Skylake (microarchitecture)

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Skylake
Predecessor Haswell (tock)
Broadwell (tick)
Successor Cannonlake (tick)

Skylake is the codename used by Intel for a processor microarchitecture under development and due to launch in 2015 as the successor to the Broadwell architecture.[1] In accordance with Intel's tick-tock principle, Skylake will initially be released on a 14 nm manufacturing process,[2] and is expected to transition to a 10 nm manufacturing process around a year later. The 10 nm die shrink version has been named "Cannonlake".

Skylake's release to market is expected to be unusually soon after that of Broadwell itself. While industry observers initially believed that the issues impacting Broadwell would also affect Skylake, newer information suggests that Intel will be seeking to recover by maintaining the traditional "tick-tock" cadence for Skylake and shortening Broadwell's release cycle instead.[3]

Overview[edit]

Like its predecessor, Haswell, Skylake is initially expected to come in four variants, identified by the suffixes "S" (SKL-S), "H" (SKL-H), "U" (SKL-U), and "Y" (SKL-Y). An unlocked overclockable "K" variant is expected to follow,[4] but the initial release of Skylake processors will be models that have locked clock multipliers.[5] The H, U and Y variants will be manufactured in ball grid array (BGA) packaging, while the S variant will be manufactured in land grid array (LGA) packaging using a new socket, LGA 1151.[6] Skylake will be used in conjunction with Intel 100 Series chipsets, also known as Sunrise Point.[7]

The major expected changes between the Haswell and Skylake architectures include the abandonment and removal of the fully integrated voltage regulator (FIVR) introduced with Haswell,[8] and the integration of the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) onto the die for Skylake's H, U and Y variants, effectively following a system-on-chip (SoC) design layout. The S variant will remain a two-chip design. On the variants that will use the PCH, Direct Media Interface (DMI) 2.0 will be replaced by DMI 3.0, which promises speeds of up to 8 GT/s. Variants U and Y will support one DIMM slot per channel, while H and S variants will support two DIMM slots per channel.[6] Skylake's launch and sales lifespan occur at the same time as the ongoing SDRAM market transition related to a dropoff in the DDR3 SDRAM memory as it gradually becomes replaced by the DDR4 memory. Rather than purely working with DDR4, the Skylake microarchitecture is expected to remain able to interoperate with either type of memory, to allow backward compatibility.[9]

Other expected enhancements include PCI Express 4.0 support on the "-E" (extreme) version (for which the release is expected somewhere in 2016), Thunderbolt 3.0, SATA Express, Iris Pro graphics with feature level 12.0 as the norm, and four cores as the default, with up to 128 MB of L4 eDRAM cache on certain SKUs. Instruction set enhancements are also expected with most microarchitecture releases; the Skylake instruction set changes include Advanced Vector Extensions 3.2 ("AVX-512F"), Intel SHA Extensions (for SHA-1 and SHA-256 Secure Hash Algorithms), Intel MPX (Memory Protection Extensions), and Intel ADX (Multi-Precision Add-Carry Instruction Extensions).

Architecture[edit]

Configurations[edit]

Multiple combinations of integrated L4 eDRAM cache will be available with various Skylake configurations. Some of the available models will have configurable thermal design power (cTDP); for example, Skylake-S (SKL-S) processors will be available in two TDP variants, one around 35 W and the other around 65 W. Skylake-S processors will also have support for both DDR3 and DDR4 SDRAM.[6]

The following table details the announced Skylake configurations, as of June 2014:[6]

Variant Cores Graphics Memory eDRAM TDP
SKL-Y-1 2 GT2 LPDDR3 1600 MHz N/A 4 W
SKL-U-1 2 GT2 LPDDR3 1600 MHz N/A 15 W
SKL-U-2 2 GT3e LPDDR3 1600 MHz 64 MB 28 W
SKL-H-1 4 GT2 DDR4 2133 MHz N/A 35 W
SKL-H-2 4 GT4e DDR4 2133 MHz 128 MB 45 W
SKL-S-1 2 GT2 DDR4 2133 MHz or DDR3L/DDR3L-RS 1600 MHz N/A 35–65 W
SKL-S-2 4 GT2 DDR4 2133 MHz or DDR3L/DDR3L-RS 1600 MHz N/A 95 W
SKL-S-3 4 GT4e DDR4 2133 MHz or DDR3L/DDR3L-RS 1600 MHz 64 MB 35–65 W

Release timing[edit]

An unusual feature of Skylake's release timing is that it follows very closely on the release of its predecessor, Broadwell, which had suffered from launch delays.[20] Intel commented in 2014 that moving from 22 nm (Haswell) to 14 nm (Broadwell) had been "their most difficult process to develop yet", causing Broadwell's planned launch to slip by several months;[21] yet, the 14 nm production was back on track and in full production as of Q3 2014.[22] Industry observers had initially believed that the issues impacting Broadwell would also cause Skylake to slip to 2016, but newer information suggests that Intel would seek to recover from these delays by bringing forward Skylake's release and shortening Broadwell's release cycle instead.[3][23]

Accordingly, it is believed that Broadwell will have an unusually short run, although unlocked multiplier versions of Broadwell ("K" SKUs) are still expected to be released in parallel with Skylake in 2015.[4][3] (Extreme or unlocked versions of a number of Ivy Bridge and Haswell variants had previously also been released with staged timing and in parallel with their successors' initial release).

Roadmap[edit]

The main article for this category is Intel Tick-Tock.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Demerjian, Charlie. "After Intel's Haswell comes Broadwell". Semiaccurate.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04. 
  2. ^ "Intel Presentation: 22nm Details" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-04. 
  3. ^ a b c "Intel’s 14nm puzzle: As Skylake details leak, everybody asks – is the chip coming in 2015 or not? - ExtremeTech". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  4. ^ a b "Intel Announcing Broadwell SKUs in CES 2015". WCCFtech. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  5. ^ Shvets, Gennadiy (2014-05-25). "Intel Skylake desktop CPUs to launch in Q2 2015". Cpu-World. Retrieved 2014-05-25. 
  6. ^ a b c d Pirzada, Syed Muhammad Usman (27 June 2014). "Massive Intel 14nm Skylake Leak – Multiple eDRAM Configurations and Desktop Variant to have Configurable TDP". WCCFTech. WCCFTech Prvt. Ltd. Retrieved 28 June 2014. 
  7. ^ "Intel Core "Skylake" CPUs Accompanied by 100-series Chipset". techPowerUp. Retrieved 2014-05-08. 
  8. ^ Pirzada, Syed Muhammad Usman (5 June 2014). "Intel to Abandon the Internal Voltage Regulator (IVR) with Skylake Microarchitecture". WCCFTech. WCCFTech Prvt. Ltd. Retrieved 28 June 2014. 
  9. ^ "Intel Skylake Could Feature Dual DDR3/DDR4 Memory Support with Double IMCs". Kalen2u Technology. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  10. ^ "Intel's Cannonlake 10nm Microarchitecture is Due For 2016 - Compatible On Union Bay With Union Point PCH". Wccftech.com. 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  11. ^ "Intel 14nm Skylake Desktop 'Sky Bay" Platform Detailed - TDPs For DT, H-Series, U-Series, Y-Series Unveiled, Quad Core With GT4e GPU Has 95W TDP". Wccftech.com. 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2014-06-09. 
  12. ^ a b "Intel Skylake Processors To Launch in 2H 2015 - Compatible With LGA 1151 Socket and Z170 Chipset, Will Feature DDR3 / DDR4 Memory Support". Wccftech.com. 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2014-06-09. 
  13. ^ Shilov, Anton (2012-04-04). "Intel to Start DDR4 Usage with Server Platforms in 2014.". X-bit laboratories. Retrieved 2013-10-05. 
  14. ^ Worrel, Jon (2012-04-04). "Intel to introduce DDR4 memory with Haswell-EX server platform". Fudzilla. Retrieved 2013-10-05. 
  15. ^ a b Iyer, Tarun (2013-07-03). "Report: Intel Skylake to Have PCIe 4.0, DDR4, SATA Express". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2013-10-05. 
  16. ^ Reynolds, Sam (2013-11-07). "New details on Intel's upcoming Skylake processor". Vr-zone.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08. 
  17. ^ Kirsch, Nathan. "Intel 2015 Platform Roadmap Shows Skylake CPUs, 100 Series Chipset and DDR4". Legit Reviews. Retrieved 2014-05-08. 
  18. ^ "AVX-512 instructions". 
  19. ^ "IDF 2014: Skylake-Prozessorgrafik wird erste echte Direct-X-12-Hardware". PC GAMES HARDWARE ONLINE. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  20. ^ "Intel Corporation Launching Broadwell, Skylake Chips Back to Back". ValueWalk. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  21. ^ http://www.anandtech.com/show/8367/intels-14nm-technology-in-detail
  22. ^ http://hexus.net/tech/news/cpu/74481-intel-broadwell-skylake-client-cpus-launching-2015/
  23. ^ http://seekingalpha.com/article/2563875-intel-skylake-development-appears-to-be-on-schedule