Intel has won another patent dispute with VLSI - the claim was cancelled

The history of interaction between Intel and VLSI Technology knows several defeats of the former, as a result of patent disputes only last year the processor giant had to pay the opponent more than $3 billion.
A Delaware court had to consider another VLSI lawsuit against Intel over patent infringement by the first of the parties, but the disputants came to an agreement in pre-trial order and without cash payments.Image source: IntelIt was reported by Reuters with reference to the decision of the judiciary.
Earlier it was reported that VLSI demanded more than $4 billion in damages from Intel, but now it refuses the claims and their re-submission.
VLSI is refusing to prosecute Intel's partners and suppliers on the five patents in the lawsuit.
No cash payment is involved in such a decision.Intel has recently built its defense in disputes with VLSI on attempts to clarify the structure of the owners of this company and the ultimate beneficiaries of the corresponding lawsuits.
Earlier this month, Intel representatives had just asked the court to dismiss the case due to the complex ownership structure of VLSI, which does not allow to objectively assess the degree of interest of the ultimate beneficiaries in the outcome of the case.
The dismissal of the dispute implies that VLSI will now not have to further disclose the company's ownership by next January.
North Carolina is due for another trial in the patent law dispute between VLSI and Intel in 2024.

Core i9-13900K review: 350 Watt unit (not really)

Intel has long ago abandoned the \"tick-tock\" approach in development, but nevertheless, its echoes can still be caught when the company launches new products.
For example, the Alder Lake, which didn't quite fit this principle and introduced both a new process technology and a new architecture at once, was replaced by the new generation of Raptor Lake, which has clear signs of an intermediate technological step \"optimization\".
This stage became a popular method of processor improvement in the times of Skylake architecture domination and Intel doesn't give it up even today.
But there is an important difference: now the optimization steps are related not so much to the desire to maximize the lifecycle of old designs, as to increase the pace of CPU generation change.Raptor Lake is already the third family of Intel desktop processors since the beginning of 2021, and it would be strange to expect from it any dramatic innovations.
At the same time, Raptor Lake is a far cry from the kind of \"optimization\" the company resorted to when getting Coffee Lake and Comet Lake from Kaby Lake.
This time Intel's approach is much more thorough, and Raptor Lake isn't just Alder Lake with extra processing cores.
For one thing, Raptor Lake does inherit all the main features of Alder Lake.
It's a hybrid processor based on the same principles, built with performance and power-efficient cores with the same microarchitecture as before.
What's more, it's designed for the LGA1700 ecosystem and is fully compatible with older motherboards and supports both DDR5 and DDR4 memory.
On the other hand, Raptor Lake has a significant increase in clock speeds, which is due to improvements in the Intel 7 process technology.
In addition, the new processor has received a doubled number of E-core and, in addition, all of its cores have increased the amount of cache memory on Level 2.Thus, although Raptor Lake can not be called a full-scale upgrade, it has a sufficient set of advantages for both low- and multi-threaded loads.
And that means that from a user perspective, Raptor Lake should be better than Alder Lake literally everywhere: in resource-intensive content creation and processing applications as well as in gaming workloads.
How significant these improvements are from a practical point of view, and we will analyze in this article.⇡#Performance and energy-efficient cores Raptor LakeStarting the search for deep differences between Raptor Lake and Alder Lake, it is worth clarifying that they are produced by the same Intel 7 process technology, that is 10-nm norms (the full name of the technology process - 10 nm Enhanced SuperFin).
Moreover, the cores underlying Raptor Lake, too, can not be called new: it's not even a redesign, but rather what is called the word \"refresh\".
In fact, all internal improvements in the new CPU affect only cache memory and DDR4/DDR5 controller, but do not touch other functional blocks.
In this sense, Raptor Lake could not even be called a new code name, but simply Alder Lake 2.0.However, in the absence of explicit microarchitectural changes, the performance cores of Raptor Lake compared to Golden Cove cores of Alder Lake processors have received a much higher clock speed.
And this is due to evolutionary improvements in the manufacturing process.
While the lithography resolution hasn't changed, Raptor Lake uses an optimized version of Intel's 3rd generation SuperFin transistors with reduced channel resistance.
This allowed Intel engineers to reconsider the dependence of core frequency on their voltage and eventually achieve an increase in clock speeds without a noticeable increase in power supply voltage.
In describing the new relationship, Intel points out that at equal frequency, Raptor Lake can use 50 mV less voltage than Alder Lake, and at equal voltage its frequency can be 200 MHz higher.
Combining these improvements, engineers were able to push the maximum frequency of Raptor Lake's performance cores to 5.8 GHz, 600 MHz more than the frequency limit of Alder Lake! The optimized processor not only enabled higher frequencies, but also increased the transistor budget that was used to increase the number of cores.
While the Alder Lake chip contained eight performance and eight power-efficient cores, Raptor Lake doubled the number of power-efficient cores.
In other words, without changing technology norms, Intel made the first civilian processors with 24 cores (16 of which are energy efficient).
However, all this did not go unnoticed for power consumption and heat dissipation.
While the thermal package of the senior Raptor Lake remained at 125W, the limit of their maximum power consumption had to be pushed to 253W.
And that means

The full specifications of the Core i9-13900KS 6GHz chip were revealed, and it was also up to 39% faster than its predecessor

As part of the Raptor Lake desktop processor announcement, Intel has confirmed that it plans to eventually release another flagship processor capable of automatically overclocking to 6GHz right out of the box.
Officially, the manufacturer did not disclose the name of this model, but apparently it was about Core i9-13900KS.
The latest major leak about Intel chips confirmed these assumptions and revealed the full specifications of the upcoming select CPU.Image source: VideoCardzCore i9-13900KS is a 24-core processor, which includes eight efficient P-core and 16 energy-efficient E-core.
The processor supports 32 threads.
Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology allows its 1-2 highest performing cores to automatically overclock to 5.8 GHz.
Thermal Velocity Boost technology provides an extra 200 MHz of automatic overclocking to the same 6GHz.
The base frequency of the Core i9-13900KS large cores is also 200 MHz higher than the regular Core i9-13900K, at 3.2 GHz.
At the same time, the power-efficient cores of the KS version operate in the same frequency range - from 2.2 to 4.3 GHz.
Image source: Twitter / @9550proThe Core i9-13900KS rated power consumption increased from 125W to 150W.
However, the maximum power consumption has not changed and stands at 253W.
The chip supports the same memory standards as all other Raptor Lake processor models - DDR4-3200 and DDR5-5600.Shortly after the above leak, the first data about Core i9-13900KS performance in synthetic Geekbench test also appeared on the web.
The processor was tested with ASUS ROG Z790 Maximus Hero motherboard and 32 GB DDR5-7200 RAM.
Image source: GeekbenchDetailed telemetry data from three Geekbench tests indicate that the Core i9-13900KS automatically overclocked on multiple cores to 5893 MHz, but its average clock speed was 5867 MHz.Image source: GeekbenchIn the single-core performance test the processor scored up to 2319 points, and in the multi-core performance test it scored up to 26,774.
So, on average, its single-core performance is 10% better than its predecessor Core i9-12900KS (Alder Lake), and multi-core performance is 39% better.Image source: Geekbanksh Image source: VideoCardzThe Core i9-13900KS is expected to be officially launched in early January, at CES 2023.
It should go on sale during the first quarter of next year.

Intel's processor plans for 2023 have been revealed: Raptor Lake-S Refresh, Sapphire Rapids-WS and special Sapphire Rapids-SP for workstations

Intel is going to hold a webinar for investors next week, where it will reveal the current plans for various products.
This information has been leaked to the Net ahead of time.
The manufacturer is going to present next year updated consumer Raptor Lake, chips for workstations Sapphire Rapids-WS, as well as special Sapphire Rapids-SP for workstations.
All of the new products will be released over the next five quarters.Image source: IntelJudging from the published presentation slides, the updated Raptor Lake-S Refresh series of consumer processors will be released early in the third quarter of next year, which is less than a year after the first Intel Core 13th generation processor models were released.
Intel Raptor Lake-S Refresh.
Image source: Twitter / @9550proAccording to Intel's consumer processor roadmap, the company will refresh all of its 13th-generation Core models with TDP of 125, 65 and 35 watts.
Notably, the manufacturer has not yet released Raptor Lake processor models with a nominal TDP below 125W at this time.
Their announcement is expected only in early January next year.
Intel chipset roadmapIt is also important to note that for the updated Raptor Lake-S Refresh processors, the manufacturer does not plan to release a new series of chipsets for motherboards.
In other words, all future upgraded Raptor Lake models will be able to run on motherboards with Intel 700-series chipsets.
To date, only the elder Intel Z790 series chipset is available in this series.
Also manufacturer will present chipsets H770 and B760, but in the entry-level segment will remain the already released H610.
Features of Sapphire Rapids-WS (Intel Xeon W-3400)Within Sapphire Rapids-WS platform for workstations Intel will release two series of processors: Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400.
The former will be able to offer from 12 to 56 cores with support for 24 to 112 virtual threads, and will run at up to 4.8 GHz.
These processors will get 30 to 105 Mbytes of L3 cache and will have a TDP rating of 220 to 350 watts.
Intel Xeon W-3400 lineupSome of the Intel Xeon W-3400 processors will have an unlocked multiplier, allowing for manual overclocking.
It will support up to 4TB of 8-channel DDR5-4400 and DDR5-4800 RAM, as well as 112 lanes of PCIe 5.0.
Features of Sapphire Rapids-WS (Intel Xeon W-2400)Xeon W-2400 series will be represented by chips with the number of cores from 6 to 24, which will support from 12 to 48 virtual threads.
They will have 15 to 45 Mbytes of L3 cache memory and will run at speeds up to 4.8 GHz.
The TDP rating of these processor models will range from 110W to 225W.
Intel Xeon W-3400 lineup Part of the Xeon W-2400 series will also get an unlocked multiplier.
These processors will support up to 2TB of quad-channel DDR5-4400 and DDR5-4800 RAM, as well as 64 lanes of PCIe 5.0.
Features of the Sapphire Rapids-SP platform for workstationsSapphire Rapids-SP server-class processors will be represented by a series of 4th generation Xeon Scalable Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze models.
The Xeon Scalable Platinum Series chips will offer 36 to 56 processing cores with support for 72 to 112 virtual threads.
These chips will not have support for Intel Boost Max 3.0 technology, which will be available on Sapphire Rapids-WS workstation models, and therefore will have a maximum clock speed of 3.8 GHz.
This platform will get support for 80 PCIe 5.0 lanes and up to 4TB of DDR5-4800 RAM per CPU slot.
They will have a TDP rating of 300 to 350W.
Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP Workstation (Xeon Platinum 8400)Gold models will offer 8 to 32 cores with support for 16 to 64 virtual threads and will run at clock speeds up to 4.1 GHz.
Those processors will range from 22.5 to 60 Mbytes of L3 cache and have a TDP from 185W to 250W, depending on model.
The amount and standard of supported DDR5 memory, as well as the number of available PCIe 5.0 lanes will be the same as in Platinum models.
Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP for workstations (Xeon Gold 6400)Silver series will feature two CPU models: with 12 and 20 cores, supporting 24 or 40 threads respectively.
Both chips will run at 3.9 GHz.
The processors will get 30 and 37.5 Mbytes of L3 cache, respectively.
Their TDP will be 150 and 165W respectively.
Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP workstation lineup (Xeon Silver 4400 and Bronze 3400)Bronze lineup will feature only one 8-core model, without multithreading support

SK hynix has unveiled the fastest DDR5 MCR DIMM server memory - it is 80% faster than standard modules

SK hynix has announced the fastest DDR5 server memory modules - it has 8000 MT/s (or 8 Gbit/s).
This is about 80% faster than the standard DDR5-4800 modules used in the server segment.
The key feature of SK hynix DDR5-8000 server memory is Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) technology, developed in collaboration with Intel and Renesas.
By using a special chip developed by Renesas that acts as a data buffer, SK hynix has made it possible to simultaneously use two memory ranks (chips on both sides of the module) to increase the data channel width to 128 bits instead of the usual 64 bits.
The Renesas chip acts as an intermediate between the CPU and the RAM module, as shown in the diagram below.
The new memory architecture provides the ability to simultaneously route twice as much information to the CPU as conventional DRAM modules.
As a result, achieved a significant increase in the speed of the modules without the need to increase the frequency of the memory chips themselves.According to the vice president and general manager of memory interface development division in Renesas, Sameer Kuppahalli (Sameer Kuppahalli), the development of the data buffer took three years of intensive work.
Intel, on the other hand, says it is looking forward to the application of MCR technology by future Xeon platforms.
SK hynix expects that the new memory will be in demand in the HPC-segment, but it has not yet announced the date of mass production of MCR DIMM memory.

Intel hasn't enabled DLVR for power efficiency on Raptor Lake, but it could work on future CPUs

Rumors that Raptor Lake processors should get new DLVR technology have been circulating since March last year, but nothing was known about it at the time.
Some time later, Intel registered a patent, which described the purpose of DLVR.
As it turned out, we are talking about Digital Linear Voltage Regulator (DLVR), a new mechanism that improves the energy efficiency of processors.Image source: VideoCardzThe document explained that the digital linear voltage regulator in Intel processors works in parallel with the main one, which is installed on the motherboard.
DLVR can reduce the voltage of the processor and thus reduce power consumption by 20-25%.
At the same time, a 21% reduction in power consumption allows for up to a 7% increase in performance.Image source: VideoCardzAs you know, some of the Intel Core 13th generation processors are already on sale.
However, there is no sign of DLVR technology in them.
Intel hasn't said anything publicly about the new feature either.
However, traces of DLVR were found in fresh versions of ASUS mainboards BIOS for new processors.
It is called CPU DLVR Bypass Mode Enable.
In this case the function itself does not work.
Turning it on or off has no effect.Image source: VideoCardzThe ASUS company's in-house overclocker, a.k.a.
Shamino, has said that the DLVR function is indeed supported on the company's latest motherboards, but Intel has disabled it on Raptor Lake CPUs themselves.
He also added that there is a possibility that future Intel chips will support it.Image source: ASUS ROG ForumsThe wording \"future processors\" draws attention.
The Raptor Lake chips are expected to be the last for Intel's LGA 1700 platform.
Expected after Raptor Lake processors Meteor Lake series will almost certainly require a new processor socket.
On the other hand, rumors that Intel is allegedly working on updated Raptor Lake Refresh chips are starting to appear in the web.
Presumably, they will be able to offer up to 20% lower power consumption compared to the current Raptor Lake models due to the DLVR function.

Intel hasn't changed its mind about building plants in Ohio and Germany despite the downturn in the industry - but it may cut its project budget

This week the pages of the Intel corporate blog featured a post by Keyvan Esfarjani, executive vice president in charge of manufacturing operations for the corporation around the world.
He tried to reassure investors that deteriorating macroeconomic conditions would not force Intel to abandon its plans to build new facilities in the U.S.
and Europe, although he acknowledged that funding for these projects should be carried out in proportion to projected demand.Source image: IntelThe main idea of the message of the Intel representative was that the company should already prepare for the future growth in demand for semiconductor products.
It takes three to five years to build a plant and equip it with the necessary equipment, and the company simply cannot afford to ignore future market demands.
Intel's management shares the experts' optimism, predicting an average semiconductor market turnover growth rate of 5 percent a year by the end of the decade.
By the end of the forecast period, the market capacity should double to $1 trillion, so the company considers it necessary to invest in the construction of new enterprises, even now, when the current situation is not favorable to it.The second important idea, which broadcasts the executive vice president of Intel - the need for geographical diversification of chip production.
With 80% of capacity concentrated in one tiny region (meaning Taiwan), semiconductor manufacturing is very vulnerable, according to Intel.
Reportedly, this week the company acquired ownership of a piece of land in Magdeburg where a chip packaging and testing facility will be built, and eventually a second one will appear.
The company has also signed a contract with Bechtel, a construction contractor that will start building new Intel facilities in Ohio.
Here, the corporation expects to master mass production of chips using Intel 18A technology by 2025, with the U.S.
Defense Department mentioned among the first customers.
At the first stage, Intel expects to invest at least $20 billion at this site.
A management representative made it clear that the company will work closely with German and Ohio state authorities to determine when and how much funding is needed for the relevant projects.
Intel in this regard is going to be guided by the needs of the market and plan its major expenditures wisely.

Leaked - Prices for select 6GHz Core i9-13900KS have been revealed

Canadian retailer PC-Canada has declassified ten planned Intel processors that will expand the Raptor Lake series.
Most of them are Core i9, Core i7 and Core i5 models without a \"K\" in the name, which have a reduced to 65W TDP rating.
However, the list also includes the flagship Core i9-13900KS model.Image source: IntelThe seller has indicated the price of the expected new products.
If converted to U.S.
dollars, prices are as follows:Core i9-13900KS: 24 cores, 32 threads, n/a-6.0 GHz - $725;Core i9-13900: 24 cores, 32 threads, 2.0-5.6 GHz - $615;Core i9-13900F: 24 cores, 32 threads, 2.0-5.6 GHz - $585;Core i7-13700: 16 cores, 24 threads, 2.1-5.2 GHz - $415;Core i7-13700F: 16 cores, 24 threads, 2.1-5.2 GHz - $390;Core i5-13500: 14 cores, 20 threads, 2.5-4.8 GHz - $258;Core i5-13400: 10 cores, 16 threads, 2.5-4.6 GHz - $245;Core i5-13400F: 10 cores, 16 threads, 2.5-4.6 GHz - $218;Core i3-13100: 4 cores, 8 threads, 3.4-4.5 GHz - $155;Core i3-13100F: 4 cores, 8 threads, 3.4-4.5 GHz - $125.
All new products should debut in January next year.
They will compete with processors Ryzen 7000.
And, apparently, Intel will have a significant advantage over the competitor for some time in the number of models and, accordingly, more flexible pricing.
Image source: PC-CanadaAs for the Core i9-13900KS: this 24-core, 32-core processor will be able to automatically overclock multiple cores to 6.0 GHz.
Based on the prices published by the Canadian retailer, the novelty will be about a third more expensive than the Core i9-13900K model offered in the same store.The official premiere of the remaining Intel Raptor Lake series processors is expected at the international electronics show CES 2023 in early January.
They will debut at the same time as motherboards on the Intel B760 chipset.
Like the older models, they will also be compatible with Intel's 600-series motherboards for Alder Lake processors.