Intel's plans for its low-power U-series Skylake chips have leaked out ahead of time, with a slide deck detailing eight individual chips with varied specifications.
Chips using Intel's latest Skylake architecture have already arrived for the top-end enthusiast market, but so far Intel has been quiet on exactly what it plans for mainstream and low-power users. Details of the upcoming U-series parts, for Ultrabook, NUC, and other small-form-factor uses, have now appeared, courtesy a leaked slide deck published by FanlessTech. Although the slides have yet to be confirmed as genuine by anyone from Intel, the products they detail appear to match expectations enough to suggest the leak as genuine.
The top end of the Skylake U-series family, the deck explains, will be the Core i7-6600U and i7-6500U parts. These are claimed to feature Intel HD Graphics 520 embedded GPUs running at a 300MHz base and 1,050MHz boost clock, 4MB of L3 cache, and two physical cores plus HyperThreading support for four simultaneous threads. The i7-6500U runs at 2.5GHz base and 3.1GHz boost clocks and supports Intel's VT-d, VT-x, and AES-NI extensions, while the i7-6600U runs at 2.6GHz base and 3.4GHz boost clocks and adds vPro and TXT support to tempt corporate users.
Lower down the range, the i5-6300U and i5-6200U are split in much the same way: two-core parts with HyperThreading, the chips feature 3MB of shared L3 cache, slightly slower IGPs at 300MHz stock and 1,000MHz boost, and the same dual-core HyperThreading design. The i5-6200U runs at 2.3GHz stock and 2.8GHz boost, with the i5-6200U increasing that to 2.4GHz stock and 3GHz boost while also including the same vPRO and TXT support as the top-end i7-6600U. The final Core entry, the i3-6100U, is a similar dual-core HyperThreading chip, but running at 2.3GHz with no support for Turbo Boost and lacking any vPRO or TXT functionality.
Finally, there are three entry-level parts details: a Pentium 4405U and a pair of Celerons. The Pentium 4405U is described as a dual-core part with HyperThreading running at 2.1GHz with an Intel HD Graphics 510 IGP running at 300MHz stock and 950MHz boost and 2MB of L3 cache. The Celeron 3955U and 3855U are dual-core parts with no HyperThreading running at 2GHz and 1.6GHz respectively, featuring Intel HT Graphics 510 IGPs running at 300MHz stock and 900MHz boost and with 2MB of L2 cache. All three parts include VT-d, VT-x and AES-NI extensions, but no vPro or TXT support.
Regardless of model chosen, all the parts in the list come with Intel's Skylake microarchitecture but either 'baseline' or 'premium' IO. In the 'baseline' parts, the Celeron models, the chipset is limited to two SATA ports, up to five PCIe 2.0 devices across ten lanes, eight USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports; the remaining 'premium' parts get up to three SATA ports, six PCIe 3.0 devices across 12 lanes, 10 USB 2.0 and six USB 3.0 ports, plus additional features such as eMMC and SDXC controllers built-in. All models are rated for a 15W thermal design profile (TDP).
Intel has not commented on the leak, as is usual for the company.
Chips using Intel's latest Skylake architecture have already arrived for the top-end enthusiast market, but so far Intel has been quiet on exactly what it plans for mainstream and low-power users. Details of the upcoming U-series parts, for Ultrabook, NUC, and other small-form-factor uses, have now appeared, courtesy a leaked slide deck published by FanlessTech. Although the slides have yet to be confirmed as genuine by anyone from Intel, the products they detail appear to match expectations enough to suggest the leak as genuine.
The top end of the Skylake U-series family, the deck explains, will be the Core i7-6600U and i7-6500U parts. These are claimed to feature Intel HD Graphics 520 embedded GPUs running at a 300MHz base and 1,050MHz boost clock, 4MB of L3 cache, and two physical cores plus HyperThreading support for four simultaneous threads. The i7-6500U runs at 2.5GHz base and 3.1GHz boost clocks and supports Intel's VT-d, VT-x, and AES-NI extensions, while the i7-6600U runs at 2.6GHz base and 3.4GHz boost clocks and adds vPro and TXT support to tempt corporate users.
Lower down the range, the i5-6300U and i5-6200U are split in much the same way: two-core parts with HyperThreading, the chips feature 3MB of shared L3 cache, slightly slower IGPs at 300MHz stock and 1,000MHz boost, and the same dual-core HyperThreading design. The i5-6200U runs at 2.3GHz stock and 2.8GHz boost, with the i5-6200U increasing that to 2.4GHz stock and 3GHz boost while also including the same vPRO and TXT support as the top-end i7-6600U. The final Core entry, the i3-6100U, is a similar dual-core HyperThreading chip, but running at 2.3GHz with no support for Turbo Boost and lacking any vPRO or TXT functionality.
Finally, there are three entry-level parts details: a Pentium 4405U and a pair of Celerons. The Pentium 4405U is described as a dual-core part with HyperThreading running at 2.1GHz with an Intel HD Graphics 510 IGP running at 300MHz stock and 950MHz boost and 2MB of L3 cache. The Celeron 3955U and 3855U are dual-core parts with no HyperThreading running at 2GHz and 1.6GHz respectively, featuring Intel HT Graphics 510 IGPs running at 300MHz stock and 900MHz boost and with 2MB of L2 cache. All three parts include VT-d, VT-x and AES-NI extensions, but no vPro or TXT support.
Regardless of model chosen, all the parts in the list come with Intel's Skylake microarchitecture but either 'baseline' or 'premium' IO. In the 'baseline' parts, the Celeron models, the chipset is limited to two SATA ports, up to five PCIe 2.0 devices across ten lanes, eight USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports; the remaining 'premium' parts get up to three SATA ports, six PCIe 3.0 devices across 12 lanes, 10 USB 2.0 and six USB 3.0 ports, plus additional features such as eMMC and SDXC controllers built-in. All models are rated for a 15W thermal design profile (TDP).
Intel has not commented on the leak, as is usual for the company.
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