Intel Alder Lake-S Said to Offer Twice the Performance and Launch This Year
The new generation of Intel Alder Lake-S CPUs is expected to arrive before the end of 2021. This could be quite an event, because the new CPUs not only offer much better performance, but also support DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 and departure from the 14 nm process.
- Support for DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 data bus;
- 10nm lithography (desktop) and up to twice the multi-threading performance;
- Hybrid architecture based on Golden Cove and Gracemont cores;
- Intel is planning a November 2021 release, according to a leak.
Citing a news item on WCCFtech, we can most likely mark November 2021 on the calendar as the time of introduction of Intel's new 12th generation of processors, called Alder Lake-S. Although we should remember to treat this information as a leak for now. The new microchips are to focus on 10nm process for desktops, which means moving away from 14nm lithography. It also means, very importantly, introduction of DDR5 (and LPDDR5) memory support and PCIe 5.0 bus.
Enthusiasts of faster memory will initially have only Intel chips to choose from, as AMD will probably introduce DDR5 support later. However, it should be honestly admitted that only the better motherboard models will suport such memory, the cheaper and more popular ones will remain with DDR4 (Alder Lake-S is backward compatible).
The 12th generation processors will have a hybrid architecture, combining high-power cores (Golden Cove - x86) with smaller, performance-oriented cores (Gracemont - Atom). The most powerful models are expected to have 16 cores and up to 24 threads (likely 8+8 core configuration). Performance is estimated to be 20% higher for single core and up to double for multi-threaded operations.
Intel likes to introduce new sockets, so with such a big change it couldn't be any different. Alder Lake-S processors will use the LGA 1700 socket, developed for the next generation. It will measure 37.5mm x 45mm, which means it's rectangular in shape and cooling kits will have to be designed specifically for the new Intel processors.
