Intel Back to the Past with Chipset Return to 22nm

Intel Pushes H310 Production to Old 22nm Process

A noticeable trend over the past couple months is that Intel CPUs are edging up in price. The main cause for the brewing shortage is the delay in the new 10nm. With 10nm largely a bust, 14nm has had to take up the slack. Unfortunately, the situation is straining Intel’s 14nm supply. In a new effort to reduce the demands on 14nm, Intel is reverting to 22nm for some chipsets. The latest reports indicate that the H310 chipset will be getting a 22nm twin.

Since it’s launch, the H310 chipset has a been a bit tough to find at times. Since moving the latest chipsets to 14nm, Intel hasn’t quite been able to keep up the supply all the time. The core issue is the delays with 10nm CPUs. Things backed up when the chipsets moved to 14nm before the CPUs left to 10nm. By moving the H310 production to 22nm, it should free up 14nm production for CPUs and higher end chipsets. It also restores the balance of having chipsets a node higher than the CPUs.

22nm Chipset Will Be H310C/R2.0

From a leaked picture, the new revision of the H310 on 22nm is quite a bit bigger than the 14nm counterpart. However, it should functionally be the same. After all, it is no different than the earlier LGA 1151 chipsets made on 22nm. The only difference is likely a very marginal power draw increase. Reports indicate that the new 22nm twin will have an H310C or H310 R2.0 indicator in its title. While H310C is expected to support Windows 7, that is likely due to drivers rather than a move to 22nm.

With this change, Intel should be in a better supply condition. Since chipsets, especially budget ones are very low margin, Intel doesn’t lose much. The 22nm node is also very mature so the high yields will make it easy for the company. This may allow the company to avoid an embarrassing deal rumoured to be in the works with TSMC. For now, it seems, the crisis has been postponed until perhaps Whiskey Lake when the ever larger CPUs place more strain on 14nm.