Intel Brings the Most Integrated Platform-Wide Leadership to PCs

Intel made a sweeping set of product and technology announcements, spanning the hottest segments of the PC industry. From new 10th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and new details on Intel’s innovation program, codenamed “Project Athena” that will take mobile computing to an entirely new level, to the first-ever gaming processor with an all-core turbo of 5GHz, Intel again raised the bar for PC experiences.

“No one wants to compromise, people want it all: battery life, performance, responsiveness, connectivity and slick form factors. Our job is to come together as an industry and deliver incredible and differentiated PCs, purpose built to what real people want. 10th Gen Intel Core processors – our most integrated CPU – and Project Athena are great examples of how our deep investments at a platform level will help fuel innovation across the industry,” said Gregory Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group.

10th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors: Highly Integrated; Broad Scale AI to the PC

Intel announced the first 10th Gen Intel Core processors, bringing high performance AI to the PC at scale with Intel® Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost). The processors are built on the company’s 10nm process technology, new “Sunny Cove” core architecture and new Gen11 graphics engine. 10th Gen Intel Core processors will range from Intel Core i3 to Intel Core i7, with up to 4 cores and 8 threads, up to 4.1 max turbo frequency, and up to 1.1GHz graphics frequency.

10th Gen Intel Core processors will take thin-and-light laptops and 2 in 1s to the next level, offering:

• Intelligent performance: Intel’s first processors designed to enable high performance AI on the laptop, delivering approx. 2.5X AI performance¹ with Intel DL Boost for low latency workloads. The new graphics architecture delivers up to one teraflop of vector compute for heavy duty inference workloads to enhance creativity, productivity and entertainment on highly mobile, thin-and-light laptops. For low-power AI usages on the PC, Intel® Gaussian Network Accelerator (GNA) is built into the SoC.
• A leap in graphics capabilities: New Intel® Iris® Plus graphics, based on the Gen11 graphics architecture, nearly doubles performance² for stunning visual experiences. Reach pro-level content creation capabilities on the go with approx. 2X HEVC encode; watch 4K HDR in a billion colors; game with up to 2X faster FPS and play thousands of popular titles in 1080p.
• Best-in-class connectivity: Delivering both integrated Thunderbolt™ 3 and integrated Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) for the first time to enable nearly 3X faster wireless speeds³ alongside the fastest and most versatile port available. Intel’s Gig+ implementation of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity delivers greater than 1Gbps wireless speeds with enhanced reliability and performance.

Intel’s highly integrated 10th Gen Intel Core processors give OEM partners the freedom to innovate on design and aesthetic by reducing the silicon footprint while still delivering the latest and greatest standards and world-class performance. The new 10th Gen Intel Core processors are now shipping, with OEM systems expected to be available for holiday 2019.

Project Athena: Accelerating the Pace of Innovation

Intel also shared more details on its innovation program codenamed “Project Athena,” including the 1.0 target specification that will usher in the first wave of laptops in the second half of this year. The company also previewed some of the first designs to come from partners spanning consumer and commercial including Acer*, Dell*, HP* and Lenovo*.

Based on years of research to understand people’s needs, challenges and expectations of the laptop, the program prioritizes enabling experiences that are reflective of real-world conditions as measured by “key experience indicators” (KEI).

Intel developed the new KEI engineering metrics, used during the program’s verification process, as a way to test and drive consistent experiences on the laptop. Metrics are based on day-in-the life research of laptop users at home or at work under real-world conditions. Intel’s goal for the new metrics is to work with the ecosystem to drive innovation that noticeably impacts people’s experiences on the laptop and evolve those capabilities year over year. The first wave of KEI targets include:

• Consistent responsiveness on battery
• 16 or more hours of battery life in local video playback mode and 9 or more hours of battery life under real-world performance conditions
• System wake from sleep in less than 1 second

The specification that will enable these experiences includes platform-level requirements, such as Thunderbolt 3, Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+), OpenVINO AI on PC compatibility and modern connected standby, across six areas: instant action, performance and responsiveness, intelligence, battery life, connectivity and form factor.

As part of Project Athena, Intel is providing co-engineering support across the ecosystem – with more than 100 companies signed on – and new tools and Open Labs facilities to support verification and testing of laptops.

Project Athena is a multi-year journey, with today’s announcement on the 1.0 target specifications and design previews representing just the beginning.

Performance Leadership for Gamers, Enthusiasts, Content Creators and Professionals

Intel made several more disclosures, including the announcement of the special edition 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9900KS processor, which has been fine tuned to deliver 5Ghz all-core turbo, making the world’s best gaming desktop processor even better. Expected to be available by holiday 2019.

For the first time, the company also showed the new Intel® Performance Maximizer (IPM), an automated overclocking tool that brings overclocking to the masses by making it easy to dynamically and reliably custom-tune unlocked 9th Gen Intel® Core™ desktop processors based upon its individual performance DNA. IPM will be free and is part of the Intel® Adaptix™ Technologies toolkit, a collection of advanced software technology tools that help OEMs and consumers maximize platform-level performance and experience. The toolkit also includes Intel® Dynamic Tuning Technology, Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility and Intel® Graphics Command Center.