Those interested in such things are probably aware that the 6th generation of Intel Core CPUs, 'Skylake', were launched this week. More evolution than revolution I believe, but there's some interesting stuff about them around.
For example, these days they include built-in graphics; this is the 9th generation. Obviously not as powerful as a dedicated card, but that doesn't mean it's not complicated; have a look at 5.3 Execution Unit Architecture and onwards:
software.intel.com/sites/default/files/managed/c5/9a/The-Compute-Architecture-of-Intel-Processor-Graphics-Gen9-v1d0.pdf
I just find it amazing that this, along with all the non-graphics stuff, is in a chip (wafer) the size of a pea. Somebody's worked out that if you add up the length of all the internal 'wiring' you get approx 6 miles :o
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Intel release CPU's on a tick-tock method. One year they rely mostly on shrinking the process node to decrease the physical size of the CPU and then the following year they usually change the architecture. I think this year was due for a TOCK so we have a new/revised architecture but still using 14nm. Interestingly there is a refresh next year - Kaby Lake.
Intel have had GPU's built into their CPUs for ages. My desktop Sandy Bridge i7 has inbuilt GPU. But what I think is an improvement is the desktop chips now have more competitive GPUs. The best GPUs were usually in the mobile parts. Made sense because you'd probably use the desktop, more powerful CPUs with a discrete graphics card.
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new gen Intel CPUs - rtj70
