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Alder Lake µarch
General Info
Arch Type	CPU
Designer	Intel
Manufacturer	Intel
Introduction	2021
Process	10 nm
Core Configs	"+8" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 8. 8+8, "+8" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 6. 6+8, "+0" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 6. 6+0
Instructions
ISA	x86-64
Cores
Core Names	Golden Cove, Gracemont
Succession
Tiger Lake Rocket Lake Raptor Lake

Alder Lake (ADL) is Intel's successor to both Tiger Lake and Rocket Lake, an Intel 7-process based microarchitecture for mainstream workstations, desktops, and mobile devices. Alder Lake is Intel's first 10-nanometer-class proper successor to all prior generation of processors - spanning from ultra-low power to desktop and workstations. The microarchitecture was developed by Intel's R&D center in Haifa, Israel.

For desktop and mobile, Alder Lake is branded as 12th Generation Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 processors.

Codenames

Core	Abbrev	Platform	Target
Alder Lake M	ADL-M		Light notebooks, 2-in-1s detachable, tablets, conference room, computer sticks, etc.
Alder Lake P	ADL-P		Ultimate mobile performance, mobile workstations, portable All-in-Ones (AiOs), Minis
Alder Lake S	ADL-S		Desktop performance to value, AiOs, and minis

Brands

Intel released Alder Lake under 3 main brand families for mainstream workstations, desktops, and mobile.

Logo	Family	General Description	Differentiating Features
			Cores	HT	AVX	AVX2	TBT	TBMT
	Core i5	Mid-range Performance	10 (6+4)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘
	Core i7	High-end Performance	12 (8+4)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Core i9	Extreme Performance	10 (8+8)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

Process Technology

Intel is planning Alder Lake to be built on an improved Intel 7 node (previously 10nm Enhanced SuperFin (ESF)). This will be the case for both the powerful Golden Cove cores, and Gracemont cores.

Compiler support

Compiler	Arch-Specific	Arch-Favorable
ICC	-march=alderlake	-mtune=alderlake
GCC	-march=alderlake	-mtune=alderlake
LLVM	-march=alderlake	-mtune=alderlake
Visual Studio	/arch:AVX2	/tune:alderlake

CPUID

Core	Extended Family	Family	Extended Model	Model
P	0	0x6	0x9	0x7
	Family 6 Model 151
S	0	0x6	0x9	0xA
	Family 6 Model 154

History

In January 2021 Intel teased Alder Lake in their CES 2021 speech. On the July 26th's Intel Accelerated webcast, CEO Pat Gelsinger hinted at the Alder Lake lineup being released at a future event called "Intel Innovation" which aired between October 27-28th.

Architecture

Key changes from Tiger Lake

• Core
  • Hybrid Golden Cove (big core) & Gracemont (small core) microarchitecture
  • At least 20% IPC improvements
  • Intel 7 node
• Memory
  • Support for DDR5
  • Speeds of at least 4800MHz, up to 5600MHz
• Improved power delivery system

Overview

Alder Lake departs from all prior Intel SoCs by featuring the company's first mainstream implementation of a single-ISA heterogeneous multi-core microarchitecture. While not the first (Lakefield was), Alder Lake is the first to target all market segments from mobile to desktop and workstation. The overall microarchitecture builds on its its predecessor, Tigerlake but expends on its by integrating two vastly different types of cores - up to eight big cores based on the Golden Cove microarchitecture and up to eight small cores based on the Gracemont microarchitecture. The big cores are designed to push single-thread performance while the small cores are designed to push multi-thread power efficiency. By finely orchestrating thread scheduling based on performance demand, Alder Lake is able to provide both higher multi-threading performance-efficiency and better single-thread performance.

SoC design

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Die

Alder Lake comes in four die variants depending on the market segment.

Die
Name	Configuration	Dimensions	Area
ADL-S	8P + 8E	10.5 mm x 20.5 mm	215.25 mm²
	6P + 8E	10.5 mm x 15.5 mm	162.75 mm²
ADL-P	6P + 8E
ADL-M	2P + 8E

ADL-S (8P+8E)

• 8 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
• Intel 7 process
• 10.5 mm x 20.5 mm
  • 215.25 mm² die size

ADL-S (6P+0E)

• 6 performance cores, no efficiency cores
• Intel 7 process
• 10.5 mm x 15.5 mm
  • 162.75 mm² die size

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