The presentation was centered on how the processor can have excellent performance at 5GHz, without having to compromise multi-thread capabilities. Intel played on audience excitement and said it will bring the processor to the market during the fourth quarter of this year. “What’s amazing is that trade-off, this actually being a 5GHz in single-threaded performance frequency and not…having to sacrifice that for this kind of multi-threaded performance, so you’ve got kind of the best of both worlds. So, you guys want to see us productize that thing? Tell you what, we’ll bring that product to market in Q4 this year, and you’ll be able to get it.” Intel made it seem like the 28-core CPU would always run at 5GHz and the performance seen in the demo would be available as a product. Unfortunately, that seems to not be the case. The company now says that the processor was overclocked and will not run at 5GHz. What’s interesting here is the company says it “forgot” to tell the crowd this rather important fact. Indeed, Intel blames the detail omission on a messed up pre-scripted presentation. While we could certainly say Intel was purposely devious, it seems unlikely considering the company has now clarified.
Focus
It seems like a genuine mistake, albeit an embarrassing one. There is also confusion over the purpose of the new processor. Intel’s presentation video showed users interacting with headsets, suggesting a gaming or mixed reality focus. However, Intel has now confirmed it has not decided which market the product will target when it arrive.
