If you are an avid gamer, you know that Intel has been losing its grip on the gaming industry. Be it desktop workstations or gaming laptops, AMD chipsets are taking over as they offer better performance and are cheaper when compared to Intel counterparts.
Although Intel launched its Tiger lake 11th generation processors with the 10-nanometer Superfin process in 2020, the lineup was restricted to ultraportable devices, and no high-performance CPUs were released at that time. Thereafter Intel released its H35 gaming series processors in 2021, but these processors were also limited in performance as they had a maximum TDP of 35 watts.
That said, Intel unveiled its H series 11th generation processors last month, and according to Intel, they will offer better performance when compared to the competition. So what changes did Intel make in its chipsets to compete with AMD?
Well, a lot is going on with the new Intel CPUs, and we will be looking at all there is to the new Intel H series processors.
The H series processors are divided into two parts. The desktop S series processors code name Rocket lake and laptop series Tiger lake processors.
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Manufacturing process
The manufacturing process of a CPU is critical for the performance it offers. A smaller manufacturing process helps provide better performance per watt and enables manufacturers to add more transistors to their chipsets.
In the past, Intel has been struggling with its manufacturing process and was stuck with a 14-nanometer manufacturing process for its high-performance CPU lineup. All that changed with the new H series 11th generation laptop processors, and Intel started manufacturing its high-performance laptop CPUs with a 10-nanometer Superfin process.
That said, the desktop processors use a 14-nanometer process and not 10 nanometers.
CPU cores and architecture
The earliest iterations of H series processors were limited to a quad-core design, but the new H series processors have up to 8 cores. This increase in core counts offers better performance for multithreaded workloads.
The laptop CPU cores use a new Willow cove architecture that offers 19 percent performance improvement compared to the older Sunny cove architecture.
On the other hand, the desktop CPUs use the Cypress cove architecture, a 14-nanometer implementation of the Sunny cove architecture. Although this new architecture offers performance improvements, it limits the number of cores to 8. This core count is lower than the 10-core design, which was possible on older Comet lake processors.
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Clock frequencies
All thanks to the new manufacturing process and architecture, the Tiger lake processors can reach clock frequencies of up to 5 GHz compared to 4 GHz on the older Ice lake processors.
In addition to all this, the mobile CPUs also come equipped with Intels’ speed optimizer and tuning utility which helps users overclock their CPUs, further increasing performance.
On the desktop side of things, processors can reach speeds up to 5.3 GHz, all thanks to Intel’s turbo boost technology.
Cache memory
The Willow cove design increases the L2 cache size to 1.25 MB from 512 KB. This increase in cache size enables more data to be stored close to the CPU, increasing performance.
Apart from the bump in cache size, the cache design shifts from an inclusive architecture to a non-inclusive one. This change in architecture offers better performance as back validation for the caches can be omitted. That said, the increase in cache size can increase access times, and the use of a non-inclusive design required extra hardware to satisfy cache coherence rules.
In the case of the desktop processors, the L2 cache doubles to 512KB compared to older designs. The L3 caches, on the other hand, are divided into 2MB slices each, offering a total L3 cache size of 16MB.
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GPU design
When it comes to graphic-intensive tasks, most workstations depend on discrete GPUs. Still, due to the power-hungry nature of discrete GPUs, Intel provides integrated GPUs on its high-performance systems. This dual GPU design offers better power efficiency as the system can switch between the discrete and dedicated GPU according to the task at hand.
The Tiger lake CPUs use the newest Intel Xe graphics, but the system only has 32 units compared to 96 units seen on other Tiger lake processors when it comes to execution units. The main reason for this downgrade is that most gaming laptops are coupled with high-performance discrete GPUs like the GTX 3060.
Although the new chipsets use Xe graphics, they are still listed under Intel UHD graphics.
In addition to this, new Intel H series processors come with a resizable bar feature. This feature enables the CPU to access the GPUs VRAM using PCI express lanes enabling faster data transfers for textures, shaders, and geometry stored on the VRAM.
Only RTX 30 series GPUs come with the resizable bar feature.
On the desktop side of things, the GPU also gets an update and uses the Intel Xe graphics for the first time. According to Intel, this new GPU architecture boosts GPU performance by up to 50 percent.
I/O and Connectivity
The GPU, along with high-speed storage solutions, connect to the CPU using PCI express lanes. Therefore, the data transfer speeds of these lanes can be a big contributing factor to the performance your system offers.
Intel enables PCI generation 4 on its chipsets with its H series processors, which double the data transfer speeds compared to PCI generation 3. Intel also offers 20 PCI gen 4 lanes offering better connectivity options.
In addition to this, Intel offers RAID 0 for storage, enabling the CPU to read/write data from two or more hard drives simultaneously. This allows the CPU to store the operating system on two different drives enabling the system to boot up faster.
The new CPUs also come with Thunderbolt 4. Although Thunderbolt 3 and 4 are quite similar, users can connect to an 8K display or two 4k displays simultaneously, which was impossible on Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 4 also increases the data transfer speeds to PCI express storage to 32 Gbps. This increase in speeds will help users transfer data faster when moving gigantic files.
In terms of Wifi connectivity, the new CPUs are WIFI 6e capable. This enables your system to connect to a Wifi router using the 6Ghz band, offering less network congestion and higher data transfer speeds.
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List of Intel 11th Gen H series processors
When it comes to processor names, Intel uses a lot of jargon, and if you want to get a better understanding of things, you can read our article on Intel i3, i5, i7 and i9 processors.
Given below is the list of mobile Intel 11th Gen H series processors.
| 11th-gen H Mobile Processor | Cores/Threads | Supported memory speed(MHz) | Base frequency(GHz) | Max single core speed | Max dual core speed | Max quad core speed | Max hexa core speed | Max octa core speed | TDP | Min/Max GPU clock speed(MHz) |
| i9-11980HK | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 65W | 350/1450 |
| Core i9-11900H | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.5 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 35W | 350/1450 |
| Core i7-11800H | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.3 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 35W | 350/1450 |
| Core i5-11400H | 6C/12T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.7 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | N/A | 35W | 350/1450 |
| Core i5-11260H | 6C/12T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.0 | N/A | 35W | 350/1450 |
Using Intels’ single-core thermal velocity boost technology, single-core performance can reach up to 5 GHz under favourable conditions. In addition to the high clock frequencies, a new memory controller helps access data faster by supporting speeds up to 3200 MHz.
When it comes to Intel 11th Gen H series desktop processors, the following are on offer.
| 11th-gen H Desktop Processor | Cores/Threads | Supported memory speed(MHz) | Base frequency(GHz) | Max single core speed | Max dual core speed | Max octa core speed | TDP |
| i9-11900K | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 3.5 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 125W |
| Core i9-11900KF | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 3.5 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 125W |
| Core i9-11900 | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.5 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 65W |
| Core i9-11900F | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.5 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 65W |
| Core i9-11900T | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 1.5 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 35W |
| Core i7-11700K | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 125W |
| Core i7-11700KF | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 125W |
| Core i7-11700 | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.5 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 65W |
| Core i7-11700F | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 2.5 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 65W |
| Core i7-11700T | 8C/16T | 3200(DDR4) | 1.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 35W |
There are a lot of things that Intel has introduced with its new chipsets. That said, Intels’ chipsets, the GPU, motherboard, and the storage system come together to offer the performance a user is looking for. Therefore, it is important to look at things as a complete solution and not focus on the chipsets alone.
Also read: All Intel processor generations compared
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