Intel Unveils Lunar Lake Architecture: New P and E cores, Xe2-LPG Graphics, New NPU 4 Brings More AI Performance
by Gavin Bonshor on June 3, 2024 11:00 PM ESTNew Graphics: Intel Xe2, 2nd Gen Arc Xe Core For Mobile
Along with Lunar Lake, Intel has just unveiled its Xe2 graphics architecture for mobile, supported by the 2nd Generation Arc Xe Core. On paper, it offers an extraordinary bump in performance and efficiency. Aside from gaming, which we don't think the 4P+4E part would cut it, we've opted to focus on the critical takeaways of Intel's presentation for graphics, including the media engine within.
Intel's introduction of the Xe2 architecture significantly improves computational capabilities by providing up to 67 TOPs and offering increased ray tracing units compared to Xe-LPG on Meteor Lake. According to Intel, the 2nd gen Xe-cores offer 1.5x faster graphics performance than Meteor Lake, which is helped and achieved by the new XMX engines. Enhanced XeSS kernels deliver improved graphics and compute performance.
One element that Intel looks to have changed from Meteor Lake is that it offers more flexible and higher-quality display outputs. Within the Display engine, the streams in the dual-pixel pipeline can be combined for multi-stream transport. With this architecture, ports will be available in four locations, which will be flexible for connectivity. An eDP port is also provided in Intel's configuration, which will augment the display to set high resolutions and refresh rates for the output on high-end, premium, and capable displays.
Intel's eDisplayPort 1.5 includes the panel replay feature integrated with adaptive sync and selective update mechanisms. This helps decrease power consumption by refreshing only the parts of the screen that change instead of the entire display. These innovations save not only energy but also improve visual experiences by reducing display lag and increasing sync precision.
Portraying the pixel processing pipeline is one of the fundamental bases on which Intel's display engine sits, enabling six planes per pipeline for advanced color conversions and compositions. In addition, it integrates hardware support for color enhancement, display scaling, pixel tuning, and HDR perceptual quantization, ensuring that the graphics on the screen is vibrant and accurate. The design is quite flexible, highly power-efficient, and performance-engineered to support various input and output formats, at least on paper. Intel hasn't provided any quantifiable power metrics, TDPs, or other power elements so far.
When considering compression and encoding, the architecture Xe2 extends up to 3:1 display stream compression visually losslessly, including transport encoding for HDMI and DisplayPort protocols. These chip features further reduce the data load and maintain high resolution at the output without losing visual quality.
Intel's adoption of the VVC codec is a big deal for video compression technology improvement. This codec offers up to a 10% reduction in file size compared to AV1, supported by adaptive resolution streaming and advanced content coding for 360-degree and panoramic videos. This will ensure lower bitrates for streaming without losing quality—an essential aspect for modern multimedia applications.
The Windows GPU software stack is robust, from top to bottom, with the support of D3D, Vulkan, and Intel VPL APIs and frameworks. This means that combining these qualities provides comprehensive support for the varied runtimes and drivers in the market, thus increasing its overall efficiency and compatibility in different software climates.
Intel's Xe2 and second-generation Arc Xe Core improve performance, efficiency, and flexibility significantly. These innovations strengthen Intel's position in the competitive landscape of solutions for mobile graphics, with reinforced capabilities across display, media, and compute operations.
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Bruzzone - Thursday, June 6, 2024 - link
Thanks BushLin, I also find all the engineering and end use perspectives interesting as a compliment resource specific market observations I triangulate for common perspective and some not so common perspectives from time to time.My full AMD workstation, desktop and mobile what's selling in the last 6 weeks report is now posted at Seeking Alpha.
I posted here in comment string and just look down comments to the pointer and the full report is easily downloadable. There is also a pointer within the downloadable report itself to the same Intel data last eight weeks.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4697165-computex-...
Mike Bruzzone, Camp Marketing
lmcd - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
if you don't understand how inventory affects pricing then stick to redditballsystemlord - Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - link
In answer to your question, "It's worth the wait to Lunar and Arrow?"In terms of Intel's CPU/GPU performance, I doubt it.
In terms of power efficiency, they might have caught up. We'll have to wait for reviews. Only partially refreshing the screen should lead to a nice performance improvement and/or efficiency improvement of the GPU.
In terms of QoL improvements, it looks like Intel went all out for this new generation. In the following statements, I'm assuming that Intel's able to deliver. Having multiple TB4 ports is useful. Having TB4 with the ability to transfer files is also useful. So is better Wi-Fi. If anything, this might be *the* killer feature of the series. Likewise, VVC, assuming it's not badly licenced, should prove useful. I wonder if VVC is supported by their Quicksync encoder...
Don't misunderstand me, I appreciate what you've said above. But I really don't see this gen failing badly unless AMD/Qualcomm can equal them in terms of useful features.
Bruzzone - Thursday, June 6, 2024 - link
Ballsystemlord,I also think Intel's on it way back to mobile efficiency. While Meteor is ramping, I perceive OEMs from channel data and enterprise IT especially Intel shops on 'applications utility' value, and validation, waiting for Lunar / Arrow and or Strix. Granite Ridge I see facing an AM5 saturation issue and there is sooo much Raphael and Vermeer in the channel to clear R9K price will likely be held up while Raptor/Alder and Raphael/Vermeer nose dive on channel liquidation for capital reclaim to buy new like q4 into first half 2025.
From the channel data AMD and Intel are dumping all over Snapdragon X whose launch is into a deflationary price cycle at least through q1 2025. Lots of downward price and margin pressure.
Me, I am looking for a new (used) laptop, more a desktop replacement than Office low power and AI does not matter to me currently. I was interested in a used Tiger Octa or Cezanne H_ with MXM GPU but waiting a wee bit more because laptop prices including gaming are in a nose dive.
Means I'll be able to move up to new 13th Raptor in overage supply condition or used Alder or Rembrandt H with minimally Ampere. AMD Cezanne and Rembrandt and 13th and 12th pricing just let go and it get's better into q4. See my Seeking Alpha report on supply, trade-in and sales trend pointed to above.
mb
GeoffreyA - Thursday, June 6, 2024 - link
Though my computer is all right, I'd like to upgrade to Cezanne or Renoir, either 5600G or 4600G. (It will likely be the latter because of motherboard woes.) Here, the prices have been stuck for ages. Do you think they'll ever drop?ballsystemlord - Thursday, June 6, 2024 - link
GeoffreyA, I'm not involved with the markets like Mr. Bruzzone, but my recent experience with trying to get a GPU for 4 years in a row says, "Yes, prices will go back down."GeoffreyA - Friday, June 7, 2024 - link
Thanks. It's just puzzling because I don't understand the markets and economic side of things too well.lmcd - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
5600G and 4600G are weird parts because they're dependent on AMD's mobile positioning. The latter (4600G) isn't being manufactured anymore to my knowledge -- Renoir is useless now to AMD because it was supplanted in mobile by the updated Mendocino platform, which likely will never be brought to desktop. I am not sure pricing on the 4600G will ever make sense.5600G is Cezanne, which is still being manufactured for 7x30 series (or was until recently).
However, at this point Cezanne is 7nm and easily binned, but there is no direct 5600G replacement yet as AMD did not launch a 7000 series G product. The 8000G series (just announced) should push 5600G into clearance pricing.
GeoffreyA - Thursday, June 13, 2024 - link
Thanks. Good explanation. I'd go for the 5600G, but my motherboard, B450 Tomahawk, apparently has issues with this very CPU, despite there being BIOS support for quite some time. Online, people haven't had a solution, and MSI says nothing.mode_13h - Thursday, June 6, 2024 - link
Hey, where's the rest of the slide deck? There are definitely some slides I've seen elsewhere that aren't featured in the article. I'm used to this site posting the entire slides at the end.