
Intel Announces N-series Entry Mobile Processors with Just E-cores
Intel today debuted its 2023 N-series entry-level mobile processors targeting a range of low-cost notebook applications, such as educational notebooks for bulk purchase and distribution by public schools. These processors are built on the same Intel 7 (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin) node as the 13th Gen Core processors, but come with just "Gracemont" E-cores, and no P-cores.
The silicon physically features two "Gracemont" E-core clusters amounting to 8 E-cores, 6 MB of shared L3 cache, and an iGPU based on the Xe-LP graphics architecture, with 32 EUs (execution units). The silicon also features a GNI 3.0 for basic AI acceleration using a truncated version of the DLBoost instruction set, and an IPU (as in image processing unit), which can improve web-camera experience (on the fly background noise suppression). The iGPU also offers hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding. On the platform-side, the processor features a single-channel DDR5 memory interface that's backwards-compatible with DDR4, and also supports LPDDR5. Storage interfaces include eMMC, UFS 2.1, and NVMe SSD. Wireless networking options available with the platform include fast WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
The silicon physically features two "Gracemont" E-core clusters amounting to 8 E-cores, 6 MB of shared L3 cache, and an iGPU based on the Xe-LP graphics architecture, with 32 EUs (execution units). The silicon also features a GNI 3.0 for basic AI acceleration using a truncated version of the DLBoost instruction set, and an IPU (as in image processing unit), which can improve web-camera experience (on the fly background noise suppression). The iGPU also offers hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding. On the platform-side, the processor features a single-channel DDR5 memory interface that's backwards-compatible with DDR4, and also supports LPDDR5. Storage interfaces include eMMC, UFS 2.1, and NVMe SSD. Wireless networking options available with the platform include fast WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.