Regarding market rumors that Intel's 18A process yield rateRumors of challengesIntel earlier released a technology demonstration video, directly using the 18A process for non-x86 architecture processors as an example, emphasizing the actual performance of the 18A process design, and emphasizing that whether it is hardware manufacturing or software development tools, Intel is ready for customer deployment.
The Intel IFS (Intel Foundry Services) reference design SoC, codenamed "DeepCreek Falls" (DCF) in the video, is not built on the x86 architecture. Instead, it utilizes a heterogeneous computing platform consisting of one high-performance core, two performance-optimizing cores, and four efficiency cores. It also integrates two PCIe channel controllers and four memory controllers, targeting high-performance computing and multitasking requirements.
In the performance demonstration, the computing platform simultaneously executed daily clerical work, 4K video streaming, 3D gaming, and 3D animation software processing, demonstrating stability and performance output under multi-tasking, allowing potential non-x86 architecture processor customers to be more confident in the feasibility and stable performance of the 18A process.
The latter part of the video further showcases Intel's developer support toolchain. Using the Intel Vtune Profiler performance analysis tool, the engineering team compared the computing time before and after software optimization on the same architecture. The processing time without optimization was approximately 35 seconds, while the processing time after optimization was reduced to 6.578 seconds. This means that after adjustment with Intel tools, the processing performance of the computing platform can be increased to approximately 5 times the original speed, significantly shortening the computing latency under multi-core division of labor.
Intel emphasized that this demonstration not only presents hardware performance, but also reflects its active deployment in the software development environment, especially the support for non-x86 architecture computing platforms, striving to get everything from process to development tools in one go.
The outside world interprets this demonstration as not only a technology promotion, but also a "market confidence call" to a certain extent. After all, in the field of wafer foundry, the 18A process is a key node for Intel to achieve its strategy of "catching up with TSMC in five years", and forOrder willingness of customers with non-x86 architecture processorsIt will have a critical impact and will also have a direct impact on IFS's future revenue.
Intel has not yet announced the specific mass production schedule and actual application targets of this SoC, but the information released this time shows that Intel hopes to convey that the 18A process will not only be used for its own processor products, but can also be used for processors with multiple architectures.
While competitors continue to increase their investment in advanced processes, AI accelerators, and dedicated chip foundry services, Intel's choice to demonstrate the performance of its new process with non-x86 architecture products may also mean that IFS's future customer portfolio will no longer be limited to traditional PC and server processors, but will span a wider range of computing application markets.
