Intel Core H-Series – with Radeon
Intel has announced it is working with rival AMD – a move unthinkable a decade ago – on a series of mobile chips that include an Intel CPU running alongside a custom-built AMD Radeon graphics processor.
The development will mean a lot more graphics grunt in laptops running this iteration of Intel’s eighth-generation Coffee Lake architecture. As such, the Core H-Series targets enthusiast users and is likely to carry a price to match (prices are yet to be revealed).
As well as the CPU and Radeon graphics, Intel says H-Series chips will feature stacked second-generation High Bandwidth Memory. The trio of elements will be linked by a highbandwidth Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB). With EMIB, the multiple dies are joined by silicon as opposed to motherboard connectors. This is the first consumer product from Intel to feature the technology.
The development could lead to thinner laptops. Intel claims equivalent existing machines, with discrete graphics, typically measure 26mm thick. By using Core H-Series chips, Intel says laptop builders can reduce thickness to 11 to 16mm.
If the deal marked a thaw in Intel’s relationship with AMD, the chill soon returned when Intel poached AMD’s chief GPU architect Raja Koduri days after the integrated chip was announced. His brief is to improve Intel’s high-end discrete graphics portfolio.
Availability Price CPU GPU Memory
Q1 2018 Unspecified 8th-generation Kaby Lake Customised AMD Radeon High Bandwidth Memory