An image of an upcoming LGA1851 desktop CPU has made its approach onto the web. Although an image of a CPU that is a yr or extra from launch is not significantly wonderful, what’s attention-grabbing is that it seems to be a Meteor Lake pattern. Whereas Meteor Lake-S was seemingly canceled, the existence of CPUs comparable to these tells us Intel acquired a great distance down the Meteor Lake-S growth path.
The pictured CPU comes from @wxnod (by way of Videocardz). The CPU is unquestionably an LGA1851 pattern because the notches close to the sting of the chip align with schematics we have seen beforehand. What’s attention-grabbing is the date of manufacture.
HKEPC shared the identical image however with the manufacturing date a part of the Intel FPO code unblurred. On this case, it is D234. The 234 denotes the yr and month of manufacture, so this CPU was manufactured in week 34 of 2022. That is slightly below a yr in the past. The D ought to confer with the nation of manufacture, however I am unsure what D stands for. Probably the D1 fabs in Oregon? That is solely a guess.
HKEPC says it is a Meteor Lake-S pattern with a six P cores and eight E cores. An August 2022 manufacturing date could be too early for Arrow Lake-S, so if it is a Meteor Lake chip, It will match with the manufacturing timeline.
If Meteor Lake-S has been canceled, why are there engineering samples about? The obvious reply could be that these had been made earlier than the choice to cancel. Low yields, poor clock speeds or missed efficiency targets are all attainable causes for the cancellation. The Raptor Lake refresh (itself a refresh of twelfth Gen Alder Lake) does really feel like a stopgap measure.
Maybe these chips are getting used to help motherboard producers with the design of their LGA1851 motherboards. Or perhaps they’re getting used as take a look at automobiles for the Intel 4 course of, the tile structure, or Foveros packaging.
That is plenty of hypothesis from only a image of a CPU. However whereas it is one factor to scrap a chip that is on the drafting board, it is one other to scrap one which has reached the engineering pattern stage.