Hey, we're live from Intel's Event at CES. We expect to hear about Rocket Lake, and possibly get a glimpse into the future beyond that.

More and more people continue to turn to gaming for entertainment, escape, and socializing with friends & family. This has lead to unprecedented demand for enthusiast level gaming laptops. This growing demographic demands a design language that addresses their need for a sleek lifestyle device for work, school, everyday tasks AND gaming. The 11th Gen Intel Core H Series Processors for Ultraportable Gaming builds on the best of what our 11th Gen Intel Core U-series processors have already delivered, adds more performance to enable this new class of Ultraportable Gaming systems.

The SCHENKER VISION 15 is about to set new standards in the premium laptop segment. Featuring the recently introduced Core i7-1165G7 processor, the 15.6-inch laptop offers top-notch specifications and the highest quality workmanship, as its 15 mm slim unibody aluminium chassis is bursting with modern technology. This includes a touch display with maximum brightness of 450 nits, Thunderbolt 4, an M.2 SSD connected via PCI Express 4.0, charging options on both sides via USB-C and many additional, smart features. The reference character of this laptop does not come by chance: The development is based on a cooperation with Intel, which is responsible for the design of an optimal motherboard layout and cooling system. For this reason, the laptop also meets all standards of the Intel Evo platform.

AAEON, a leading manufacturer of AI Edge hardware solutions, announces the latest addition to their UP Bridge the Gap brand, the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit. Powered by the 11th Generation Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe embedded graphics (formerly Tiger Lake), the UP Xtreme i11 is the latest generation in edge computing solutions designed to power intelligent applications across a range of industries including retail, healthcare, transportation, robotics and industrial automation.

Powered by the latest 11th Generation Intel Core processors, the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit is designed to bring high performance computing to the edge. This latest generation of Intel Core processors bring speeds up to 4.4 GHz with a TDP of only 28 Watts and cTDP of 15 Watts. The processors also unlock a range of Intel tools designed to optimize performance and security, including the Intel Functional Safety Essential Design Package, vPRO (i5, i7 only), TSN and TCC enabled LAN ports for real-time networking support.

Intel has launched its Tiger Lake-U lineup of products back in September, with the availability of the first products in October. The launched lineup was part of the "U" variant of ultra-portable devices that stretched only to four core, eight threaded configurations. However, given that the new competitor in mobile space, AMD, has a wide portfolio of offerings that are coming with up to 8C/16T variants, Intel needs a proper response to that. Despite having a better single-threaded performance, the multi-threaded capability of the Ryzen 4000 series is delivering better performance. Thanks to the popular hardware leaker, TUM APISAK, we have the first appearance of Intel's 11th generation Tiger Lake-H processor.

Appearing in Userbenchmark, the processor was tested on a platform codenamed "Insyde TigerLake". The processor was spotted running 8 cores and 16 threads, at the average frequency of 2.75 GHz. This is only an engineering sample, meaning that these clocks do not represent the final frequencies of the processor. As a reminder, Intel's Tiger Lake CPU is a Willow Cove based design manufactured on Intel's 10 nm SuperFin silicon node. We are yet to see the capabilities of the new node and how the chip performs once the reviews arrive.

Intel today launched its Iris Xe MAX discrete graphics processor for thin-and-light notebooks powered by 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processors. Dell, Acer, and ASUS are launch partners, debuting the chip on their Inspiron 15 7000, Swift 3x, and VivoBook TP470, respectively. The Iris Xe MAX is based on the Xe LP graphics architecture, targeted at compact scale implementations of the Xe SIMD for mainstream consumer graphics. Its most interesting feature is Intel DeepLink, and a powerful media acceleration engine that includes hardware encode acceleration for popular video formats, including HEVC, which should make the Iris Xe MAX a formidable video content production solution on the move.

The Iris Xe MAX is a fully discrete GPU built on Intel's 10 nm SuperFin silicon fabrication process. It features an LPDDR4X dedicated memory interface with 4 GB of memory at 68 GB/s of bandwidth, and uses PCI-Express 4.0 x4 to talk to the processor, but those are just the physical layers. On top of these are what Intel calls Deep Link, an all encompassing hardware abstraction layer that not only enables explicit multi-GPU with the Xe LP iGPU of "Tiger Lake" processors, but also certain implicit multi-GPU functions such as fine-grained division of labor between the dGPU and iGPU to ensure that the right kind of workload is split between the two. Intel referred to this as GameDev Boost, and we detailed it in an older article.

Today, Intel has decided to surprise us and give an update to its upcoming CPU lineup for desktop. With the 11th generation, Core CPUs codenamed Rocket Lake-S, Intel is preparing to launch the new lineup in the first quarter of 2021. This means that we are just a few months away from this launch. When it comes to the architecture of these new processors, they are going to be based on a special Cypress Cove design. Gone are the days of Skylake-based designs that were present from the 6th to 10th generation processors. The Cypress Cove, as Intel calls it, is an Ice Lake adaptation. Contrary to the previous rumors, it is not an adaptation of Tiger Lake Willow Cove, but rather Ice Lake Sunny Cove.

The CPU instruction per cycle (IPC) is said to grow in double-digits, meaning that the desktop users are finally going to see an improvement that is not only frequency-based. While we do not know the numbers yet, we can expect them to be better than the current 10th gen parts. For the first time on the Intel platform for desktops, we will see the adoption of PCIe 4.0 chipset, which will allow for much faster SSD speeds and support the latest GPUs, specifically, there will be 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes coming from the CPU only. The CPU will be paired with 12th generation Xe graphics, like the one found in Tiger Lake CPUs. Other technologies such as Deep Learning Boost and VNNI, Quick Sync Video, and better overclocking tuning will be present as well. Interesting thing to note here is that the 10C/20T Core i9-10900K has a PL1 headroom of 125 W, and 250 W in PL2. However, the 8C/16T Rocket Lake-S CPU also features 125 W headroom in PL1, and 250 W in PL2. This indicates that the new Cypress Cove design runs hotter than the previous generation.

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme 6.30 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Engineer 6.30 software, a professional diagnostic and benchmarking solution for corporate IT technicians and engineers; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business 6.30 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Network Audit 6.30 software, a dedicated network audit toolset to collect and manage corporate network inventories.

The latest AIDA64 update introduces optimized benchmarks for Intel "Tiger Lake" and "Rocket Lake" processors, monitoring of sensor values on SteelSeries Apex TKL OLED displays, and supports the latest AMD and Intel CPU platforms as well as the new graphics and GPGPU computing technologies by both AMD and NVIDIA.

DOWNLOAD: AIDA64 Extreme v6.30

Intel in its Q3-2020 earnings release unveiled the Iris Xe MAX brand under which it will launch its first discrete GPUs in over two decades. The company also disclosed that it has started shipping the product (i.e. commenced mass production and started shipping volumes to its partners). The first Iris Xe MAX discrete GPU is expected to be based on the Xe LP architecture, and we expect it to target the mobile market, as the likes of ASUS has already developed ultraportables featuring the discrete GPU. Intel unveiled a proof-of-concept of an asymmetric explicit multi-GPU technology which could see the Iris Xe iGPU of the 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processor work in tandem with a discrete GPU based on the same architecture, which is now turning out to be the Iris Xe MAX. We expect the Iris Xe MAX to make life miserable to entry-level mobile dGPUs from NVIDIA and AMD.

Acer today announced the Swift 3X, a new laptop which will give consumers the first taste of Intel's discrete graphics solution powered by Xe. Remember that Intel's Xe is Intel's first discrete-class graphics architecture, whose development was helmed by former AMD graphics head Raja Koduri after Intel hired him just a week after he tendered his resignation with AMD. This is the first materialization of an Intel-developed, discrete graphics product for the consumer market, and thus should blow the lid on Intel's Xe performance. Whether or not the blue giant cements itself as a third player in the discrete graphics accelerator space - at first try - depends on the performance of this architecture.

The Swift 3X features the new Intel Iris Xe MAX discrete graphics solution paired with 11th Gen Intel Core processors "in order to offer creative professionals such as photographers and YouTubers unique capabilities and powerful on-the-go performance for work and gaming." The Swift 3X comes in at 1.37 kg (3.02 lbs), and Acer quotes up to 17.5 hours of up time in a single charge; if necessary, the Swift 3X can also be fast-charged to provide four hours of use in just 30 minutes.

ASUS unveiled a special variant of its 2020 VivoBook Flip 14 convertible notebook, which features the "First Intel Discrete Graphics," expected to be the Iris Xe DG1 discrete GPU based on the Xe LP architecture. Intel appears to be promoting the combination of the Iris Xe dGPU with its 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors, as a potent ultra portable computing solution with rich graphics and mobile gaming. This eats into the markets of entry-level dGPUs by NVIDIA and AMD. Intel is also developing an iGPU+dGPU Multi-Adapter technology that could leverage asymmetric explicit multi-GPU to accelerate gaming performance. The VivoBook Flip 14 TP470EZ features a 14-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display, and so the combination of the "Tiger Lake" Xe LP iGPU and dGPU could take a swing at Full HD AAA and e-sports gaming.

Intel's next-generation Pentium Gold and Celeron entry-level processors based on the "Tiger Lake" microarchitecture could finally receive the AVX2 instruction set. Intel had segmented AVX and AVX2 to be exclusive to the Core and Xeon brands, with the Pentium Gold and Celeron products based on the same microarchitectures to artificially lack these instructions.

Intel updated its ARK product information database with entries for "Tiger Lake" based Pentium Gold and Celeron products. The page for the Pentium Gold 7505 and Celeron 6305, mention support for AVX2 besides SSE4. Both are mobile chips with 15 W TDP, and are built on the same 10 nm SuperFin process as the rest of the 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processor family.

Intel's Corporate Vice President of Client Computing Group Boyd Phelps posted an article on medium where he confirms development of 8-core Tiger Lake-based CPU solutions, to be released during the year 2021. This was confirmed by Boyd saying that 8-core Tiger Lake CPUs would have access to 24 MB of LLC cache (adequately doubling the 12 MB available for 4-core Tiger Lake-U parts that we already know about); Boyd then simply added in parentheticals "more detail on 8-core products at a later date".

The 8-core processors will be part of the Tiger Lake-H product stack, which, according to a leaker on PTT Shopping, would scale between the 35 W-45 W TDPs with various core and GPU Execution Unit counts. The 45 W high-performance parts can feature between 4, 6, and 8-cores - but additional space taken up by the CPU cores is thus unavailable for GPU resources, which top out at 32 Intel Xe EUs (and will make use of a BGA1787 socket). The 35 W variants, on the other hand, will be installed in the same socket as Tiger Lake-U - BGA 1449 - and reportedly only offer a 4-core design with 96 EUs.

Intel today launches its 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors that introduce several new technologies on the backs of new IP. As described in the Architecture Day, "Tiger Lake" is built on the 10 nm SuperFin process, and combines new "Willow Cove" CPU cores with the first commercial debut of the Xe Gen12 graphics architecture that Intel is betting big on, to make a stab at the consumer graphics and scalar compute markets. Join us in this live-blog.Update 16:00 UTC: GB (Gregory Bryant, EVP Client), leads the event from the comfort of his home.Update 16:04 UTC: Here it is, the "world's best processor for thin and light laptops. You'll notice that like most Intel U-segment chips, this is an MCM of the processor and PCH die. Intel bases its "world's best" claims on a per-segment basis.

Intel today unleashed a new era of laptop performance with the launch of its next-generation mobile PC processors and the evolution of its broad ecosystem partnerships that are propelling the mobile PC industry forward. New 11th Gen Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics (code-named "Tiger Lake") are the world's best processors for thin-and-light laptops with unmatched capabilities for real-world productivity, collaboration, creation, gaming and entertainment across Windows and ChromeOS-based laptops.

Leveraging Intel's new SuperFin process technology, 11th Gen Intel Core processors optimize power efficiency with leading performance and responsiveness while running at significantly higher frequencies versus prior generations. More than 150 designs based on 11th Gen Intel Core processors are expected from partners including Acer, ASUS, Dell, Dynabook, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, Razer, Samsung and others.

Promotional videos of Intel 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processors leaked to the web courtesy h0x0d on Twitter. It confirms the new corporate identity of Intel, along with its new logo artistic language. It also confirms the new EVO Powered by Core brand extension, along with a separate case badge for notebooks that use Iris Xe discrete graphics (DG1) in addition to the Xe Gen12 iGPU of "Tiger Lake." Intel has a technology that can get the Xe LP iGPU and dGPU to work in tandem. VideoCardz compiled some interesting frames from the promotional videos, revealing bits such as clock speeds of up to 4.80 GHz (boost), 3.11 GHz (base), the first "Tiger Lake" parts being 4-core/8-thread, the new 10 nm SuperFin transistor, wafer- and die shots of "Tiger Lake" 4c+96EU die, and unless we're mistaken, pictures of a "Tiger Lake" package that uses a DRAM (HBM?) stack on-package, using EMIB. h0x0d also posted videos of the Lenovo Yoga 9i and HP Spectre notebooks based on "Tiger Lake."

A lot is riding for Intel on its 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" system-on-chip (SoC), which will launch exclusively on mobile platforms, hoping to dominate the 7 W thru 15 W ultraportable form-factors in 2020, while eventually scaling up to the 25 W thru 45 W H-segment form-factors in 2021, with a variant that is rumored to double core-counts. The chip is built on Intel's new 10 nm SuperFin silicon fabrication node that enables a double digit percentage energy efficiency growth over 10 nm, allowing Intel to significantly dial up clock speeds without impacting the power envelope. The CPU and iGPU make up the two key components of the "Tiger Lake" SoC.

The CPU component on the "Tiger Lake" processors that launch in a few weeks from now features four "Willow Cove" CPU cores. Coupled with HyperThreading, this ends up being a 4-core/8-thread setup, although much of Intel's innovation is in giving these cores significant IPC increases over the "Skylake" core powering "Comet Lake" processors, and compared to the "Sunny Cove" cores powering "Ice Lake" a minor IPC (although major net performance increase from clock speeds). The "Willow Cove" CPU core appears to be a derivative of the "Sunny Cove" core, designed to take advantage of the 10 nm SuperFin node, along with three key innovations.

Intel on Thursday made several technological disclosures about its latest silicon fabrication process, the 10 nm SuperFin. With this, the company is changing the nomenclature of its node refinements, away from the ## nm++ naming scheme (with each "+" denoting a refinement, or internode), to a more descriptive naming scheme. The new 10 nm SuperFin node is the first refinement of the company's 10 nm node that debuted with the company's 10th Gen Core "Ice Lake" processors last year, and promises energy efficiency in the ballpark of 7 nm-class nodes by competitors TSMC and Samsung. While past generations of internodes (refinements) delivered energy efficiency improvements of around 3-5%, 10 nm SuperFin offers the kind of improvements expected from a brand new node, according to Intel.

The 10 nm SuperFin node is composed of two key innovations, the SuperMIM capacitor and a redesigned FinFET transistor. The new SuperMIM (metal insulator metal) capacitor offers a 5x increase in capacitance compared to devices in this class. The redesigned FinFET introduces a new barrier that reduces via resistance by 30%. Combined, the 10 nm SuperFin node affords chips a V/F curve comparable to a die-shrink to a whole new silicon fabrication node, without any change in transistor density. The first product built on 10 nm SuperFin is the upcoming Core "Tiger Lake" processor addressing the client-segment. The company is already working on enhancements of this node relevant for data-center processors.

Intel appears to have every intention of addressing the performance gaming segment with its Xe graphics architecture. According to information leaked to the web by VideoCardz, Xe-HPG (high performance gaming?) represents a product vertical dedicated to the gaming segment. Among the other verticals are Xe-HPC (high performance compute). The Xe-HPG graphics architecture is being developed for a 2021 market launch. It will feature all the client-segment staples, including a conventional PCI-Express interface, and GDDR6 memory instead of HBM. Intel may also eye DirectX 12 Ultimate logo compliance. Intel's Xe discrete GPU and scalar processor development is already de-coupled with Intel's foundry business development, and so the company could contract external foundries to manufacture these chips.

As for specs, it is learned that each Xe-HP "tile" (a silicon die sub-unit that adds up in MCMs for higher tiers of Xe scalar processors), features 512 execution units (EUs). Compare this to the Xe-LP iGPU solution found in the upcoming "Tiger Lake" processor, which has 96. Intel has been able to design scalar processors with up to four tiles, adding up to 2,048 EUs. It remains to be seen if each tile on the scalar processors also include the raster hardware needed for the silicon to function as a GPU. The number of tiles on Xe-HPG are not known, but it reportedly features GDDR6 memory, and so the tile could be a variation of the Xe-HP. Intel SVP and technology head Raja Koduri is expected to detail the near-future of Intel architectures at a virtual event later today, and Xe-HPG is expected to come up.

Intel's upcoming 11th Generation Core "Tiger Lake" processors introduce the company's first major refinement of its 10 nanometer silicon fabrication node, dubbed 10 nm+. The node introduces two key features that work to improve the power characteristics of the silicon, allowing Intel to yield more performance without raising power/thermals over the previous generation. VideoCardz scored a major scoop on 10 nm+, including the introduction of the new SuperFin transistor, and SuperMIM capacitor.

SuperFin is a redesigned FinFET, a nanoscale transistor, which offers increased gate pitch, yielding higher drive current, improved channel mobility, and an improved source/drain, yielding in lower resistance. The other key component of 10 nm+ is SuperMIM, delivering a 5 times increase in metal-insulator-metal capacitance. Intel is yet to put out energy efficiency gain numbers for the process, but promises a "dramatic increase in frequency" over the previous generation, which lines up with leaks of the Core i7-1185G7 shipping with significantly higher clock speeds.

Database spelunker TUM_APISAK has brought to the surface another revealing entry regarding Intel's upcoming Tiger Lake CPUs. Discovered in SiSoftware's database entries, the Intel Core i3-1115G4 has reared its head sporting a mightily impressive base core clock set at 3.0 GHz. Compare this to the Ice Lake-based Core i3-1005G1, which while making use of the 10 nm process itself, only managed to run on a 1.2 GHz base clock. This increase speaks to Intel's refinement of the 10 nm manufacturing process (even sporting its well-known woes) and the usage of the new Willow Cove architecture core that will power the i3-1115G4.

Whilst still being a 2-core, 4-thread processor (ehrm), the new i3-1115G4 based on Tiger Lake sports a number of improvements on both its CPU and GPU core design. The new architectural improvements baked into Willow Cove are aided by an L3 cache boost from 4 MB to 6 MB, and its GPU is expected to make use of Intel's Xe graphics, featuring 96 EUs (compared to the 64 EUs in Ice Lake's 12th Gen graphics). It remains to be seen exactly how competitive Tiger Lake will be compared to AMD's current (and future) Ryzen offerings, but these are some encouraging leaks.

Intel on Thursday was hit by a massive data-breach, with someone on Twitter posting links to an archive that contains the dump of the breach - a 20-gigabyte treasure chest that includes - but not limited to - Intel Management Engine bringup guides, flashing tools, samples; source code of Consumer Electronics Firmware Development Kit (CEFDK); silicon and FSP source packages for various platforms; an assortment of development and debugging tools; Simics simulation for "Rocket Lake S" and other platforms; a wealth of roadmaps and other documents; shcematics, documents, tools, and firmware for "Tiger Lake," Intel Trace Hub + decoder files for various Intel ME versions; "Elkhart Lake" silicon reference and sample code; Bootguard SDK, "Snow Ridge" simulator; design schematics of various products; etc.

The most fascinating part of the leak is the person points to the possibility of Intel laying backdoors in its code and designs - a very tinfoil hat though likely possibility in the post-9/11 world. Intel in a comment to Tom's Hardware denied that its security apparatus had been compromised, and instead blamed someone with access to this information for downloading the data. "We are investigating this situation. The information appears to come from the Intel Resource and Design Center, which hosts information for use by our customers, partners and other external parties who have registered for access. We believe an individual with access downloaded and shared this data," a company spox said.

Intel will launch its 11th Generation Core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors on September 2. The company sent out invites to a "virtual event" to be held on that date, which will be webcast to the public. On that day, several major notebook manufacturers are expected to unveil their next-generation devices based on the new processors. "Tiger Lake" is an important product launch for Intel as it marks the commercial debut of its ambitious Xe graphics architecture as the chip's Gen12 integrated graphics solution. In related news, Intel's chief architect for Xe, Raja Koduri, is expected to lead a webcast on August 13, where he will provide an update on his team's work.

The processors also debut the "Willow Cove" CPU cores that offer increased IPC over current "Sunny Cove" and "Skylake" cores, which will play a big role in closing the performance gap against the 8-core "Zen 2" processors by AMD based on the "Renoir" silicon. "Tiger Lake" is also expected to be one of the final front-line mobile processors by Intel to feature only one kind of CPU cores, as the company is expected to go big on Hybrid core technology with its future microarchitectures.

Intel is preparing to launch an 8-core mobile processor based on its 10 nm "Tiger Lake" microarchitecture, according to a corporate memo by leading notebook OEM Compal, which serves major notebook brands such as Acer. The memo was drafted in May, but unearthed by momomo_us. Compal expects Intel to launch the 8-core "Tiger Lake-H" processor in Q1 2021. This is big, as it would be the first large 10 nm client-segment silicon that goes beyond 4 cores. The company's first 10 nm client silicon, "Ice Lake," as well as the "Tiger Lake-U" silicon that's right around the corner, feature up to 4 cores. As an H-segment part, the new 8-core processor could target TDPs in the range of 35-45 W, and notebooks in the "conventional thickness" form-factor, as well as premium gaming notebooks and mobile workstations.

The 8-core "Tiger Lake-H" silicon is the first real sign of Intel's 10 nm yields improving. Up until now, Intel confined 10 nm to the U- and Y-segments (15 W and below), addressing only ultra-portable form-factors. Even here, Intel launched U-segment 14 nm "Comet Lake" parts at competitive prices, to take the market demand off "Ice Lake-U." The H-segment has been exclusively held by "Comet Lake-H." Intel is planning to launch "Ice Lake-SP" Xeon processors later this year, but like all server parts, these are high-margin + low-volume parts. Compal says Intel will refresh the H-segment with a newer 8-core "Comet Lake-H" part in the second half of 2020, possibly to bolster the high-end against the likes of AMD's Ryzen 9 4900H. Later in 2021, Intel is expected to introduce its 10 nm "Alder Lake" processor, including a mobile variant. These processors will feature Hybrid technology, combining "Golden Cove" big CPU cores with "Gracemont" small ones.

EVO is likely to become a prominent client-segment processor brand by Intel as it wades into the post-Core product generation. Intel just registered a large tranche of trademarks and logos with the USPTO. It begins with a re-design of Intel's corporate identity from the ground-up, including the company's main logo. A clean new typeface replaces the one Intel has been using since the original Core i7 from a decade ago. The brands are placed with simple geometric backgrounds with fewer color gradients. The brand extension (i3/i5/i7/i9) is located at the bottom-right corner.

The distinction between two logos, "EVO Powered by Core" and just Core i3, caught our eye. We speculate that EVO could refer to a new category of Hybrid processors (chips with more than one kind of CPU core), and could debut with "Alder Lake." The non-EVO chips could have only one kind of CPU core, and given the timing of this trademark application (July 2020), we expect it to debut only with the processor that succeeds "Tiger Lake," as notebooks based on the new chips may already be under mass-production. In any case, it's only a matter of the notebook ODM (eg: Quanta, Compal, Foxconn, etc.,) placing a sticker on the product or its packaging. It's also interesting to note the "powered by Core" subtext in the EVO branding. Intel could be using this to transition between the two brands.Update 20:02 UTC: Added registration data from US Patent Office: