Intel Unveils 14-nm Broadwell Chip At CES

Intel announced at CES 2015 the Broadwell family, its fifth-generation Core processors. The 14 new chips are essentially versions of the company's 22-nm Haswell architecture made in its new 14-nm process, providing enhancements it hopes will encourage PC and notebook users to upgrade.

Intel will offer dual- and quad-core chips -- 10 processors at 15 watts (both Core i5 and i7 chips) with Intel HD graphics, and four 28-watt products with Intel Iris graphics spanning i3, i5, and i7 lines. The dual-core chips have 1.9 billion transistors, a 35% increase over the prior generation, and a 133-mm2 footprint that is approximately 50mm2 smaller than its predecessors. The 15W chips have data rates up to 3.1 GHz while the 28W i7 cores hit up to 3.4 GHz.

The Broadwell chips have L3 caches ranging from 2 to 4 Mbytes, roughly the same as Haswell.

While the new line has modest improvements in productivity, Intel hopes battery life gains will encourage users to buy new devices, said Karen Regis, director of notebook roadmap and strategy for Intel's PC Client Group. The Broadwell family was announced alongside a new 14nm processor for tablets, Cherry Trail, which includes support for Intel's RealSense technology and Category 6 LTE-Advanced when paired with an Intel modem. Cherry Trail products are expected in the first half of 2015.

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