Intel Preparing Enlarged Haswell Chips For Extra Graphics Performance
Intel is gaining an increasing interest in developing better graphics for its new emerging product markets, Ultrabooks and the NUC (next unit of computing) are the main focuses here. The issue with Ultrabooks and the NUC is that they lack space for discrete graphics solutions yet they still need decent graphics performance to meet the ever more-demanding needs of the consumer as well as to help power higher resolution displays when they start to become more prevalent.
The solution to this? Well Intel will start churning out special variations of Haswell processors that feature extra graphics cores. These enhanced/enlarged Haswell processors are MCM (multi-chip-modules) of what is essentially two dies stuck together. The larger die is the Haswell processor itself with a smaller die that incorporates extra graphics cores and fourth level eDRAM cache. The graphics cores gets upgraded from having 20 Execution Units (EUs) to have 40 EUs – essentially double the amount of graphics processing – while the eDRAM cache should allow everything to operate faster with higher bandwidth and lower latency.
This new enlarged GT3 package from Intel is designed to rival discrete sub-20W GPUs from Nvidia and AMD. The enlarged Haswell GT3 package will have a TDP of 55W which may seem high but considering that will contain a processor and vastly improved graphics we think that’s actually pretty good. Not to mention that it will be backed by power management features that will look to cut power consumption down where ever possible.
What are your thoughts on the enlarged Haswell chips? A good idea from Intel? Ideal for mobile computing? Should they bring a similar concept to the desktop market?
Intel still doesn’t have the trust of gamers, and I certainly have my doubts, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing what performance this has. If it can beat some low level AMD and NVIDIA chips, then it will be a good thing for both Intel and consumers.
o.o last time i check everyone went intel for there gaming rig and AMD was cheap.
Didn’t phrase it well. Intel doesn’t have trust in the GPU arena. People trust AMD or NVIDIA for graphics. On the CPU front of course Intel rules. If they can nail the GPU, that would enable gaming without an extra chip.
It could be a game changer processor