On the eve of IFA 2024 (September 6-9) in Berlin, Intel will hold a separate event dedicated to the launch of a new generation of mobile chips - Core Ultra 200V, codenamed Lunar Lake. According to the official announcement, the presentation will focus on performance, energy efficiency, and integrated graphics and NPU capabilities. Given that Intel's partners will also take part in the event, it is likely that user devices based on Intel Core Ultra 200V will be presented in early September. Of course, first of all, we are talking about laptops, but Lunar Lake chips will probably also be used for portable game consoles.
The Core Ultra 200V processors will be the company's most technologically advanced development in this chip class. The SoC will use productive cores with Lion Cove architecture, where Intel has abandoned support for Hyper-Threading, as well as new energy-efficient Skymont computers. The Lunar Lake processors also feature next-generation integrated graphics with the Xe2-LPG architecture, an energy-efficient derivative of Battlemag, which will be available in a discrete version only next year.
Core Ultra 200V will also be equipped with a new NPU4 unit to accelerate the processing of AI algorithms. Intel claims that the new specialized computer is capable of offering performance up to 48 TOPS. This will certainly be enough for Microsoft's Copilot+ certification.
Intel's proprietary Faveros technology is used for high-speed crystal switching. Interestingly, both silicon wafers are not directly manufactured by Intel. The TSMC N3 process (3 nm) is used for the computing tile, and the I/O chip is also "grown" by the Taiwanese company according to 6 nm standards (TSMC N6).
One of the interesting features of Lion Cove is the use of the Memory on Package (MoP) concept, which involves placing RAM chips directly on the processor substrate. This structure is not typical for mass-produced x86 chips at all. The use of LPDDR5X-8533 will certainly allow for increased bandwidth and good overall latency, which are important for unlocking the potential of integrated graphics. This layout will also improve power efficiency and allow the SoC to be used in systems with smaller designs.
Judging by the first leaked iGPU test results, Intel's new chips will be able to compete with AMD's fastest solutions, the Radeon 890M. At least 4100+ points in 3DMark Time Spy is a serious level within the class of integrated solutions. However, it is worth waiting for independent evaluations of the final products to draw final conclusions.
As for the new Core Ultra 200V series, it will include 9 models. The SoC configurations are very similar. All processors have the functional formula "4p+ 4e" with four productive cores and the same number of energy-efficient computers. Belonging to the Core Ultra 5, 7, 9 lines will be determined by the operating frequencies of the CPU/GPU, cache capacity, and energy limits. The Memory on Package (MoP) concept also requires additional differentiation depending on the memory capacity. Thus, 16GB and 32GB chips will also be labeled differently.
Overall, Core Ultra 200V looks quite promising. Obviously, this is not a replacement for the mass-market Core Ultra 100 mobile processors, but rather a certain technological offshoot. However, the real capabilities of systems based on them are really interesting because of the unusually large list of technological innovations.