Intel is set to shake things up with its upcoming Arrow Lake architecture by changing the core layout of its processors. Instead of the traditional design with two rows of primary Performance cores and multiple banks of Efficient cores, Arrow Lake could feature a new layout with four P cores surrounding two banks of four E cores. This change has been hinted at by industry insiders and could mark the first major shift in core design for Intel since Alder Lake in 2021.
Intel’s core layout has remained largely unchanged since Sandy Bridge in 2011, where cores were arranged in a row connected to a ring bus. Subsequent generations simply added more cores by lengthening the row or adding a second row. With the introduction of E cores in Alder Lake, the design was updated to include the E cores at the end of the P core rows. This layout has continued through to Raptor Lake Refresh and even in the smaller Meteor Lake Laptop CPUs.
The new Arrow Lake architecture may represent a shift towards more efficient design and improved performance. One theory is that Intel is exploring the use of Profitable Units (UK) in Arrow Lake, a concept that divides up threads based on complexity and sends them to the appropriate P or E core for processing. By implementing a block of four P cores and eight E cores, Intel could create a scalable design that can cater to different processor models.
Arrow Lake is also expected to leverage Intel’s Skymont E-core design, which boasts higher instructions per clock rates than Raptor Lake P cores. Rumors suggest that Arrow Lake may not have HyperThreading, and lower-end models may feature one or two blocks of P and E cores. This design could help differentiate lower-end models like the i7 and i5 from higher-end processors.
While the core design changes in Arrow Lake may not have a significant impact on PC gaming, they are expected to improve multi-threaded performance for content creation tasks. This is especially important as AMD prepares to launch 16-core Ryzen processors with Zen 5 technology, which are expected to set a new standard for multi-core speed.
Overall, the potential changes in Intel’s Arrow Lake architecture represent a significant departure from previous core designs and could lead to improved efficiency and performance across a range of processor models. The shift towards a new core layout is driven by the need for better scalability, efficiency, and performance in the rapidly evolving CPU market.
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https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/intels-arrow-lake-chips-could-be-using-a-brand-new-core-layout-for-the-first-time-in-years/