OCTOBER 2020 PCWorld 11downclocked, or nominal (stock) configuration.
We knew a bit about Intel’s plans for its Xe
integrated graphics, because Intel said last
month that Tiger Lake would include up to 96
EUs. That’s a bump up from the 64 EUs Ice
Lake offered, before any performance
improvements from Intel’s new Xe Core (now
dubbed Iris Xe) are factored in. Graphics
frequencies are higher, too. Tiger Lake’s Xe
GPU supports 8K HDR displays and up to four
simultaneous 4K HDR displays, as well as
Dolby Vision.
Interestingly, Intel is not making any
distinction between the graphical capabilities
of processors like the Core i7-1185G
(96EUs, 1.35GHz GPU frequency) and the
Core i5-1135G7 (80EUs, 1.3GHz). Both are
identified with the same G7 suffix, and both
include the Intel Iris Xe branding. There will
likely be some differences in graphics
performance between the two that the
branding and model numbers won’t disclose.
Otherwise, Intel’s product matrix tells us
that the cache sizes will vary among the
different processors, affecting performance
somewhat. The memory options include the
same DDR4-3200 as Ice Lake had, plus a
faster LPDDR4X-4266 option that Ice Lake
didn’t have. Tiger Lake is also Intel’s first CPU
line to support PCI Express Gen4. Tiger Lake
notebooks will have up to four ports of
Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+), too.ACTUAL PERFORMANCE
REMAINS UNKNOWN
Intel’s recent Intel Architecture Day (go.
pcworld.com/prom) revealed one reason
why Tiger Lake represents a greater-than-
generational leap in performance: its
SuperFIN transistor. According to Ruth Brain,
an Intel fellow specializing in technology
development and interconnects, the sum
total of all of the intranode improvements
made in the 14nm generation would be
equaled by one intranode performance
increase from Ice Lake to Tiger Lake. That’s a
generation’s worth of “++” improvements,
wiped off the table by the SuperFIN transistor.
That might help explain the greater range
in Tiger Lake’s operating power, too, as
the “Willow Cove” CPU within Tiger Lake is
designed for a broader range of operating
power and frequency than the “Sunny Cove”
CPUs inside of Ice Lake.Intel believes that Tiger Lake offers a wider range
of performance-versus-power options than Ice
Lake ever did.