We expected to see the new PS series launch soon and it looks like they are finally here. The new chips were announced by Intel during Embedded World 2024 as part of their new Edge portfolio. The PS series of chips are designed for emerging AI workloads and come with Intel's Arc iGPUs and Intel AI Boost NPUs, providing great versatility on the LGA-socketed platform.
The Intel PS CPU series is divided into two families, the higher-end Core Ultra series based on the Meteor Lake series and the Core series based on the Raptor Lake series. We begin with the Intel PS Core Ultra family. Here we have essentially the same Meteor Lake CPUs launched for mobile devices a few months ago, but in LGA-socketed versions. These will be the only socketed Meteor Lake CPUs available, as the DIY segment will get the Arrow Lake-S treatment.
As for the specifications, there are at least 9 SKUs mentioned, including four Meteor Lake PS 45W and five Meteor Lake PS 15W chips. The top chip is the Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 1) 165HL and has a total of 16 cores and 22 threads in a 6+8+2 (P/E/LP-E) configuration. The chip has 24 MB of L3 cache, a clock speed of up to 5.0 GHz and can scale up to 65W. The Alchemist Arc iGPU is equipped with 8 Xe cores of 128 execution units running at 2.3 GHz and supports up to 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes.
Most importantly, this is the first time Intel has publicly confirmed the LGA 1851 socket that will power their desktop CPU platforms, such as Arrow Lake and beyond. The CPU socket is listed with support up to DDR5-5600 memory, TBT4 IO, and has dimensions of 45 by 37.5 mm. According to Intel, the Core Ultra 'Meteor Lake PS' CPUs offer up to 5.02x faster GPU performance, 3.13x faster AI performance and 3.85x lower power consumption for AI and graphics workloads compared to the previous generation.
Intel Core Ultra 'Meteor Lake PS' LGA 1851 CPUs For Edge Next we have the standard Intel Core SKUs included in the Raptor Lake PS range. The difference here is that these aren't the standard Raptor Lake-S CPUs we've seen for the LGA socket, but rather the Raptor Lake-H series that ship with a higher GPU core count. Intel boasts up to 2.57x faster graphics performance compared to 13th generation processors with their Raptor Lake PS series.
There are a total of 10 SKUs within the range, all configured for the LGA 1700 socket with support for 20 total PCIe lanes (CPU+PCH) and support for both DDR5-5200/DDR4-3200 memory solutions. The top spec is the Core 7 160HL, which has 14 cores in a 6+8 configuration with 20 threads and a boost clock speed of up to 5.20 GHz. This chip is equipped with a total of 96 EUs clocked up to 1.50 GHz and has similar TDP ratings of up to 65W. Intel Core 'Raptor Lake PS' LGA 1700 CPUs For Edge
Finally, Intel introduces their brand new embedded Atom processors under the x7000RE series for Edge computing platforms. These new chips are said to offer up to 1.49 times faster single-threaded performance, 1.61 times faster multi-threaded performance and 9.83 times higher image and image classification performance compared to older Atom processors x6000RE series. Intel Atom Processors x7000RE CPUs For Edge Although the initial launch of the Intel PS CPU family will include the Raptor Lake PS and Atom CPU families, the Core Ultra 'Meteor Lake PS' CPUs will only be available in the second quarter of 2024, so expect more information on their release soon.
In addition to all these CPUs, Intel has also expanded the Arc GPUs for the Edge with 6 SKUs that are essentially revised variants of the same chips we've already seen on the market. Some of the GPUs, such as the A750E and A580E, still have the VRAM capacities and bandwidth listed as "In Planning", but we can expect them to be finalized before release.