Friday, May 26th 2017
Intel "Gemini Lake" SoC Detailed
Intel is giving final touches to its next-generation "Gemini Lake" SoC, which will be sold under the Celeron and Pentium brands, and will succeed the current-generation "Apollo Lake" SoC. Built on a refined 14 nm process, the chip features a TDP of just 6W for the mobile variant, and 10W for the SFF desktop, but boasts of improved performance-per-Watt than its predecessor, translating into direct performance gains.
To begin with, "Gemini Lake" will embed a dual-core or quad-core CPU based on Intel's "Goldmont Plus" micro-architecture. A Goldmont Plus core isn't physically different from the current-gen "Goldmont," but apparently doubles the L2 cache to 4 MB from the existing 2 MB, and takes advantage of process-level improvements to lower power-draw, which Intel is using to bump up the CPU clock speeds.
In addition to the "Goldmont Plus" CPU, "Gemini Lake" embeds a new single-channel DDR4 integrated memory controller with support for higher memory clocks, and hopefully, support for double the maximum system memory amount, which is currently capped at 8 GB for "Apollo Lake." The chip is also said to feature an integrated WLAN controller, with support for 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. It will still rely on an external radio PHY.
The second most important component on the "Gemini Lake" silicon, besides the CPU, is the integrated GPU, which is based on Intel Gen9 architecture, and will feature up to 18 execution units (EUs). This GPU will be tuned for high-resolution displays, and will feature HDMI 2.0 outputs.
Intel could formally announce "Gemini Lake" in Q4 2017, according to a leaked company roadmap.
Source:
FanlessTech
To begin with, "Gemini Lake" will embed a dual-core or quad-core CPU based on Intel's "Goldmont Plus" micro-architecture. A Goldmont Plus core isn't physically different from the current-gen "Goldmont," but apparently doubles the L2 cache to 4 MB from the existing 2 MB, and takes advantage of process-level improvements to lower power-draw, which Intel is using to bump up the CPU clock speeds.
The second most important component on the "Gemini Lake" silicon, besides the CPU, is the integrated GPU, which is based on Intel Gen9 architecture, and will feature up to 18 execution units (EUs). This GPU will be tuned for high-resolution displays, and will feature HDMI 2.0 outputs.
Intel could formally announce "Gemini Lake" in Q4 2017, according to a leaked company roadmap.
8 Comments on Intel "Gemini Lake" SoC Detailed
I wonder if AMD is even considering competing in this segment. From what we've seen lately, they might have decided to build their whole lineup around Zen cores. A mistake IMO, but who am I to judge? :)
For the second part, I believe that the majority of products using these SoC will benefit from having it integrated. I also believe they won't be at a disadvantage if they are locked into a wireless standard. Some of us here like to use tinker boards and care about every little detail (myself included) but most sales will be turnkey products.
Like, if I had an IoT project in the office, I'm going to compare products that fit my requirements. How the wireless is implemented is not really important. After 3-5 years, no one is going to upgrade those units to a faster standard. The SoC is too old, the flash memory is giving SMART warnings, and the wireless is now irrelevant. Time to evaluate current products which are faster and/or more efficient to replace the ones in use.
If I wanted to do an IoT project at home, then I care about how it's implemented (maybe). I might be the type of person that appreciates an empty M.2/mPCIe slot so that I can explicitly choose my wireless solution or leave it empty for wired Ethernet.
To Intel? More profit (market share in WiFi). Intel is good at making money and they're looking for another way.
To me? I guess more mobos will get WiFi :). Moreover, this will be built around an Intel chip, which usually means very good performance and above average drivers (compared to Realtek, Killer and so on).