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A new report detailing Intel's upcoming Tiger Lake-H, Alder Lake-P, and Alder Lake-S architectures has surfaced. These details include core and thread count, process node, cache memory, packaging size, GPU and respective features, memory support, connectivity, PCIe lanes, and security features.
Intel Tiger Lake laptops are starting to become available, but Intel Tiger Lake architecture hasn't been fully disclosed yet. A Tiger Lake-H platform is expected to come in the near future, increasing the number of cores, and therefore its TDP. Intel Alder Lake has also been confirmed to be a hybrid architecture, Intel's take on ARM's big.SMALL processor architecture. Official specifications of Tiger Lake-H, Alder Lake-P, and Alder Lake-S have not been shared yet, but Notebookcheck's report gives us an early look of what we might expect from them.
Intel Tiger Lake-H is set to feature a 35W TDP on 4-core configurations, and 45W TDP on 8-core configurations. Both should come with up to 32 execution units (EUs) in their Xe GPUs, which support up to 8K@60FPS HDR video playback. This architecture will feature up to 24MB of LLC cache and Hyper-Threading (HT), resulting in up to 8 cores and 16 threads configurations, and 10nm Willow Cove core architecture. There will be 20x PCIe 4.0 lanes from the CPU and 24x 3.0 lanes from the PCH, while maximum memory supported should be 128GB DDR4-3200. Security features include Total Memory Encryption (TME) and Return-oriented programming (ROP) attack prevention.
The 10nm Alder Lake-P hybrid processor architecture will feature both Gracemont and Golden Cove core architecture, with up to 8 Gracemont cores and 6 Golden Cove cores with HT (12 threads), and up to 24MB of LLC cache. Intel Alder Lake-P will come with Xe LP iGPU with up to 96EUs, and it will support up to 64GB DDR-3200 or 64GB DDR5-4400. PCIe 5.0 support will be introduced, featuring 8x PCIe 5.0 lanes and dual 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes from the CPU, and 12x PCIe 3.0 lanes from the PCH. It will also support up to 4x Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E 802.11axR2, and include a Maple Ridge controller. Besides TME and ROP attack prevention, Alder-Lake will also feature Hypervisor-manager Linear Address Translation (HLAT) and Multi-key TME (MK-TME).
Regarding Alder Lake-S, it will also feature Gracemont and Golden Cove core architecture, but it will be with up to 8 Gracemont cores and 8 Golden Cove cores with HT (16 threads), and with up to 30MB of LLC cache. TDP should come at a maximum of 125W, depending on core configuration. Alder Lake-S will also feature Xe LP iGPU, but only with up to 32EUs. It should also support up to 128GB DDR4-3200 or 128GB DDR5-4400 memory and PCIe 5.0, coming with 16x PCIe 5.0 and 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes from the CPU alongside 16x PCIe 4.0 and 12x PCIe 3.0 lanes from the PCH. Thunderbolt support wasn't mentioned, but it will come with Wi-Fi 6E 802.11axR2 support and up to 2x Maple Ridge controllers. Security features are the same as the Alder Lake-P architecture.
The following table sums up all the specifications of each architecture previously discussed:
| Feature | Tiger Lake-H | Alder Lake-P | Alder Lake-S BGA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | 8/16 Willow Cove | 6/12 Golden Cove + 8/8 Gracemont | 8/16 Golden Cove + 8/8 Gracemont |
| Process | CPU – 10 nm; PCH (Discrete) – 14 nm |
CPU – 10 nm; PCH (In-package) – 14 nm |
CPU – 10 nm; PCH (Discrete) – 14 nm |
| LLC Cache | 24 MB | 24 MB | 30 MB |
| Packaging (mm x mm) | CPU – 50 x 26.5; PCH – 25 x 24 |
CPU + PCH – 50 x 25 | CPU – 45 x 37.5; PCH – 28 x 25 |
| GPU | Xe 32 EUs | Xe 96 EUs | Xe 32 EUs |
| GPU Features | 4x Display-out; Dual DisplayPort 1.4b; 8K 60 HDR; 12b, AV1 dual encoders |
4x Display-out; DisplayPort 1.4b; AV1 accelerated encode; GNA 3.0 |
4x Display-out; DisplayPort 1.4b; AV1 accelerated encode; GNA 3.0 |
| Memory Support | DDR4-3200 128 GB | DDR4-3200 64 GB; DDR5-4400 64 GB |
DDR4-3200 128 GB; DDR5-4400 128 GB |
| Connectivity | 4x Thunderbolt 4 + 1x DisplayPort; Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
4x Thunderbolt 4 + 1x Maple Ridge; Wi-Fi 6E 802.11axR2 |
2x Maple Ridge; Wi-Fi 6E 802.11axR2 |
| PCIe Lanes | CPU – 20x PCIe 4.0 x16 + PCIe 4.0 x4; PCH – 24x PCIe 3.0 x24 |
CPU – 16x PCIe 5.0 x8 + 2x PCIe 4.0 x4; PCH – 12x PCIe 3.0 x12 |
CPU – 20x PCIe 5.0 x16 + PCIe 4.0 x4; PCH – 28x PCIe 4.0 x16 + PCIe 3.0 x12 |
| Security Features | Total Memory Encryption (TME), Return-oriented programming (ROP) attack prevention | TME, ROP attack prevention, Hypervisor-manager Linear Address Translation (HLAT), Multi-key TME (MK-TME) | TME, ROP attack prevention, HLAT, MK-TME |
Tiger Lake-H and Alder Lake-P are expected to feature in laptops, while Alder Lake-S should come to desktops, but Notebookcheck's report also suggests that it uses a BGA socket (laptop). The “S” in Intel processors architectures is usually reserved for processors with a TDP above 65W, generally available for desktops only. Considering this, Intel might be planning to introduce higher-powered processors to be used on laptops.
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KitGuru says: What do you think about these specifications? Are they in accordance with what you expected? Will Tiger Lake-H be able to fight on equal terms with the mobile Ryzen 4000-H series?
