Intel Meteor Lake SoC is NOT Coming to Desktops: Well, Not Technically
by Gavin Bonshor on September 28, 2023 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- SoCs
- Desktop
- Meteor Lake
Over the last couple of days, numerous reports have revealed that Intel's recently announced Meteor Lake SoC, primarily a mobile platform, would be coming to desktop PCs. Intel has further clarified that while their Meteor Lake processors will be featured in desktop systems next year, they won't power traditional socketed desktop PCs. Instead, these CPUs, primarily crafted for laptops, will be packaged in ball grid array (BGA) formats, making them suitable for compact desktops and all-in-one (AIO) devices.
Intel's statement, as reported by ComputerBase, emphasizes, "Meteor Lake is a power efficient architecture that will power innovative mobile and desktop designs, including desktop form factors such as All-in-One (AIO). We will have more product details to share in the future."
A senior Intel official recently mentioned that Meteor Lake processors are slated for desktop release in 2024. However, they won't be available in Intel's LGA1851 form factor, which caters to gaming rigs, client workstations, and conventional desktop systems. The practice of integrating laptop CPUs into compact PCs, such as NUCs and all-in-one PCs, isn't a novel one. Manufacturers have been doing this for years, and the intriguing aspect will be observing the performance and efficiency metrics of these high-end Meteor Lake laptop CPUs, especially when juxtaposed against the existing Raptor Lake processors designed for both desktops and laptops.
The rationale behind Intel's decision to exclude Meteor Lake processors from socketed desktops remains ambiguous. The CPU employs a multi-tile structure, with its compute tile being developed on the Intel 4 process technology. This technology marks Intel's inaugural use of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), while the graphics tile and SoC leverage TSMC's fabrication methods. Both production techniques are poised to deliver commendable performance and efficiency, but Meteor Lake is not designed as a pure desktop product.
Current indications suggest that the Arrow Lake-S series will be aimed at LGA1851 motherboards, but this is anticipated for the latter half of 2024. While Q3/Q4 of 2024 is still a while away, Intel's motherboard partners, such as GIGABYTE and MSI, have been readying up new refreshed Z790 motherboards, with features such as Wi-Fi 7 set to come to Intel's impending Raptor Lake refresh platform which is due sometime before the end of the year.
Source: ComputerBase
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meacupla - Thursday, September 28, 2023 - link
My guessesA) It doesn't scale well with increased power envelope and gets hotter than 13th gen when applying >250W
B) The design is too optimized for efficiency and its peak performance is worse than what AMD offers
C) Patching for "Downfall" caused too much performance loss on an otherwise high performance chip
D) Some kind of problem with adding 20x PCIe gen5 lanes that they couldn't fix with their first stab at chiplet design Reply
dwillmore - Thursday, September 28, 2023 - link
E) The packaging is so damn expensive that it doesn't make sense in the more cost focused Desktop market, but makes sense in the higher margin mobile (and server) space(s). Replyedzieba - Friday, September 29, 2023 - link
E) Qualifying it to work in existing boards would have been a huge pain for the small portion of the market who would be using it (i.e. not using Raptor Lake-S or Alder Lake-S or BGA Meteor Lake-S), adding a whole new non-compatible socket board series would have been a huge waste of effort only to be replaced with LGA1851, and qualifying it to work with LGA1851 boards would also have been a huge pain (e.g. ending up selling boards without CPUs able to take advantage of the new extra CPU lanes for SSDs). Intel have avoided having non-cross-compatible series when possible, IIRC the last time that broke was back with Sandy Bridge B/Q65 not supporting Ivy Bridge. Releasing as BGA-only means whatever chipset it is compatible with can have Meteor Lake-only features without worrying about incompatibility with other CPUs. ReplyBvOvO - Monday, October 2, 2023 - link
F, meteor lake for desktop Replyedzieba - Friday, September 29, 2023 - link
It's a little more complex than just "laptop CPUs in desktops". Arrow Lake-S (i.e. NOT Arrow Lake-H), not a mobile part, will be available. It won't be /socketed/ Arrow Lake-S, but it will still be a desktop part like all other past non-socketed -S lines previously, with desktop chipsets and desktop power limits. Replyxol - Monday, October 2, 2023 - link
Quote : "The rationale behind Intel's decision to exclude Meteor Lake processors from socketed desktops remains ambiguous."The market is tiny, that's why. A few boutique builders making "home media servers" for their friends is not it - these are so small scale that they don't even make their own boards (if they did they could use the product..)
These high end laptop chips are not going to be able to satisfy for games, so there's next to no market in the performance pc space.
I think this is only news because A. it's news. and B. there's a psychological relucance for the bigPC croud to accept that Intel is making products that are not aimed directly at them. Reply
TheinsanegamerN - Monday, October 2, 2023 - link
The market is so tiny they keep releasing multiple desktop SKUs. SMH/. Replyxol - Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - link
what are you talking about? Reply