Intel right now launched the cell model of its “Raptor Lake Refresh” processors for laptops at CES 2024, answering the calls for for extra efficiency in its pocket book chips. Led by the Intel Core i9-14900HX, the brand new chip household can hit 5.8GHz, driving desktop speeds inside a gaming laptop computer. Raptor Lake Refresh powers Intel’s 14th-gen desktop collection as nicely, however these new processors are being provided alongside the corporate’s much-hyped “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra chips in laptops.

If you’re already an proprietor of a Thirteenth-gen Core laptop computer, nonetheless, it’s possible you’ll need to pause. These new chips appear awfully acquainted, and 14th-gen Core HX laptop computer house owners are seemingly see a lot sharper efficiency enhancements in comparison with the Core Ultra than the Thirteenth-gen cell elements.

We’ve barely seen the primary Intel Core Ultra laptops debut from Lenovo and Acer, led by our review of the Acer Swift Go 14 and hands-ons of multiple Core Ultra laptops performing AI duties. But Intel hasn’t been shy in speaking about how the Core Ultra sips energy, with an emphasis on lengthy battery life.

It now appears just like the Core Ultra would be the engine for all-day productiveness laptops, and the brand new 14th-gen cell Core HX collection can be what you’ll purchase for Intel-based quick gaming laptops. About sixty HX-based notebooks will ship this 12 months, Intel expects.

The secret? More cores, surrounded by an infrastructure that delivers extra knowledge. Intel’s Core Ultra processors high out at six efficiency cores (P-cores) and eight effectivity cores (E-cores) with a pair of low-power E-cores, as well. The Core Ultra Thread Director’s administration software program pushes new duties to the lowest-power cores, first. On the opposite hand, Intel’s 14th-gen cell chips just like the Core i9-14900HX high out with eight P-cores and a whopping sixteen E-cores, and it seems new duties can be routed to the quickest cores first.

While the brand new 14th-gen Core cell processors share some overlap with the Core Ultra — DDR5 reminiscence, Bluetooth 5.4/5.3, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E (with assist for discrete Wi-Fi 7 playing cards) — there’s one vital improve: assist for Thunderbolt 5, which guarantees 80 to 120Gbps connections permitting a number of high-resolution shows and certain a resurgence of exterior GPUs.

Yes, the identify is a bit bizarre — Intel refers to those because the Intel Core processor HX-series (14th-gen), or 14th-gen cell Core HX. But should you hold a watch out for processors just like the Core i9-14900HX on the labels at laptops you’re , you have to be in your strategy to shopping for the perfect efficiency Intel at the moment gives.

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Between the Core and Core Ultra manufacturers, Intel and its companions will ship greater than 750 designs this 12 months, Michelle Johnson Holthaus, government vice chairman o the Intel Client Computing Group, stated on stage at CES right here, launching the brand new chips. Excecutives from HP, Dell, Lenovo and extra have been on stage supporting the launch.

Speeds and feeds

Intel is launching 5 14th-gen cell Core HX processors right now. They’re Intel 7 chips, just like the desktop version of the 14th-gen Core, Raptor Lake Refresh. All of those are 55W elements, although they will ask as much as 157W of the laptop computer when in turbo mode.

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• Intel Core i9-14900HX: 24 cores (8 P-cores at as much as 5.8GHz,16 E-cores as much as 4.1GHz)/32 threads, UHD Graphics at 1.65GHz.
• Intel Core i7-14700HX: 20 cores (8 P-cores at as much as 5.5GHz,12 E-cores as much as 3.9GHz)/28 threads, UHD Graphics at 1.6GHz
• Intel Core i7-14650HX: 16 cores (8 P-cores at as much as 5.2GHz, 8 E-cores as much as 3.7GHz)/24 threads. UHD Graphics at 1.6GHz
• Intel Core i7-14500HX: 14 cores (6 P-cores at as much as 4.9GHz, 8 E-cores as much as 3.5GHz)/20 threads. UHD Graphics at 1.55GHz
• Intel Core i7-14450HX: 10 cores (6 P-cores at as much as 4.8GHz, 4 E-cores as much as 3.5GHz)/16 threads. UHD Graphics at 1.5GHz

To be honest, these new 14th-gen HX processors outshine Meteor Lake by way of efficiency, however they give the impression of being awfully much like the 13th-gen Core chips Intel announced in January 2023. Take the Intel Core i9-13980HX: 8 efficiency cores, 16 effectivity cores, with the turbo clock pace of the P-cores hitting 5.6GHz. That chip would slot in slightly properly between the present Core i9-14900HX and the Core i7-14700HX.

Even a more in-depth look doesn’t reveal that many modifications, although the low-end cell processors enhance. At the low finish, the older Core i5-13450HX provided 6 P-cores at 4.6GHz, 4 E-cores at as much as 3.4GHz, and UHD graphics at as much as 1.45GHz. The Core i7-14450HX delivers 6 P-cores at 4.8GHz turbo speeds, 4 E-cores at 3.5GHz, and UHD Graphics at 1.5GHz.

None of those new 14th-gen chips comprise AI capabilities, not like Meteor Lake. (Intel launched standalone Movidius AI playing cards alongside a few of the Thirteenth-gen cell Core chips.) And as a result of these are cell processors, Intel isn’t disclosing costs. Instead, laptop computer makers will purchase them immediately from Intel.

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The period of Thunderbolt 5 begins inside Intel’s 14th-gen Core HX

There are some variations within the supporting I/O infrastructure, although. For one, the Raptor Lake Refresh structure is constructed upon the normal two-die design, with a CPU and an I/O chip. Meteor Lake makes use of a brand new tiled structure.

The new 14th-gen Core HX-series chips will use DDR5-5600 reminiscence, like Meteor Lake (which makes use of LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X-7469 reminiscence, too). The new 14th-gen HX chips received’t be capable of obtain these sooner speeds, and DDR4 3200 is listed as a substitute reminiscence possibility as a substitute for 14th-gen HX laptops.

The tradeoff? More lanes of PCIe Gen 5 as a substitute — Meteor Lake features a 1×8 PCIe 5.0 connection, whereas the 14th-gen HX platform consists of x16 lanes as a substitute. The new 14th-gen HX cell platform additionally consists of 4 lanes of PCIe4 off the CPU (plus one other 16 off of the I/O controller) and 12 lanes of PCIe 3.0 off the I/O controller, too.

Intel

It’s potential that a few of these PCIe 5 lanes might be used for Thunderbolt 5. Intel doesn’t checklist Thunderbolt as an built-in function of the platform in any respect, and has listed it as accessible on choose fashions. WiFi 7 ought to be accessible as a discrete possibility, too, as will Intel’s Wi-Fi 7 (5 Gig) BE200 chip, and the Killer 1750x, which can mix WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

And on paper, it seems that the 14th-gen HX laptops will fall a bit in need of Meteor Lake by way of show I/O. While the Core Ultra/Meteor Lake helps DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI 2.1, the 14th-gen HX tech helps simply HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4.

By playing on DisplayPort 1.4 (in addition to embedded DisplayPort 1.4, additionally supported) Intel is betting that players received’t need something greater than 4K120Hz native outputs, slightly than the 4K240 possibility DisplayPort 2.1 (or 8K60) offers. HDMI 2.0b can solely assist 4K60 decision, or 1440p outputs at 120Hz.

But there’s a slight wrinkle. The 14th-gen HX platform helps High Bit Rate 3 (HBR3) a lossless compression commonplace. Provided the output helps it, HBR3 works with DisplayPort to supply (lossless) compressed video at as much as 8K60 utilizing a single monitor.

The 14th-gen HX platform additionally helps WiFi 6E, (simply) gigabit Ethernet, x8 SATA, and 14 USB2 and 10 USB3 connections.

Intel can also be carving out a small group of U-class processors into its personal particular grouping, and it’s not fairly clear why. We might even see these in Chromebooks, or simply price range shopper and business-class notebooks. The emphasis right here is on battery life, with extra weight given towards E-cores than P-cores.

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The plus? Support for 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Though you possibly can definitely join any Thunderbolt 4 port to a Thunderbolt dock, assist for 4 ports signifies that it’s seemingly that you simply’ll see no less than one port on both facet of your laptop computer. Snake just a few I/O cables round your desk and also you’ll quickly recognize how helpful that’s.

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How quick is the Intel Core HX?

Naturally, Intel is evaluating its newest processors to older AMD Ryzen CPUs, in making the declare that its newest chips outperform AMD’s finest. But it’s noteworthy, too, that Intel isn’t making any gen-over-gen comparisons to its Thirteenth-gen cell Core chips, too. While we haven’t reviewed the brand new 14th-gen Core HX platform, it appears potential that we’ll see a gentle gen-over-gen efficiency enchancment much like our Intel 14th-gen desktop Core review.

For reference, our review of the Intel Core i9-13980HX carried out fantastically — in contrast in opposition to Intel’s Twelfth-gen Core elements.

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At least Intel is bringing in AMD’s X3D elements for comparisons. Otherwise, it might be two cell Core architectures to AMD’s one.

Intel

All of the brand new 14th-gen HX platforms are overclockable, and assist Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility for tuning and overclocking reminiscence, in addition to Intel’s XMP, or Extreme Memory Profile. Intel can also be regularly tuning purposes and video games by way of Intel Application Optimization, and the corporate says that it’s added six new gaming titles since October.

We’re already seeing gaming laptops introduced utilizing the brand new 14th-gen Core HX chips. Will AMD have a solution?

This story was up to date at 4:09 PM with extra particulars.
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