Meteor Lake Test Chip Packs Two Core Blazes
Recently, Intel officially unveiled its brand-new Core Ultra processors, codenamed Meteor Lake. These processors feature a unique segmented module architecture, composed of four independent modules. This includes a compute module fabricated using Intel’s pioneering Intel 4 process technology, interconnected via the Foveros 3D packaging technique.
A netizen recently showcased a special test chip for Meteor Lake, designed specifically for thermal testing. Unlike the standard Meteor Lake-P chips, this variant features two compute modules.
The design incorporating two compute modules is not uncommon; for instance, AMD employs dual CCDs in its high-end Ryzen processors, offering models with 12 or 16 cores. Theoretically, if the two modules are identical, they should be of the same size. However, the two compute modules in this special Meteor Lake test chip differ in size, with the right module being approximately 10% to 15% wider than the left. This discrepancy suggests a more probable configuration of one P-Core compute module paired with an E-Core compute module.
If Intel is specifically tailoring compute modules around P-Core and E-Core, it opens the possibility of fabricating these cores using different processes. For example, the P-Core compute module could be produced using Intel’s 4 process, while the E-Core module might be manufactured with TSMC’s 6nm process. Intel has already opted for TSMC’s 6nm process for the SoC module’s two LP E-Cores, so utilizing the same process for a module with additional E-Cores would not be unusual.
Intel has not released the Meteor Lake-P chips, and rumors suggest their cancellation. Currently, only Meteor Lake-H and Meteor Lake-U are known. If Intel decides to provide Meteor Lake chips for the desktop platform, it is more likely to adopt a dual-computer module design. Regardless of whether corresponding products are launched, it’s evident that Intel is exploring various compute module configurations.
