Intel has previously confirmed that it will launch a new generation of desktop/mobile platform Nova Lake at the end of this year, with an upgraded new architecture that can achieve up to 52 cores and 288MB cache. The parameters on paper are incredible. However, the cost of doing so may not be small. Not only is it rumored that the power consumption of PL4 reaches 700W, but now the core area data has also been exposed. The well-known whistleblower HXL gave specific data of the 8+16 core version of Nova Lake.
Specifically, the core area of the regular version of the 8+16 core version is 110mm2 under TSMC’s N2 process.The bLLC large cache version has been increased to 150mm2, which means the cache occupies 40mm2 area.
Nova Lake's competitor is AMD's Zen6 family this year. Previously, HXL also exposed the core area of Zen6. It is also a TSMC 2nm process. Zen6's CCD has been upgraded to a 12-core architecture.The core area has increased from 71mm2 of the previous generation 8-core architecture to 76mm2, which only increases the area by 5mm2, and the efficiency is very high.
For comparison, the 8+16 version of Nova Lake has 110mm2. Although it has more cores, the 16-core version is an E-core and its area is very small. After this compromise, Intel will still lose its advantage in area efficiency. If it is the bLLC version, it will suffer even more, with the area almost doubled.
The above is still the 8+16 core version, and everyone knows that Nova Lake can reach up to 52 cores, consisting of 16P+32E+4LPE, which is the dual-core version of the above 8+16 cores.This means that the core area can reach 300mm2.And the 2nm process is so expensive, the cost of 52-core Nova Lake is simply unimaginable.
Even if such a product is finally launched on the market, I am afraid the price will be very shocking, and may reach more than 10,000 yuan.