Intel Haswell Mobile Chipsets Revealed

Intel's third-generation of central processing units hasn't even been fully launched yet, but already there is information on the next generation of processors and accompanying chipsets. 

For those who haven't guessed it yet, by “next-generation” CPUs we mean the Haswell series, the ones that will even introduce DDR4 support eventually. 

Sure, the first Haswell, bound for 2013 release, won't have that asset, but the Haswell-EX series will, starting in 2014. 

We've seen the web uncover quite a few other bits and pieces of information about Haswell, down to DirectX 1.1 support and 4th-Level On-Package cache for the GPU. 

Most recently though, VR-Zone claims to have learned the names of the chipsets that will support the mobile range of processors. 

There will be five in total, instead of the seven that Ivy Bridge notebook chips can land on. General consumer notebooks will use the HM87, HM85 or HM80 platform, while business laptops will receive the QM87. Ultrabooks will boast a special chipset called UM83. 

Indeed, Ultrabooks will have a unique hardware layout among notebooks, although the underlining platform concept is the same. 

HM87 and QM87 will support both Intel Smart Response technology (SSD caching) and RAID storage configurations. No explanation exists for why the former won't be included in all five, despite its usefulness. 

For those who've yet to get up to speed on the technology, SSD caching works by “merging” an HDD and an SSD together. As in the BIOS can make the OS think they are a single storage entity, thus combining the data capacity of the former with the speed of the latter. 

The report mentions that, in addition to the above, there will be a single-chip part in the series, an SoC of sorts (system-on-chip), with the CPU, GPU and the Lynx Point LP (Low Power probably) on the same package. We'll keep an eye out for further details.

Posted in: Hardware, Preview