Intel recently announced more details about its upcoming Lunar Lake CPU architecture, which is expected to launch in Q3 of this year. Moreover, according to Intel, Arrow Lake will be available in Q4 2024 as part of the Core Ultra 200 series. More information about Arrow Lake is expected to be revealed in Computex 2024. HWBusters will be there self-funded for the event. If you want, you can support us through Patreon. The Arrow Lake series features the same CPU architecture as the Core Ultra 200V series but with an older Alchemist (Xe-LPG) GPU architecture and targets the high-end laptop and desktop segment.
On the other hand, Lunar Lake will implement the new “Lion Cove” (P-Core) and “Skymont” (E-Core) architectures, including “Advanced Low Power Island” and a new NPU of +45 TOPS on AI. The Xe2 GPU platform claims AI performance of +60 TOPS, so we have an impressive result for Intel. Lunar Lake is designed for “Next Gen AI PCs,” as it seems with the Windows 11 24H2 Update, AI is the next big thing in the market. So, capable NPUs are an essential aspect of this advancement. Lunar Lake will rival Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series while Microsoft Copilot+ enters the game.
According to Intel, there is a 1.5x graphics improvement over the Meteor Lake and better overall performance over the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U and the Snapdragon X Elite. Intel also claims an impressive 1.4x improvement in Stable Diffusion AI performance and a 1.5x improvement over the Snapdragon X Elite. The given numbers are impressive on paper, but we shall wait to see if they will be proved accurate. We can never unquestioningly trust the vendors’ self-provided results.
Hot takes
- Lunar Lake is expected to launch on Q3 2024
- Arrow Lake is expected to launch on Q4 2024
- Arrow Lake shares the same architecture with Lunar Lake but older Xe-LPG GPU platform
- Lunar Lake implements Lion Cove and Skymont CPU core architecture and the Xe2 GPU platform (60 TOPS)
- “Advanced Low Power Island” and a capable NPU of 45 TOPS on AI
- 1.5x better graphics performance than Meteor Lake platform
- 1.4x improvement in Stable Diffusion AI performance
- Arrow Lake is advertised as the “first Gaming Processor with an AI Accelerator”
- Lunar Lake is advertised as “up to >3x Faster NPU”
We shall see how Intel’s newer generation of processors will stand against the tough competition. Current 13th and 14th-generation high-end processors are somewhat controversial. Cooling and power consumption, considering performance, especially against the competition, were a bit out of the comfy zone. Adding the latest so-called possible degradation issues, Intel has a long road ahead. Of course, things for AMD weren’t trouble-free (Asus drama, 95 is fine), so we shall wait for what is next. One thing is for sure, though. NPUs will be a significant player soon, as AI is taking over. The industry focuses more and more on AI performance, and we tend to follow that trend as well. It remains to be seen what technology holds in the future.
