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?

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