Zheng Zhicheng, commercial business director of Intel's business and marketing group, explained the Intel GPU D series and next-generation data center processor architecture. (Photo by reporter Lin Yiru)
[Reporter Lin Yiru/Taipei Report] Intel has expanded its advanced process product layout, introduced the 18A process into mainstream PC processors for the first time, and collaborated with TSMC (2330) to produce a new generation of Intel Core Series 3 processors (codenamed Wildcat Lake). The computing chips use Intel's 18A process, and the I/O chips are produced by TSMC (2330) 6 nanometer (N6) process. Intel reduces the cost of introducing advanced processes into the mainstream market by reducing chip area, simplifying packaging architecture and optimizing platform design, and further seizes mainstream notebook and edge computing business opportunities.
Intel announced today (10th) a new generation of processor architecture, showcasing three new architectures designed for agent-based AI and enterprise-class workloads, including Wildcat Lake, which focuses on mainstream personal computers and edge computing, the GPU D series (Crescent Island), which targets the AI inference market, and the next-generation Xeon processor Diamond Rapids. Among them, Wildcat Lake uses the Intel 18A process, combines a new generation of computing cores, low-power design and multi-chip packaging. It is also Intel's first processor to use the UCIe interface.
Intel said that in the past, mainstream processors usually used more mature processes to balance performance and cost. However, this time Wildcat Lake directly introduced the latest 18A process. The key is to streamline the computing core and functional configuration to reduce the computing chip area by 38% compared with the previous generation. The I/O chip area produced by TSMC's N6 process has also been reduced by 15%, thereby reducing the overall platform cost.
The Wildcat Lake packaging architecture has also been adjusted simultaneously, abandoning the original higher-cost Foveros package and adopting an organic substrate multi-chip package (MCP), simplifying the original three dies to two, and integrating different dies through UCIe chip interconnect technology. Intel pointed out that the new architecture can reduce the package size and reduce the motherboard area by 30%, which will help OEM manufacturers reduce product design space and reduce material costs.
In addition, memory configuration is also an important part of reducing costs. Intel has changed the memory channel from a dual-channel to a single-channel design, which can reduce the number of motherboard layers from 8 to 6 layers, while also reducing the cost of memory wiring, connectors and related components. Through various adjustments such as computing chips, I/O chips, packaging and memory configurations, the 18A advanced process has the opportunity to further expand into the price-sensitive mainstream PC market.
In terms of product performance, Intel Core Series 3 processors integrate new CPU cores, Xe3 graphics cores and NPUs to support platform AI computing performance of up to 40 TOPS, of which the NPU can reach up to 17 TOPS. Test data released by Intel shows that compared with computers five years ago, the new processor's single-thread performance has increased by up to 47%, multi-thread performance has increased by 41%, and GPU AI performance has increased by up to 2.8 times.
In addition to mainstream notebook computers, Wildcat Lake also extends its application scope to edge computing scenarios such as robots, smart buildings, point-of-sale information system (POS) terminals, and smart metering equipment. It expands the product application market by taking into account performance, AI computing power, and energy efficiency.
