Back at the end of last week, we reported on a rumour that Intel’s Razor Lake AX would be using Nova Lake-S cores and, more importantly, they wouldn’t be overclockable. Now it is being rumoured that, in addition to using Nova Lake-S cores, the blue chipmaker is planning to slap on access to its big last-level cache (bLLC) stacked memory as well for Razor Lake in the mobile segment.
As it has been for the past several reports, this latest rumours hails from serial and popular leakster Jaykihn. Just to be clear, they’re talking about Razor Lake-AX for mobile devices, which include laptops, let alone gaming handhelds.
For context and for the uninitiated, bLLC is expected to be Intel’s answer to AMD’s 3D V-Cache memory, which have manifested in the form of X3D CPUs. In layman’s terms, the technology stacks the chip’s L3 cache, with the current standard tripling the cache size by stacking it vertically on the die. This effectively reduces latency, minimises the trips between the CPU and system memory, all without increasing the footprint of the processor.
To put it in terms a five year old could understand: bigger cache equals a better and improved gaming experience. On a sidebar, earlier reports suggested that some top-tier Razor Lake CPUs could have bLLC caches as big as 144MB.
In any case, assuming the rumours are true, having the bLLC on non-overclockable Razor Lake-AX cores would be an all too familiar move. When AMD launched its 3D V-Cache technology all those years ago with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the first generation X3D CPU couldn’t be overclocked. It would take the Red team two CPU generations of tweaking before the Ryzen 9000X3D series and its second generation 3D V-Cache technology was unlocked and overclockable.
That isn’t to say Intel’s bLLC cache-powered Razor Lake CPU wouldn’t be overclockable from the get-go. For all we know, the blue chipmaker could divide the lineup into two tiers: one for enthusiast overclockers, and another for an entirely different segment, presumably an extension for the gaming handheld market.
(Source: Videocardz)
