Summary
New details regarding the upcomingIntelLunar Lake CPU have been leaked by a tester with an early sample, including the chip’s core and thread count. The leaks suggest that the Lunar Lake architecture will have a few notable changes over Meteor Lake, which launched in December 2023 with the first generation ofIntelCore Ultra processors.
Intel appears to be preparing for multiple product launches in 2024, such asthe new Intel Core i9-14900KS desktop processorand Lunar Lake processors for laptops. Leaks from November 2023 suggested that Lunar Lake MX processors would feature power-efficient Battlemage GPU cores with support for DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, and other useful technology that could benefit gamers on the go.
The specs for an Intel Lunar Lake CPU sample were shared by Zhihu user Xziar and reported byTom’s Hardware, revealing an 8 core and 8 thread setup without Hyper-Threading. Specifically, Intel’s new CPU will feature four Lion Cove-based performance cores and four Skymont-based efficiency cores with a 1.8 GHz base clock and a 2.8 GHz boost clock. Lunar Lake’s L1 cache (836 KB) and L2 cache (14 MB) are identical to those ofIntel Core Ultra Meteor Lake, but the upcoming CPU’s L3 cache is strangely less than the L2 cache at just 12 MB. Rumors and leaks implied that Lunar Lake’s L3 cache would be 16 MB, so it’s possible that the sample’s L3 cache was not read correctly in Xziar’s screenshot. However, the user believes the L3 cache is “obviously not up to par,” implying that this Lunar Lake CPU will be released with 12 MB of L3 cache.
It’s worth noting that the sample’s lack of Hyper-Threading could change with the official launch of Lunar Lake products. For example, early Intel Arrow Lake samples did not have Hyper-Threading, despite Hyper-Threading being an integral feature formodern desktop CPUs from Intel. Like Lunar Lake, Arrow Lake is expected to launch by the end of 2024.
Official details and specs about Lunar Lake were not directly confirmed by Intel, but the leak reinforces what many PC enthusiasts were expecting from the Meteor Lake successor. Those wanting a CPU geared for intensive computing tasks and gaming may want to consider waiting for the Raptor Lake refresh or upgrading their system witha new Intel Arrow Lake CPUinstead.
