INTEL’S 14TH GENERATION ISN’T AS EXCITING AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT

INTEL’S LATEST PROCESSORS currently sit in an odd place, as they’re a weird hybrid of monolithic chip design (boasting those impressive low latencies and power efficiency), while also having characteristics that are not entirely dissimilar to more modular layouts. Let’s cover the bottom level.

P & E cores explained

With the advent of 12th gen, Intel introduced its first incarnation of this multi-architecture processor in the form of Alder Lake. Moving up to the LGA1700 socket, it didn’t only increase the CPU size by doing so, it also reconfigured how the chip operated from the ground up. Namely, it stepped away from a more traditional brute-force core strategy, and opted for a streamlined processor that took advantage of two separate types of processor core, aptly named the P Core (performance core) and E Core (efficient core), with the aim being to leverage smarter resource applications than had been achieved previously with any processor at this point (AMD or Intel).

Simply put, P cores are the high-firing top-tier cores, complete with hyperthreading and full overclocking headroom, designed predominantly for high-priority tasks and games. Prior to 12th gen, these cores were pretty much all processors comprised, while the newly created E Cores were smaller, only capable of a single thread, and better suited to background or low-demand tasks that required less performance. Intel identified that the majority of users had a number of programs open at any one time, particularly during demanding workloads and tasks, and that this was negatively impacting performance by allocating partial resources of one or more cores into those low-end tasks. It was akin to taking a Dodge Charger, telling it to run a drag race, but every now and then stop and go to the shops. It would get the job done, but the stopping and starting increased latency and slowed down the processor, as Windows and Intel would be spending time allocating that resource to get the job done. To get around that, the E cores are dedicated to those more mundane tasks (running your antivirus, VOIP software, VPN, and Microsoft Office), while the P cores are used solely for the purpose of those high-priority tasks, such as gaming, rendering video content, and so forth.