IT168 Review As early as 2011, when Intel launched the Ultrabook plan, it showed the development trend of CPUs in the next three years. In the blink of an eye, three years have arrived, and the fourth generation Core processor code-named Haswell has arrived. As promised, what surprises has the new architecture and stronger functions brought us? Next, let’s find out more about it together.
◆Highlights of the fourth generation Core i series mobile processor
1. Graphics card performance is comparable to that of a discrete graphics card
2. 4K decoding is energy-saving and efficient
3. There are new methods for display expansion
4. Single-chip design accelerates PC miniaturization
◆Introduction to the fourth-generation Core i series mobile processor product series
The fourth-generation Core series mobile processors add the H series to the third-generation M, U and Y series. This series focuses on lightweight and high performance, with four physical cores. Some models will be equipped with Intel The most powerful Iris Pro graphics card (HD5200) among the fourth generation Core processors.
▲The fourth-generation mobile processor series
In terms of the M series, the fourth-generation Core has the same positioning as the third-generation Core, with four-core and dual-core products, integrating HD4600 /HD4400/4200 core graphics card.
In addition, the fourth-generation Core processor provides the U series and Y series for ultrabooks. They are Intel's first SoC single-chip PC platform. The U series power consumption is reduced to 15W, equipped with Iris graphics card (HD5000 core graphics card), a new 28W product, is designed to serve thin, light and high-performance products. The Y series is designed for pluggable deformable ultrabooks, with lower power consumption and lower heat generation, and focuses more on the tablet experience.
◆Main innovations and changes of the fourth generation Core i series mobile processors
1. Comprehensive logo update
Intel’s fourth generation Core i series processors The most intuitive change for us is the replacement of a new logo. In fact, this is expected. A simple analysis can be seen that the first generation Core is the first time that Intel has reduced three chips (Southbridge, Northbridge and CPU) to 2 chips (CPU and PCH), and the second-generation Core packages the GPU and CPU together. Compared with the first generation, it is an architectural change, so the logo has also been changed. The third generation Core has the same architecture as the second generation, and is an upgrade in the manufacturing process, so the logo has not changed.
The fourth generation Core processor, according to Intel's Tick-Tock strategy, is a product with an updated architecture, and it is also the first time Intel has launched a single-chip design (CPU and PCH integrated together), so the LOGO has been changed. It's a matter of course.
2. Optimize power management
At the 2011 Intel Technology Summit, Paul Otellini promised in his keynote speech that by 2013, Intel will reduce power consumption through new power management features. idle power consumption, resulting in longer battery life and standby capability. Now Intel has fulfilled its original promise. The fourth-generation Core processor has made many improvements in power management and added an extremely low-power active state S0ix, which reduces the power consumption of the new generation product by more than 20 times compared with the previous generation. Greatly extends battery life and standby capability.
3. Upgrade the CPU architecture
▲CPU microarchitecture
As a CPU launched in Tock, the microarchitecture of the fourth-generation Core processor has been upgraded. Although the connections and layout of all built-in units are similar to those of the previous generation, and the pipelines of each core have not changed much, the new generation Core has made adjustments and expansions at the back end, adding new execution units and ports, enlarging buffers, and strengthening Parallel processor capabilities, larger L2 and TLB, new AVX2 instruction set, etc. have improved performance compared to previous generation products.
4. Enhanced graphics performance and multimedia processing capabilities
In terms of graphics, the performance of the fourth-generation Core processor continues to double, and the performance of mainstream products is twice the performance of HD4000. At the same time, Intel The fourth-generation Core processor provides an Iris Pro graphics card with performance that is close to that of a terminal independent display, and its EU units are increased to up to 40!
▲The fourth-generation Core processor graphics card architecture
In terms of multimedia processing, the fourth-generation Core processor adds SVC decoding to the original AVC, VC1 and MPEG22 decoding. support, and can perform video hard encoding/decoding at 4K to 2K resolution. At the same time, the micro-architecture of the encoder has been improved to provide hardware acceleration for MPEG2 encoding and SVC encoding.
▲The fourth-generation Core processor media module
In addition, the fourth-generation Core processor further improves the performance of high-speed video synchronization and adds a video quality engine to achieve Video processing such as noise reduction, deinterlacing, color gamut compression, and skin tone enhancement improves battery life, performance, and media application quality for users.
The performance of the graphics card is comparable to that of a dedicated graphics card
Starting from the first generation of Core processors, Intel has made a big fuss about graphics cards, and the low performance of integrated graphics cards has gradually been taken over by core graphics cards. The performance of the HD4000 core graphics card integrated into the previous generation Core processor has reached the level of entry-level independent graphics. Official data shows that compared with the integrated graphics card, the performance is improved by nearly 40 times!
▲3Dmark VANTAGE score ranking
With the fourth generation Core processor, Intel continues to make efforts in core graphics cards. As can be seen from the above test results, the fourth generation Core i7 -4930MX integrated HD4600 core graphics card 3DMark VANTAGE GPU score has exceeded 24,000! It is at the same level as the current mid-range GT640M LE independent graphics card! It’s 8 times the score of a high-definition graphics card configured with the first-generation Core processor! Compared with HD4000 with third-generation Core processor configuration, the performance is nearly doubled.
▲The fourth-generation Core processor has many graphics card models
Of course, the HD4600 core graphics card is only a GT2-level graphics card among Intel’s fourth-generation Core processors and has 20 EU processing unit, with the same positioning as HD4400 and 4200. (Note: GT1/GT2/GT3 are core graphics levels in Intel’s roadmap)
▲HD4600 parameters
In addition to HD4600/4400/4200, Intel’s fourth-generation Core processors It also provides better-positioned HD5X00 series core graphics cards, which can be divided into HD5000, HD5100 and HD5200 according to performance levels. Among them, HD5000 is integrated into a low-power processor for ultrabooks. Although its level is higher than HD4600, due to The power consumption is lower, and its actual performance may not exceed HD4600. (There is currently no test data for reference, just speculation)
▲Intel official information
As for the HD5100 and HD5200 core graphics cards, Intel officially claims that their performance is quite excellent, especially the HD5200. Intel's most high-end core graphics cards have dedicated EDRAM memory. Therefore, in order to highlight the performance of these two core graphics cards, Intel has registered the Iris and Iris Pro trademarks for them. The Chinese names are "Ruiju" and "Ruiju Pro". Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten a test prototype yet.
4K decoding is energy-saving and efficient
Today, when full HD has not yet become popular, higher-standard 4K ultra-clear videos are quietly coming. This level of resolution can provide more than 8.8 million pixels, reaching movie-level picture quality, and the resolution is almost four times that of the current 1080P, up to 4096?2160! This puts forward higher requirements for playback equipment. Currently, all graphics cards that can achieve hard decoding on the PC side are independent graphics cards, and the core graphics card integrated with Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor has a 4K video encoder/decoder. , it is possible to achieve hard decoding of 4K videos without the help of independent graphics.
▲4K decoding
Although the performance of the third-generation Core processor can already achieve 4K video playback, it cannot implement hardware decoding, which means that it can only use the CPU Performing soft decoding will occupy a lot of CPU resources, and some abnormal 4K videos are affected by many factors. Even the fourth-generation top-end Core i7 we used for testing cannot play smoothly.
The fourth generation Core processor 4K video hard decoding
The fourth generation Core processor 4K video soft decoding
The fourth generation Core processor has a dedicated Codec hardware module, when we use the player to play 4K videos, the huge and complex decoding work is handed over to the specialized core, which can release CPU resources, and for the 4K videos that cannot be played by the soft decoding in the test, it can handle It's quite easy to get up.
▲Hard decoding has lower power consumption
The reduction of CPU occupancy means the reduction of processor power consumption. Since the specialized hardware decoder has a single function and high working efficiency, it The power consumption is very low. Coupled with the improvements in power consumption control of the fourth-generation Core processor, for our test platform, half of the power can be saved after turning on hard decoding. This can not only greatly extend the battery life of the notebook, but also reduce the heat generated by the entire machine.
New tricks for display expansion
◆Multi-screen expansion is easier
▲Three-level splicing only occupies 1 interface
Display performance The improvement is not only reflected in games. The new generation of core graphics cards has made new breakthroughs in multi-screen expansion. As we all know, the third-generation Core processor can expand up to three displays, but these three displays require the use of three interfaces to implement.
▲1-to-3 video interface adapter
The fourth-generation Core processor has two ways to directly realize three-screen splicing with only 1 DP interface. One is to use a 1 to 3 video interface adapter for expansion, and the second is to use a monitor equipped with two DP input and output interfaces, connect the host to one of the monitors, and then connect them in series one by one to achieve three screens. It shows that compared with the original connection method, the new expansion method is simpler.
◆WIDI wireless video transmission goes one step further
▲WIDI video transmission
After several generations of development, WIDI technology has gradually matured. With the fourth generation Core With the launch of the processor, Intel WiDi technology has been upgraded to WiDi 4.1. Compared with the previous generation, WiDi 4.1 further reduces video latency and adds the function of wirelessly transmitting data from output devices such as TVs and monitors to the PC through WiDi. This means that we can not only use WiDi to transmit the screen on the computer to the display device, but also realize that the display device with touch function can reversely transmit the data of our touch operations to the PC through WiDi (it can also be connected to USB interface mouse).
▲WiDi Adapter
Single-chip design accelerates PC miniaturization
Since the first-generation Core i processor in 2010, Intel has accelerated the integration of chips. The original three-chip layout of the South Bridge and North Bridge CPU was replaced by the CPU PCH dual-chip design. The fourth-generation Core processor further integrated the original design and upgraded the dual-chip design to a single chip. It integrated the CPU and PCH into In the same BGA (ball grid array structure PCB) package array.
▲The fourth generation Core further integrates chips
▲Haswell
Compared with the previous dual-chip structure, the latest single-chip design can simplify motherboard design. Reducing overall power consumption and reducing motherboard area is conducive to device miniaturization and innovation, and can also bring lower manufacturing costs, ultimately benefiting every user.
▲Original dual-chip architecture
However, it is worth noting that Intel’s fourth-generation Core processors only have low-power and ultra-low-power processing for ultrabooks. Only processors will use a single-chip design, while standard voltage processors and desktop processors still continue the dual-core architecture (CPU PCH).
Summary:
On the whole, although the fourth-generation Core processor adopts a new CPU architecture, its biggest highlight is the leap in graphics card performance, catching up with mid-range independent processors. Excellent performance has put considerable pressure on graphics card manufacturers in notebooks and ultrabooks, and single-chip design has further accelerated the miniaturization and miniaturization of PCs, providing a driving force for innovation in PC equipment.