Intel’s New Processors Are Built For the High-Powered Future of PCs
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In recent years, the rollout
of desktop processors has felt a bit stale. You generally know what
you’re going to get: a little more power, a little more efficiency. And
while Intel’s latest update doesn’t reinvent the chip, it does provide
obscene horsepower at a time when that’s increasingly all that matters.
The Core-X series ticks off the usual performance gains, with Intel
claiming up to 10 percent faster multi-threaded and 15 percent
single-thread performance over its predecessor. But the focus falls to
the top-end, and a desktop chip so powerful that Intel carved out a new
brand name for it: the Core i9.
Uncommon Core
The re branding might sound like marketing hype, but it’s not—or at
least not entirely. Intel’s Core i9 is the first consumer desktop
processor to cram 18 cores and 36 threads into a single piece of
silicon, a feat that enables the kind of full-throttle task-juggling
that a world full of 4K video and virtual reality demands.
The more cores and threads a single CPU contains, the more dedicated
tasks it can manage simultaneously without sacrificing performance. Is
an 18-core, 36-thread processor overkill for most people? Sure! But for
the right applications, it could be a lifesaver.
“When it comes to people who are doing any type of video editing,
this is like a dream come true,” says Patrick Moorhead, industry analyst
and founder of Moor Insights & Strategy. “This is a big deal.”
Video isn’t the only use case for Intel’s monster truck CPU.
Compiling code and running intensive virtual reality experiences could
use the boost. And the real benefit goes to those who need to navigate
several interrelated tasks at once, like live-streaming video games.
“Streaming to Twitch is no light task,” says Moorhead. “Not only are
you playing the games, you’re taking two to four threads and recoding
that video and broadcasting it out on the internet. And then if you’re
at the same time chatting with your friends, that’s probably one extra
thread.” Intel Corporation
The new Core X line should also have some trickle-down benefits for
those not in need of ludicrous speed. Intel also upgraded its Turbo
Boost tech, which now picks the two top-performing cores for
single-threaded or light-threaded workloads—think gaming or basic office
applications—to give even the entry-level Core X products some pick-up.
Still, the high-end horsepower is the real draw, and it offers more
than just bragging rights or edge-cases. Leading at the high end of
consumer PCs matters because eventually, that’s the only end that will
be left.
Last PCs Standing
Those who keep even a modest eye on consumer tech trends know that
PCs don’t sell like they used to. Or actually, the problem is that they
do sell like they used to: Last quarter, according to research firm
Gartner, PC shipments dipped to the lowest levels since 2007.
You can guess the reasons. Tablets and smartphones can now handle the
bulk of home computing chores, while affordable, low-power Chromebooks
pick up whatever slack remains. The PC makers still in business can look
forward to fighting over the enterprise market for the foreseeable
future—if they make it that long.
“Vendors who do not have a strong presence in the business market
will encounter major problems, and they will be forced to exit the PC
market in the next five years,” wrote Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa.
Not bad, as far as doom and gloom goes. But it also belies the one consumer PC segment that’s not going bust.
“The high-end desktop market is on fire,” says Moorhead. “It’s about
30 percent bigger than it was five years ago. It’s a really bright spot
for the industry.”
That growth stems from interest in Oculus-ready rigs, sure, but also
the recent accessibility of 4K and 360-degree video. Mostly, it’s really
the only kind of computing left for which you truly need a traditional
computer.
While Intel rightly may see its future in providing the chips that underpin cloud computing, it’s not about to cede ground on the last PC hill worth defending. You can see that impulse, too, in its recent efforts to spur Thunderbolt 3 adoption.
As more and more data gets transferred over the air, the only hardware
interface people will actually need is the one that can clock 40Gbps.
So no, most PC owners today won’t be able to take full advantage of
an 18-core, 36-thread behemoth. But that’s not really the point. Core X
exists less for the present than it does for the future, one in which
“extreme” becomes normal, because there’s nothing else left.
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