
Intel Lakefield deep dive: the first x86 hybrid CPU - sadiq
https://www.anandtech.com/show/15877/intel-hybrid-cpu-lakefield-all-you-need-to-know
======
Traster
>Intel has paraded its new ‘Lakefield’ processor design around the press and
the public as a paragon of new processor innovation. Inside, Intel pairs one
of its fast peak performance cores with four of its lower power efficient
cores,

This is Intel in a nutshell. That was an innovation ARM made a decade ago. So
why in the hell is Intel marketing touting it as Intel innovation. They
clearly have some understanding of their customer base as morons. The atom
cores are basically an expensive failure, doing a bad job of immmitating their
larger cousins and a great job of reminding everyone that Intel hasn't
designed a new CPU architecture since Itanium.

~~~
IanCutress
Read the full sentence. It includes the fact that the die stacking is also an
innovation, and using them together is an innovation.

~~~
sitkack
Those are mechanisms that enable innovation, in and of themselves, they are a
curiosity. This moves the needle zero when it comes to competing with AMD.

I believe Intel could do it, but they would have to figure out what they
really want.

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chx
> there might be a need for a high power, high performance design where
> cooling is of no consideration

Ha, there's a reason IBM z chips were the first commercial CPUs to break the
5GHz barrier with the zEC12 at 5.5 GHz back in 2012. 300W CPU, who cares, it's
going to get a tailored water cooling system anyways in a tailored chassis.
Cooling is one of the lowest priority problems when designing a mainframe CPU
...

~~~
staycoolboy
> Cooling is one of the lowest priority problems when designing a mainframe
> CPU

That's not true at all. Next to power deliver, power removal--aka HVAC--is
next in line of recurring costs (after one-time costs of building the facility
and the initial server BOM).

For example: [https://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2008/11/cost-of-power-
in-l...](https://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2008/11/cost-of-power-in-large-
scale-data-centers/)

Unless by "mainframe" you mean specialty compute-server farm for a
supercomputer (with massive IO) then perhaps.

~~~
fomine3
IBM z chip is for mainframe and it's too expensive and normally not massively
scaled out compared to cloud servers.

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onde2rock
from the conclusion :

 _As far as Lakefield goes, this first generation is going to be a rough
challenge for Intel – they are pitching a low performance product in a high-
cost segment based on technology_

Yeah, looks like the power of four atom core in an high end ultrabook is gonna
be a though sale.

~~~
OldHand2018
Honestly, I think it is fascinating that Samsung is selling a laptop where you
choose between an 8-core heterogenous ARM chip and a 5-core heterogeneous x86
chip, both running Windows. With the built-in LTE, it seems like the ultimate
niche computer.

~~~
joshstrange
A bit random but I'm hoping that Apple will be adding an LTE modem or at least
offering it on their new ARM "Apple Silicon" devices. I wish they would do
that as well as having something like "internet modes" so apps could check if
they should try to use less bandwidth or can use as much as they want.

~~~
nikanj
Would be beautiful in EU with $20/mo unlimited LTE, and horrible in Canada
with $50 for 5 gigs, overages at $30 per gig

~~~
belval
Frankly it's to us Canadians to start asking our lawmakers to force better
pricing, at least in metro areas where the population density is similar to
Europe.

~~~
seniorivn
Don't you think, forcing pricing by lawmakers cold be not the best choice?
Could it be a lack of competition?

~~~
nikanj
Lack of competition is forced by lawmakers.

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wronglebowski
Needing to manufacture and assemble several components in this fashion must be
awful for yields. I'd imagine AMDs chiplet process is much more forgiving.

~~~
jagger27
This type of design seems very unforgiving to defects. I think the only place
they can get away with a bad core is in the GPU portion.

Mind you it’s pretty small at 82mm^2.

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mobilio
Still waiting 7nm process...

~~~
williadc
Have you seen a 10nm product from Intel with your own eyes?

~~~
OldHand2018
The current MacBook Air is 10nm. While I've never actually seen one with my
own eyes, I certainly believe that they exist.

[https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196586/...](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196586/intel-
core-i3-1000ng4-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-20-ghz.html)

[https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196589/...](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196589/intel-
core-i5-1030ng7-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-50-ghz.html)

[https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196596/...](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196596/intel-
core-i7-1060ng7-processor-8m-cache-up-to-3-80-ghz.html)

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agumonkey
I believe intel marketing teams will sweat a lot in the coming years.

