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Intel Skylake 15W processors to include Iris 6100 graphics

by Mark Tyson on 9 April 2015, 12:50

Tags: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

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Intel has managed to create 15W TDP Skylake processors that include Iris 6100 graphics. Currently, as noted by Fudzilla, Iris 6100 graphics are only available in Broadwell Intel chips with 28W TDP, for example the Intel Core i7-5557U, which actually offers a configurable TDP as low as 23W. There are three other 28W TDP Broadwell Core processor SKUs featuring Iris 6100 graphics. Before year end Intel is expected to launch four Skylake Iris capable next generation Core i5 and Core i7 15W processors with a further four SKUs arriving in 2016.

The Skylake 6th generation Core processors represent a 'tock' in the Intel development cycle so will offer architectural changes and improvements over and above the 14nm process shrink brought to market with the Broadwell 'tick'. Both the Intel CPU and GPU designs are expected to be enhanced in performance/efficiency. That the Intel Iris 6100 graphics chip can make it into a processor of 15W TDP is a testament to the improved efficiency of Skylake.

So how powerful is the Iris 6100 graphics processor? In a very rough comparison of just FP GFLOP performance, an Iris Graphics 6100 equipped i7-5557U (48 EUs at 1100 MHz) scored 845 while a standard Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 scored nearly 1050. You can find more comparative Iris Graphics 6100 (game) benchmarks here (scroll to bottom).

MobileGeeks had a representative at the 2015 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Shenzhen this week and saw All-in-One PCs, tablets and hybrid 2-in-1 reference designs packing these new Intel processors. Have a look at the video below which focuses upon the 2-in-1 design. The 12.5-inch '4K' device is very sleek and its minimal physical ports seem to consist of just 2 x USB Type C connectors.

HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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Posted by yeeeeman - Fri 10 Apr 2015 08:12
Man, they are crazy about the thinness of laptops. They probably want to make them like a postage stamp or something. To run Windows 10 on a nail. We want reliability, acceptable performance and battery life. Huge battery life. A week, not 12 hours! And because they can't acomplish that, the focus is on reducing size, to give the customers a “reason” to upgrade.
Well, I'll stick with my “heavy” HP6930p with can last as long as a current thin laptop on battery with acceptable performance.
Posted by mudpie - Fri 10 Apr 2015 14:47
if Skylake Desktop cpus do not offer at least 20% improvement over ivy bridge, I'm not upgrading.
Posted by shaithis - Fri 10 Apr 2015 14:59
mudpie
if Skylake Desktop cpus do not offer at least 20% improvement over ivy bridge, I'm not upgrading.

TBH, I wouldn't even bother upgrading for 20%. In 90% of situations your never going to notice a difference.

My IVB chip only gets maxed in the rare occasion I do some transcoding. It got maxed regularly in BF4 until they nerfed a load of the physics (about 9 months ago). Otherwise it's still a tad overkill even for a power user.
Posted by Ryrynz - Sun 12 Apr 2015 09:54
mudpie
if Skylake Desktop cpus do not offer at least 20% improvement over ivy bridge, I'm not upgrading.

Then I can tell you right now you're already not upgrading. the CPU will be on average about 10% the GPU will be quite a bit faster though likely above 20%, remember though the 6100 is going to be limited to 15W combined with the CPU so even though it's the same part, it likely won't achieve the same performance as the 28W Haswell.

You know it doesn't really cost you that much to upgrade, (providing you pick up the new one at a good price) either you do it now or later on.. Either way depreciation is going to affect your current part.. so really it's just a question of when do you want something new? If GPU and CPU performance is fine on your current system then I wouldn't bother.. pop an SSD in there instead (I'm assuming it's a mobile part)
Posted by anselhelm - Mon 13 Apr 2015 09:28
Though Skylake will doubtlessly be great for mobile computers and for new builds/new PCs, it doesn't currently really excite me.

In terms of tech I'm actually actively looking forward to, I really have to say I'm more interested in seeing where AMD ends up in late 2016 / early 2017 with its new architecture, Zen.

Why am I so interested in it? Many reasons, but one in particular: Jim Keller (of K7 “Athlon” and K8 “Athlon 64” fame) is the lead architect on the project. Furthermore, we're looking at AMD closing the gap on Intel by moving to a 14nm process and hopefully finally abandonning CMT (clustered multi-threading) in favour of SMT (simultaneous multi-threading).

Don't get me wrong: I've few issues with my FX 8320 as I do a lot of video encoding and have yet to find issues with gaming on it. That said, it'd be nice to be able to migrate my system to something new around Q4 2016 / Q1 2017, if only to keep relatively up-to-date with technology.

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