Intel details Intel 4-chip process and shows Meteor Lake image

According to Intel, its forthcoming Intel 4-chip process will enable 21.5 percent faster processor clock speeds, while maintaining the same TDPs. Intel 4 is the company’s first chip node where Intel uses euv chip machines. Intel showed a dieshot of a Meteor Lake chip.

Intel 4 enables 21.5 percent faster clock speeds at the same tdp, 40 percent lower consumption at the same clock speeds, or a combination thereof, Intel reported during the IEEE VLSI Symposium 2022† Tom’s Hardware writes about the presentation† Intel compares Intel 4 to the company’s current chip node, Intel 7, which is used for Alder Lake, among others.

Intel 4 is the chip process that the company previously referred to as 7nm, with Intel 7 being the 10nm node. The company makes extensive use of EUV chip machines for production, requiring fewer time-consuming process steps and expensive masks for exposure. Intel speaks of 2x scaling in terms of the high performance library, which means that the company is able to place twice as many transistors on a surface with Intel 4 as with Intel 7 in the high-performance chip structures.

The first processor generation based on Intel 4 will be Meteor Lake. It should appear in 2023. Intel revealed that it has produced working processors in the second quarter. Intel uses the Foveros 3D technology for packaging at Meteor Lake. This enables the company to place several ’tiles’ or chiplets on an interposer, connected via silicon via channels. This includes tiles for compute, graphics, I/O and soc.

Intel showed a dieshot of the compute tile, showing that Meteor Lake consists of six powerful p-cores, codenamed Redwood Cove, and two clusters of four frugal e-cores, the Crestmont cores. Foveros 3D enables Intel to make, or have made, the different parts on different processes. At least the compute part is made by the company on the Intel 4 node.