Intel detailed two new Panther Lake designs that will launch first: one with a 12-core GPU and another with a 4-core GPU. Both designs will feature 16 CPU cores and energy efficiency comparable to Lunar Lake.
The new SoC supports up to 16 CPU cores in a mix of Performance, Efficiency, and low-power island variants. The P-cores are based on the Cougar Cove architecture, while the E-cores (both standard and low-power island) are based on the energy-efficient, optimized Darkmont design.
The total memory size grows to 96 GB of LPDDR5 and removes the Lunar Lake limitation of 32 GB of on-package memory. The memory is now off-package, enabling more flexibility for OEMs to design and mix and match configurations.
So far, Intel has presented three SoC configurations:
- An 8-CPU core model (4P and 4 low-power E-cores) with 4 Xe cores.
- A 16-CPU core model (4P, 8E, and 4 low-power E-cores) with 4 Xe cores.
- A "Halo" model with 16 CPU cores (4P, 8E, and 4 low-power E-cores) and 12 Xe cores.
The 16-CPU core configuration with 12 Xe cores is expected to bring serious gaming performance to the H-series while maintaining excellent battery life. It will also excel at on-device AI workloads.
The new NPU 5 provides 50 TOPS, but the total platform performance skyrockets to 180 TOPS, as the GPU contributes significant power and the CPU adds an additional 10 TOPS.
The SoC also includes a Platform Controller Hub (PCH) that brings native Thunderbolt 4 support, up to 12 lanes of PCIe Gen 5, integrated Intel Wi-Fi 7 (R2), and Dual Intel Bluetooth 6.
Intel also detailed the next-generation IPU 7.5 (Image Processing Unit) as well as multi-frame generation XeSS, which is a part of the new Xe3 GPU.
All CPU cores are orchestrated by the Enhanced Intel Thread Director and new power management features—a technology Intel first introduced with 12th Gen Alder Lake in 2022.
A key takeaway is the claim of a more than 50 percent performance increase for both the CPU and GPU.