Intel has recently launched its new generation notebook CPU, the Core Ultra, also known as the code name Meteor Lake. In addition to a major rebranding effort that has been ongoing for several years, the Core Ultra also features an NPU chip to accelerate AI processing and is the first chip to utilize Intel’s latest Intel 4 (EUV) process technology.
The Core Ultra retains the familiar numbering scheme of 5, 7, and 9, with the letter H indicating higher power consumption (28 watts or more) for the Arc GPU, and the letter U indicating lower power consumption (15 watts or less) for the Intel Graphics GPU. The major change is that the model numbers now consist of three digits instead of the previous four-digit system.
The Core Ultra lineup includes 8 models, with the highest-end being the Core Ultra 7 165H and the lowest-end being the Core Ultra 5 125U. Additional models will be introduced in the first quarter of 2024.
The architecture of the Core Ultra CPU consists of P-cores and E-cores, similar to previous generations, but with improved energy efficiency. For example, when streaming Netflix videos, only the E-core is utilized, resulting in a 25% reduction in power consumption compared to previous generation CPUs (Core Ultra 7 165H vs Core i7-1370P).
Both P-cores and E-cores feature new architectures. The P-core, known as Redwood Cove, offers improved energy efficiency, while the E-core, known as Crestmont, delivers better performance than its predecessor. Intel’s own numbers indicate that the Core Ultra 7 165H outperforms the previous generation Core i7-1370P by 8% and is superior to the AMD Ryzen 7840U by 11% when comparing power consumption.
The Core Ultra with the H designation also features the Intel Arc GPU, which greatly surpasses the performance of the previous 13th Gen graphics. In some games, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, the performance improvement reaches up to 100% compared to previous generation CPUs, and it slightly outperforms the Radeon GPU in the Ryzen 7 7840U in certain tests.
The NPU chip, used to accelerate AI processing alongside the CPU and GPU, boasts a performance of 34 TeraOPS and demonstrates a 1.7 times better performance in running Stable Diffusion models compared to the previous generation. It also supports running models from various brands through the OpenVINO framework, such as the LlaMa2-7B model on a PC.
Several notebook manufacturers have already started releasing products featuring the Core Ultra.
TLDR: Intel has introduced its new Core Ultra notebook CPU lineup, featuring improved energy efficiency, the latest Intel 4 (EUV) process technology, and an NPU chip for AI acceleration. The CPUs offer performance boosts and power savings compared to previous generations, with the Intel Arc GPU outperforming its predecessors and competing against AMD’s Radeon GPU. The Core Ultra has garnered attention from notebook manufacturers, who have started launching products with this new CPU.
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