Desktop, Mobile, and Edge: Intel Expands Its Computing Portfolio
From mobile gaming to desktop productivity, Intel is broadly expanding its processor offerings for a range of computing applications.
Last week at CES 2024, Intel announced a bevy of new processors built to provide computing performance at all levels of consumer and business use. The newly announced processors join Intel’s recently revealed line of Xeon and Ultra processors with built-in AI acceleration and higher performance than previous generations.
Intel’s newest Core processors bring improved performance to desktops, laptops, edge devices, and more thanks to new process technologies and architectures.
While all three processor families—the 14th Gen HX-series, the 14th Gen Core-series, and the U processor series 1—were announced at CES together, each processor line targets unique consumer applications. As computing tasks become more intensive and demand better performance in smaller packages, the new Intel processor specs could benefit both designers and consumers alike.
Bringing Desktop Performance to Mobile
Kicking off its announcement, Intel revealed its latest mobile processor family, the Intel Core 14th Gen HX series. Compared to desktop processors, mobile processors must strike a balance of raw performance, size, weight, and power consumption, making the design of mobile processors tricky. With the latest update in Intel’s mobile processor family, however, mobile computers can access comparable performance to their desktop counterparts.
Whether in gaming or productivity, Intel’s new HX series of mobile processors brings a considerable boost to performance.
Led by the flagship i9-14900HX, the HX series includes up to 24 cores (8 P-cores and 16 E-cores) with a turbo frequency of up to 5.8 GHz, complemented by support for DDR5 memory up to 192 GB and 5,600 MT/s. In the connectivity realm, the HX-series includes support for Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, and Thunderbolt 5 for better display bandwidth.
Intel has already mentioned that over 60 partner systems will be coming to market in 2024, giving designers and users an opportunity to see for themselves how much power the HX series can bring.
14th Gen Desktop Processors
Intel's Core 14th Generation of desktop processors offer similar specs to the HX series, but in a larger package for increased flexibility in mainstream and enthusiast desktop applications.
Compared to previous generations, the 14th generation of mainstream desktop processors has more E-cores, enabling higher multi-threaded performance. The processors will be available in both 65 W and 35 W classes, with up to 24 cores and a maximum frequency of 5.8 GHz. In addition, the new processors are backward compatible with Intel 600 and 700 series motherboards, allowing for an easier upgrade process.
Ultra-Light, Ultra-Thin Mobile Processors
Moving to the world of ultra-small computers, Intel has also announced a new series of mobile processors designed to address the computing needs of the thinnest and lightest computers. This series, dubbed the U processor series 1, aims to offer the performance of larger processors with the highly restricted size, weight, and power requirements of ultra-small devices.
Intel’s U processors bring new performance upgrades in an ultra-light, ultra-small form factor, allowing more devices to experience modern computing performance.
The new line of U processors supports up to 5.4 GHz with up to 10 cores (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores), with up to 96 GB of memory and transfer speeds up to 5,200 MT/s for DDR5 and 3,200 MT/s for DDR4. Thunderbolt 4 connectivity is still included, along with Wi-Fi 6E/7 support. In addition, the U series includes power-saving features, allowing users and designers to get the most out of what may be a very limited battery capacity.
Intel partners are expected to release U-processor-powered devices in Q1 2024.
A Processor for All
While the higher desktop performance of Intel's new products may not be revolutionary, the increased processing power for mobile and ultra-light systems could dramatically close the gap between desktop and mobile computer performance.
All images used courtesy of Intel.
