU cores, along with older Xe-LP graphics with up to 96 EU; and a mostly similar I/O.

Intel today announced the release of its 14th Gen Core HX series "Raptor Lake Refresh" mobile processors. Processor models from this series are supposed to cap off the upper end of Intel's mobile processor portfolio. Although Intel released the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processors late last year, those chips cover the U-segment, and H-segment (ultraportable, thin-and-light, and mainstream); with the fastest model being the Core Ultra 165H, which caps out at 6P+8E+2LP. The HX segment, which started out as enthusiast-class, broadened in scope over the years to cover the bulky gaming notebooks and portable workstations. These chips typically have a power rating of 55 W. All chips have maximum turbo power rating of 157 W. Intel is tapping into its "Raptor Lake Refresh" silicon to carve out these processors. This is a monolithic chip built on the Intel 7 process, and its package is a multi-chip module with an on-package PCH.

The lineup begins with the Core i9-14900HX, which maxes out the "Raptor Lake Refresh" silicon, with an 8P+16E core-count, with 2 MB of L2 cache per P-core, 4 MB of L2 cache per E-core cluster, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. The processor's full I/O is wired out, including support for dual-channel DDR5 (SO-DIMMs only), a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 connection for discrete GPUs, a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 connection for a CPU-attached M.2 NVMe SSD, and DMI 4.0 x8 link between the processor die and the PCH die. This PCH puts out up to 16 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, besides up to 12 Gen 3 lanes, which notebook designers can combine with discrete Thunderbolt 4 controllers, and the likes. You can expect Wi-Fi 7 to be prevalent in this crop of premium gaming notebooks. The i9-14900HX features a P-core maximum boost frequency of 5.80 GHz, and an E-core boost frequency of 4.10 GHz.

Intel at the 2023 InnovatiON event surprised audiences with a live demo of a reference notebook powered by a Core "Lunar Lake" processor. What's surprising about this is that "Lunar Lake" won't come out until 2025 (at least), and succeeds not just the upcoming "Meteor Lake" architecture, but also its succeeding "Arrow Lake," which debuts in 2024. Intel is expected to debut "Meteor Lake" some time later this year. What's also surprising is that Intel has proven that the Intel 18A foundry node works. The Compute tile of "Lunar Lake" is expected to be based on Intel 18A, which is four generations ahead of the current Intel 7, which will be succeeded by Intel 4, Intel 3, and Intel 20A along the way.

The demo focused on the generative AI capabilities of Intel's third generation NPU, the hardware backend of AI Boost. Using a local session of a tool similar to Stable Diffusion, the processor was made to generate the image of a giraffe wearing a hat; and a GPT program was made to pen the lyrics of a song in the genre of Taylor Swift from scratch. Both tasks were completed on stage using the chip's NPU, and in timeframes you'd normally expect from discrete AI accelerators or cloud-based services.

To address customers' growing needs, Intel expanded its Intel Agilex FPGA portfolio and broadened its Programmable Solutions Group (PSG) offerings to handle the increased demand for customized workloads, including enhanced AI capabilities, and to provide lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and more complete solutions. These new products and technologies will be the focus of Intel's FPGA Technology Day (IFTD) on Sept. 18, where hardware engineers, software developers and system architects can interact with Intel and partner experts.

FPGAs play an important role in Intel's portfolio by offering flexible and customizable platform capabilities for demanding applications and workloads. Intel FPGAs solve customer challenges from cloud to edge with AI capabilities across silicon, IP and software. Intel's latest announcements illustrate how the company's increased investment in its FPGA portfolio is unfolding. So far in 2023, Intel has released 11 of 15 expected new products - more new product introductions than ever in Intel's FPGA business. As disclosed in its second quarter 2023 earnings call, Intel reported that its PSG business unit delivered 35% revenue growth year-over-year, marking the third consecutive quarter of record revenue.

Intel is giving its "Raptor Lake" client processor architecture an update in the second half of 2023, called simply "Raptor Lake Refresh." When we first heard about this development back in December 2022, there were two theories on how Intel could name these processors. The first one suggested that it would take the same path as "Coffee Lake Refresh" (9th Gen Core), and give "Raptor Lake Refresh" a whole new generational number scheme (14th Gen Core); while the other held that it would try to carve out new processor model numbers within the 13th Gen, like it did with "Haswell Refresh" (4th Gen Core).

Channel vendors in Taiwan are being communicated that the desktop "Raptor Lake Refresh-S" and mainstream notebook "Raptor Lake Refresh-H" will be the final generation of Core i processors (to retain the current nomenclature), and will be slotted as 14th Gen Core. The top desktop SKU could be named "Core i9-14900K," for example. The ultraportable "Raptor Lake Refresh-U" will be the first generation with the new nomenclature Core branding, while "Meteor Lake" will receive the Core Ultra branding, as it has next-generation CPU cores, iGPU, and an on-package AI accelerator.

Finding itself embattled with AMD's EPYC "Genoa" processors, Intel is giving its 4th Gen Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" processor a rather quick succession in the form of the Xeon Scalable "Emerald Rapids," bound for Q4-2023 (about 8-10 months in). The new processor shares the same LGA4677 platform and infrastructure, and much of the same I/O, but brings about two key design changes that should help Intel shore up per-core performance, making it competitive to EPYC "Zen 4" processors with higher core-counts. SemiAnalysis compiled a nice overview of the changes, the two broadest points of it being—1. Intel is peddling back on the chiplet approach to high core-count CPUs, and 2., that it wants to give the memory sub-system and inter-core performance a massive performance boost using larger on-die caches.

The "Emerald Rapids" processor has just two large dies in its extreme core-count (XCC) avatar, compared to "Sapphire Rapids," which can have up to four of these. There are just three EMIB dies interconnecting these two, compared to "Sapphire Rapids," which needs as many as 10 of these to ensure direct paths among the four dies. The CPU core count itself doesn't see a notable increase. Each of the two dies on "Emerald Rapids" physically features 33 CPU cores, so a total of 66 are physically present, although one core per die is left unused for harvesting, the SemiAnalysis article notes. So the maximum core-count possible commercially is 32 cores per die, or 64 cores per socket. "Emerald Rapids" continues to be based on the Intel 7 process (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin), probably with a few architectural improvements for higher clock-speeds.

Intel Corporation today reported first-quarter 2023 financial results. "We delivered solid first-quarter results, representing steady progress with our transformation," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. "We hit key execution milestones in our data center roadmap and demonstrated the health of the process technology underpinning it. While we remain cautious on the macroeconomic outlook, we are focused on what we can control as we deliver on IDM 2.0: driving consistent execution across process and product roadmaps and advancing our foundry business to best position us to capitalize on the $1 trillion market opportunity ahead."

David Zinsner, Intel CFO, said, "We exceeded our first-quarter expectations on the top and bottom line, and continued to be disciplined on expense management as part of our commitment to drive efficiencies and cost savings. At the same time, we are prioritizing the investments needed to advance our strategy and establish an internal foundry model, one of the most consequential steps we are taking to deliver on IDM 2.0."