Intel Microarchitecture Overview

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Intel provides numerous micro-architectures and CPUs. This article gives an overview about them.

Intel Tick-Tock Development Model

Intel developed microarchitectures until 2015 according to the "tick-tock" model:[1][2]

  • shrinking of process technology of the previous micro-architecture (Tick)
  • new micro-architecture (Tock)

Intel Process-Architecture-Optimization Development Model

The tick-tock model, which has been in use for more than a decade, is no longer sustainable, as Intel announced in summer 2015. That's why since 2016, a "process architecture optimization" model has been developed.[3] This transition to a three-stage phase means that three generations of processors are based on a single process architecture, instead of two generations as before. The additional step Optimization focuses entirely on optimizations in the architecture.

Architecture and CPU Overview since Skylake architecture

The following table shows an overview of the different architectures with the respective processors, starting from Skylake: [4]

Intel Skylake microarchitecture
(Supermicro X11-Boards)
Intel Icelake microarchitecture
code name Skylake Kaby Lake Coffee Lake Coffee Lake Refresh

Whiskey Lake
Cascade Lake[5]

Cooper Lake Cannonlake Icelake Tigerlake
tick/tock or Process/Architecture/Optimization new micro-
architekture
Tock
Optimization Optimization Optimization Optimization Process Architecture Optimization
process technology 14nm 14nm 14nm 14nm 14nm 10nm 10nm 10nm
CPU code name
Desktop Extreme /
High-End /
Performance
Skylake

i7-67xx
(LGA 1151)

Kaby Lake

i7-7xxx
(LGA 1151)

Coffee Lake

i7-87xx
(LGA 1151)

Coffee Lake Refresh[6]

i9-9900K
i7-9700K
i5-9600K

Mainstream Skylake

i5-6xxx
i3-6xxx

Kaby Lake

i5-7xxx
i3-7xxx

Coffee Lake

i7-8xxx
i5-8xxx
i3-8xxx

Mobile Skylake

i7-6xxx
i5-6xxx
i3-6xxx

Kaby Lake

i7-7xxx
i5-7xxx
i3-7xxx

Coffee Lake

i9-8xxx
i7-8xxx
i5-8xxx
i3-8xxx

Whiskey Lake U

partially with side-channel HW mitigation[7]
i5-8265U
i7-8565U
i3-8145U[8]

i3-8121U[9]
Server Scalable
Processor (SP)
(2+ Socket)
Skylake
Intel Xeon Scalable Processors
[10]
Platinum 81xx
Gold 61xx
Gold 51xx
Silver 41xx
Bronze 31xx
(LGA 3647)
- - Cascade Lake SP
2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors
[11]
Platinum 82xx
Gold 62xx
Gold 52xx
Silver 42xx
Bronze 32xx
(LGA 3647)
with side-channel
HW mititagtion
and AVX512_VNNI[12]
[13]
Cooper Lake SP

(LGA 4189)
-> new HW-platform,
by end of 2019[13]
Ice Lake SP
(LGA 4189)
approx. mid 2020[14]
Entry (EN)
(1 Socket)
Skylake
E3-15xx v5
E3-12xx v5
(LGA 1151)
Kaby Lake
E3-12xx v6
(LGA 1151)
Coffee Lake
E-21xx
(LGA 1151)

Architecture and CPU Overview until Broadwell architecture

The following table shows an overview about the different architectures and their CPUs until Broadwell:[15]

Intel Core microarchitecture
(Supermicro X7 motherboards)
Intel Nehalem microarchitecture
(Supermicro X8 motherboards)
Intel Sandy Bridge microarchitecture
(Supermicro X9 motherboards)
Intel Haswell microarchitecture
(Supermicro X10 motherboards)
code name Merom Penryn Nehalem Westmere Sandy Bridge Ivy Bridge Haswell Broadwell
tick/tock new micro-
architecture
Tock
new process-
technology
Tick
new micro-
architecture
Tock
new process-
technology
Tick
new micro-
architecture
Tock
new process-
technology
Tick
new micro-
architecture
Tock
new process-
technology
Tick
process technology 65nm 45nm 45nm 32nm 32nm 22nm 22nm 14nm
CPU code name
Desktop Extreme /
High-End /
Performance
Bloomfield
(4 Cores)
Core i7-9xx
Gulftown
(6 Cores)
Core i7-9xx
Sandy Bridge
Core i5-23xx
Core i5-24xx
Core i5-25xx
Core i7-26xx
(LGA 1155)
Core i7-38xx
Core i7-39xx
(LGA2011)
Ivy Bridge
Core i7-37xx
(LGA 1155)
Haswell
Core i7-47xx
(LGA 1150)
Mainstream Kentsfield
(4 Cores)
Yorkfield
(4 Cores)
Lynnfield
(4 Cores)
Core i5-7xx
Core i7-8xx
Clarkdale
(2 Cores + iGFX)
Celeron G1xxx
Pentium G6xxx
Core i3-5xx
Core i5-6xx
Sandy Bridge
Pentium G6xx
Pentium G8xx
Core i3-21xx
(LGA 1155)
Ivy Bridge
Core i3-32xx
Core i5-33xx
Core i5-34xx
Core i5-35xx
(LGA 1155)
Haswell
Core i5-46xx
Core i5-45xx
Core i5-44xx
Core i3-43xx
Core i3-41xx
Pentium G3xxx
(LGA 1150)
Mobile Clarksfield
(4 Cores)
Core i7-7xxQM
Core i7-8xxQM
Core i7-9xxXM
Arrandale
(2 Cores + iGFX)
Core i3-3xx
Core i5-4xx
Core i5-5xx
Core i7-6xx
Sandy Bridge
Celeron B8xx
Core i3-23xx
Core i5-24xx
Core i5-25xx
Core i7-26xx
Core i7-27xx
Core i7-28xx
Core i7-29xx
Ivy Bridge
Core i5-32xx
Core i5-33xx
Core i7-35xx
Core i7-36xx
Core i7-37xx
Core i7-38xx
Haswell
Core i7-49xx Extreme
Core i7-49xx
Core i7-48xx
Core i7-47xx
Core i7-46xx
Core i7-45xx
Core i5-43xx
Core i5-42xx
Core i3-41xx
Core i3-40xx
Server Expandable
Scalable (EX)
(4+ Socket)
Tigerton
(2 oder 4 Cores)
Xeon 72xx
Xeon 73xx
Dunnington
(4 oder 6 Cores)
Xeon 74xx
Nehalem-EX (Beckton)
(4, 6 or 8 Cores)
Xeon 65xx
Xeon 75xx
Westmere-EX
(6, 8 or 10 Cores)
Xeon E7-28xx
Xeon E7-48xx
Xeon E7-88xx
(LGA 1567)
Efficient
Performance (EP)
(2+ Socket)
Woodcrest
(2 Cores)
Xeon 51xx
Clovertown
(4 Cores)
(Xeon 53xx)
Wolfdale DP
(2 Cores)
Xeon 52xx
Harpertown
(4 Cores)
(Xeon 54xx)
Nehalem-EP (Gainestown)
(4C Cores)
Xeon 55xx
Westmere-EP[16]
(6 Cores)
Xeon 56xx
Sandy Bridge
Xeon E5-24xx
(Sandy Bridge-EN, LGA1356)
Xeon E5-26xx
(Sandy Bridge-EP, LGA2011)
Xeon E5-46xx
(Sandy Bridge-EP, LGA2011)
Ivy Bridge
Xeon E5-26xx v2
Xeon E5-16xx v2
(LGA 2011)
Haswell
Xeon E5-26xx v3
(LGA 2011-3)
Entry (EN)
(1 Socket)
Kentsfield
(4 Cores)
Xeon 32xx
Yorkfield
(4 Cores)
Xeon 33xx
Lynnfield
(4 Cores)
Xeon 34xx

Bloomfield
(4 Cores)
Xeon W35xx
Clarkdale
(2 Cores + iGFX)
Xeon L340x

Gulftown
(6 Cores)
Xeon 36xx
Sandy Bridge
Xeon E3-12xx
(LGA 1155)
Ivy Bridge
Xeon E3-12xx v2[17]
(LGA 1155)
Haswell
Xeon E3-12xx v3
(LGA 1150)

System-on-a-Chip Architectures

In the area of energy-saving soldered processors (SoC, System-on-a-Chip), Intel offers the following architectures:[18]

Bay Trail Cherry Trail Braswell Apollo Lake Gemini Lake Elkhart Lake[19]
Introduction 2013 2015 2015 2016 2017 (follows)
Microarchitecture Silvermont Airmont Airmont Goldmont Goldmont+ Tremont
Celeron Examples J1900

N2930

- J3160 N3450 N4000

N4100

n/a
Pentium Examples J2900 - N3160 N4200 N5000 n/a
Atom Examples E3845

E3905

x5-Z8300 x5-E8000 x5-E3930 - n/a

References

  1. Intel’s Tick Tock Model (intel.com)
  2. Intel Tick-Tock (en.wikipedia.org)
  3. Intel verabschiedet sich vom Tick-Tock-Modell (golem.de, 23.03.2016)
  4. Intel Roadmap Overview Sept 22nd, 2009 (intel.com)
  5. Intel Delays Mass Production of 10 nm CPUs to 2019 (anandtech.com, 27.04.2018) [...] Intel plans to release another generation of products made using its 14 nm process tech. This generation of chips includes Whiskey Lake products for client PCs and Cascade Lake for the datacenter, and both are scheduled for release later this year.
  6. The Intel 9th Gen Review: Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9600K Tested (www.anandtech.com, 19.10.2018)
  7. Spectre and Meltdown in Hardware: Intel Clarifies Whiskey Lake and Amber Lake (anandtech.com, 30.08.2018)
  8. HP Leaks Whiskey Lake-U CPU Specs (tomshardware.com, 08.08.2018)
  9. Erste Cannon-Lake-CPU: Intels Core i3-8121U und m3-8114Y in 10 nm (heise.de, 16.05.2018)
  10. Intels Xeon-Prozessorfamilie Skylake-SP läuft vom Stapel: Erste Benchmark-Ergebnisse gegen AMD Epyc (heise.de, 11.07.2017)
  11. Cascade Lake: Intel bringt neue Xeon-SP-Prozessoren mit bis zu 56 Kernen und 400 Watt TDP (heise.de, 02.04.2019)
  12. Intel at Hot Chips 2018: Showing the Ankle of Cascade Lake (anandtech.com, 19.08.2018)
  13. 13.0 13.1 Intel Server Roadmap: 14nm Cooper Lake in 2019, 10nm Ice Lake in 2020 (anandtech.com, 08.08.2018)
  14. An Interview with Lisa Spelman, VP of Intel’s DCG: Discussing Cooper Lake and Smeltdown (anandtech.com, 15.08.2018)So when we say Cooper will start shipping in 2019 and then Ice Lake as a ‘fast follow-on’, rather than think of Ice Lake as a 12-18 month cadence you should think of it as much shorter than that. We’re talking the middle of 2020.
  15. Intel Roadmap Overview Sept 22nd, 2009 (intel.com)
  16. Intel: Prozessorupgrade auf sechs Kerne für Server und Workstations (heise.de, 16.03.2010)
  17. Intel stellt Xeon E3-1200 v2 Serie vor (tecchannel.de, 14.05.2012)
  18. Kaufberatung: sparsame Mini-PCs für Netzwerk-Aufgaben (c't Magazin 4/2019, Seite 146
  19. Intel Elkhart Lake: Neue Atom-Generation mit Tremont und Gen11-Grafik (www.computerbase.de, 14.03.2019)

Additional Information


Foto Werner Fischer.jpg

Author: Werner Fischer

Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.


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