Friday, July 24th 2020
Intel 7nm CPUs Delayed by a Year, Alder Lake in 2H-2021, Other Commentary from Intel Management
Intel's silicon fabrication woes refuse to torment the company's product roadmaps, with the company disclosing in its Q2-2020 financial results release that the company's first CPUs built on the 7 nanometer silicon fabrication node are delayed by a year due to a further 6-month delay from prior expectations. The company will focus on getting its 10 nm node up to scale in the meantime.
The company mentioned that the 10 nm "Tiger Lake" mobile processor and "Ice Lake-SP" enterprise processor remains on-track for 2020. The company's 12th Generation Core "Alder Lake-S" desktop processors won't arrive before the second half of 2021. In the meantime, Intel will launch its 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake" processor on the 14 nm node, but with increased IPC from the new "Cypress Cove" CPU cores. Also in 2H-2021, the company will launch its "Sapphire Rapids" enterprise processors that come with next-gen connectivity and updated CPU cores.
It's interesting to note that Intel was specific about "CPU" when talking about 7 nm, meaning that Intel's foundry woes only affect its CPU product stack, and not a word was mentioned in the release about the company's discrete GPU and scalar compute processors that are being prototyped and validated. This is probably the biggest hint we'll ever get from Intel that the company's dGPUs are being designed for third-party foundries (such as Samsung or TSMC), and that the Xe dGPU product roadmap is disconnected from that of Intel's fabs.
Given the delays in Intel's 7 nm foundry node, the first Intel client-segment processors based on the node won't arrive before late-2022 or 2023, which means refinements of the current 10 nm silicon fabrication node should support Intel's client-segment product stack for the foreseeable future. The first enterprise 7 nm processors will arrive by the first half of 2023. Intel also mentioned that they expect to see "one full node improvement" from a refined 10 nanometer process, which isn't surprising, given how much experience they have improving their 14 nanometer process.
The company mentioned that the 10 nm "Tiger Lake" mobile processor and "Ice Lake-SP" enterprise processor remains on-track for 2020. The company's 12th Generation Core "Alder Lake-S" desktop processors won't arrive before the second half of 2021. In the meantime, Intel will launch its 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake" processor on the 14 nm node, but with increased IPC from the new "Cypress Cove" CPU cores. Also in 2H-2021, the company will launch its "Sapphire Rapids" enterprise processors that come with next-gen connectivity and updated CPU cores.
Intel is accelerating its transition to 10 nm products this year with increasing volumes and strong demand for an expanding line up. This includes a growing portfolio of 10 nm-based Intel Core processors with "Tiger Lake" launching soon, and the first 10 nm-based server CPU "Ice Lake," which remains planned for the end of this year. In the second half of 2021, Intel expects to deliver a new line of client CPU's (code-named "Alder Lake"), which will include its first 10 nm-based desktop CPU, and a new 10 nm-based server CPU (code-named "Sapphire Rapids"). The company's 7 nm-based CPU product timing is shifting approximately six months relative to prior expectations. The primary driver is the yield of Intel's 7 nm process, which based on recent data, is now trending approximately twelve months behind the company's internal target.Intel's post results call also revealed a handful interesting tentative dates. For starters, "Tiger Lake" is shipping in "a matter of weeks," indicating an imminent launch ahead of the "Back to School" shopping season. Next up, the company's high-performance scalar compute processor, codenamed "Ponte Vecchio" remains slated for 2021-22, and given that it's reportedly being designed for 7 nm, we have our next big hint confirmation that these dGPUs will be built on third-party 7 nm fabs. Intel did mention that the Foveros packaging technology could be further developed over the years, and its upcoming discrete GPUs could combine dies (tiles) from multiple sources, which could include its own fabs.
Given the delays in Intel's 7 nm foundry node, the first Intel client-segment processors based on the node won't arrive before late-2022 or 2023, which means refinements of the current 10 nm silicon fabrication node should support Intel's client-segment product stack for the foreseeable future. The first enterprise 7 nm processors will arrive by the first half of 2023. Intel also mentioned that they expect to see "one full node improvement" from a refined 10 nanometer process, which isn't surprising, given how much experience they have improving their 14 nanometer process.
175 Comments on Intel 7nm CPUs Delayed by a Year, Alder Lake in 2H-2021, Other Commentary from Intel Management
1 atom wide graphene is posponed indefinitely I suppose.
Why do they even bother with this 10/7nm thing when they can easily do 1 atom wide sub 1nm structures. Such a waste of time.
I guess they have a thing for opening and closing factories. Just doing stuff for the sake of doing it, doesnt matter that is pointless and obsoleted.
Esram had a valid place when main memory interface was dram. Obviously, for reasons...
what gpu ? what steam charts ?
I just said I owned an 840 evo that was plagued with issues before samsung went with 40nm vnand
seriously,you talk like no other people.
samsung drives ?
are you serious ?
and what time periods are you even comparing ? how long was 840 there before 850 showed up and how long has 850 been on the market ?
Samsung wasn't a big player until 3d-nand. After that, they just cornered the semiconductor market and kept flash prices in control.
Been posted before and there are plenty of articles, but :
In terms of density :
Intel 14nm = TSMC 10/12nm
Intel 10nm = TSMC 7nm+
Intel 7nm = TSMC 5nm
Zen 2 = TSMC 7nm (1st gen). Intel 10nm is superior to this.
Zen 3 = TSMC 7nm+ (3rd gen). The latest TSMC node is slightly more dense than Intel 10nm (13%)
- I should point out that no one would call this a node advantage, Samsung 7nm is actually farther away from TSMC 7nm than this - it's like 1/8th of a "node".
Zen 4 = Assumed to be TSMC 5nm
What this means :
Zen 2 vs Comet Lake : Intel is behind 1 node (until mid 2020)
Zen 3 vs Rocket Lake : Intel is behind 1 node (until mid 2021)
Zen 3 vs Alder Lake : Parity on process node (Q3 2021 - Q3 2022)
Zen 4 vs Alder Lake : Intel behind 1 node (until 2022), Zen 4 is likely to be a Q4 2021 but nothing much is known
The reason for discrepancy in naming convention is that when Intel went to 14nm, they went to FinFet too. TSMC / Samsung / GloFlo called going to FinFet an entirely new node.
The yield issues of 10nm are resolved, and while production volume is several times higher than last year, it's still too low to meet demand, and too low to cover mainstream desktop for now.
We must wish is strong competition, not the failure of others, otherwise we return to the same, only with the names reversed. Weak competition always leads to stagnation.
You can see that in online forums where it used to be "Intel or nothing at all!" but now people are recommending AMD products to more people than I've ever seen in years past. If you had told me five years ago that this very scenario would be playing out today, I (and many others) would've laughed you out of the room and rightfully so. Yet, that scenario is exactly what's playing out today.Yeah, and all the while their 14nm++++++++ chips will continue to run hotter and hotter while also have more and more yield issues. They can't keep going on like this.I for one hope that Lisa Su wouldn't allow for that. I think that she's far smarter than that to do such a stupid move.
You have to keep striving, you have to keep innovating, you have to keep moving forward because the moment you stop for whatever reason, your competition will be right behind you and pass you by. This is what is happening to Intel right now. Intel stopped and now AMD ran past them.
Was AMD's 7nm developed by AMD or TSMC, and if TSMC does do 7nm for Intel will it be an Intel design or TSMC? I should know this but my mind rings up blank!