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Intel leaker reveals Moon Lake chip as a likely replacement for N-series SoCs — four lower-power-efficiency cores, no performance cores, and a 6W TDP A welcome refresh for ultra-budget laptops and mini-PCs. After Intel let loose its Panther Lake chips earlier in this year, followed by Wildcat Lake in April, the firm has been pretty quiet about upcoming consumer CPUs. Known leaker Jaykihn just let a tiny cat out of the bag, though: the base specs for Moon Lake. The diminutive chip is expected to have four low-power-efficiency (LP-E) cores, and zero performance cores. These are rumors, so have your salt shaker at hand. Given the all-efficiency layout, it's a fair guess that the cores will be Darkmont LP-E silicon. The leaker additionally notes that the chip layout is likely to be the same as Wildcat Lake, with the efficiency cores in their own island. According to Jaykihn's table, the expected TDPs range from 6 W to 15 W, within the ballpark of phone and tablet SoCs on the low side. The specs seem to imply that Moon Lake is the successor for the Intel N-series chips present in a great deal of ultra-budget offerings. The set of specs suggests the chip will find a home in laptops and mini-PCs in the $300 to $500 range, though those amounts are naturally variable depending on how much RAM and storage the AI world will continue to slurp. Furthermore, the new silicon is only slated to arrive in 2028, and supplies of NAND and DDR may well shift further until then. There's no word on clock speeds, though. As a reference point, the N150 had a 3.6 GHz turbo. This year's 18A Panther and Wildcat chips broadly have clock speeds matching whichever silicon they've replaced. They do seem to be both faster and more power-efficient. Some of the newer models pack extra cores, but Moon Lake keeps the same 4-LPE count and 6 W TDP as matching N-series designs. In turn, we speculate that while some performance gains are expected thanks to the new architecture's higher IPC, machines with Moon Lake inside will likely offer markedly improved battery life compared to their predecessors. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals. - bit_user My N97 is good enough for my present needs, but the improvements between Gracemont and Darkmont have been so massive that it'd be hard to resist upgrading! My N97 industrial board cost about $220, in early 2024 (IIRC). Reply - usertests bit_user said:My N97 is good enough for my present needs, but the improvements between Gracemont and Darkmont have been so massive that it'd be hard to resist upgrading! My N97 industrial board cost about $220, in early 2024 (IIRC).Moon Lake appears to be positioned as the legitimate successor to Alder Lake-N, targeting a 6W TDP, or higher if allowed. But I'm still concerned that forgoing the P-cores is a mistake for many people, because it's a lot of single-threaded performance to lose. There's also the matter of the Xe3 cores, but we don't know if Moon Lake will have 1 or 2 maximum yet. Minisforum had a barebones Core 3 304 mini PC for $263 early bird pricing, $329 regular. I would certainly be comparing Moon Lake offerings to that. Reply
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