Kaby Lake-G unveiled Intel CPU, AMD GPU, Nvidia-beating performance.
One of the more surprising products announced last year was an Intel CPU with embedded AMD graphics, an unusual collaboration between two competitors. With the full specs now available, it's clear that the the companies are taking aim at a common enemy: Nvidia.
The result is perhaps one of the most annoyingly named products we've seen in a while: the full branding is "8th generation Intel Core processor with Radeon RX Vega M Graphics." The CPU part is a Kaby Lake-R chip; these are the four-core, eight-thread versions of the 7th generation chips. The CPUs are paired with either a Radeon RX Vega M GH or a Radeon RX Vega M GL GPU, which in turn is connected to 4GB of second generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2).
In total, Intel is launching five variants of the Kaby Lake-G platform, with the inclusion of the AMD graphics indicated by the "G" at the end of the chip name. Four are i7 branded, the other i5. While clearly aimed at gamers first and foremost, One i7 part supports vPro management, suggesting that there may be some interest in corporate-oriented systems too.
The GPU is joined to the CPU with eight PCIe x3 lanes running within the package; another eight lanes from the CPU are available to other devices on the motherboard. The GPU's memory uses Intel's Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), a high-speed, short-range interconnect that uses small chunks of silicon embedded into the circuit board, rather than traditional copper traces.
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