The recent AI frenzy may have hurt some upcoming SOCs as the likes of AMD and Intel prioritize NPUs over other core IPs.

Microsoft's demand for faster AI capabilities leads to SOC nerfs in the AMD and Intel camps as NPUs take precedence over other aspects.

We've seen an AI explosion in the PC segment recently with all the chipmakers talking about the relative capabilities of their chips and platforms. This segment is driven by a range of software innovations and Microsoft. Windows Copilot has some heavy requirements to support AI functionality.. Chipmakers are now betting heavily on the AI ​​craze, and some seem to have deviated from their traditional chip development plans to prioritize AI over other parts of their new SOCs that are due later this year. Will come to the market.

End on Anandtech Forums, reported by member, Uzzi38.that of AMD Strix Point APUs Those launching later this year were originally planned to be very different from the chips we'll be getting soon. It is alleged that before AMD dedicated a large AI engine block to this 3x NPU “XDNA 2” AI performance, the chip had a large SLC (System-level-Cache) and allowed both CPU (Zen 5) would have increased efficiency. ) and iGPU (RDNA 3+) by a large margin. However, that is no longer the case.

A follow-up comment on this issue was made by adroc_thurston Which responded to Uzzi saying that the Strix 1 or Strix Point monolithic had 16 MB of MALL cache before it was dropped. Intel has also weighed in on its future. Arrow Lake, Lunar LakeAnd Panther Lake Chips that will target the AI ​​PC segment.

These AI blocks will take up a large chunk of valuable die space that could have been devoted elsewhere, such as higher core counts, higher iGPU counts, wider caches, and more, but it seems that the AI ​​PC craze has forced chipmakers to compromise on quality. has been withdrawn. Focus more on CPU / iGPU performance and the NPU side of things. For Strix Point, AMD has a 3x advantage with 50 TOPs while Lunar Lake is going to offer 3x AI NPU performance over Meteor Lake (~35 TOPs) and Panther Lake is going to double it further (~70 TOPs). .

For now, it looks like unless the AI ​​bubble bursts (which doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon), chipmakers like AMD and Intel are going to increasingly devote resources to adding NPUs. We'll still see improvements on the CPU and GPU side for next-generation SOCs, but there will always be untapped potential for what could have been if these companies had focused elsewhere than the NPU.

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