Skylake (microarchitecture)

Skylake (microarchitecture)
source
Name	Skylake
Produced	August 2015
Designer	Intel
Code name	Skylake
Arch	x86-64
Microarch	Skylake
Socket	LGA 1151, LGA 2066
Predecessor	Broadwell
Successor	Kaby Lake

Skylake (microarchitecture) is a microarchitecture designed by Intel as the successor to the Broadwell design. It was first launched in August 2015 and was manufactured using Intel's 14 nm process. The architecture introduced significant improvements in performance, power efficiency, and integrated graphics, serving as the foundation for a wide range of desktop, mobile, and server processors.

Overview

The Skylake microarchitecture represented a "tock" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, focusing on architectural improvements while retaining the 14 nm manufacturing process from its predecessor. It was a pivotal platform for Microsoft's Windows 10 and was designed to support new technologies like DDR4 memory and the PCIe 3.0 interface. The architecture's design emphasized scalability, powering systems from ultra-mobile devices to high-performance workstations and servers under the Xeon brand.

Features

Skylake introduced several key features, including support for DDR4 and LPDDR3 memory standards, alongside the older DDR3L. It featured an upgraded PCIe 3.0 controller and introduced support for Thunderbolt 3 via the Alpine Ridge controller. The architecture also brought new instruction set extensions, such as MPX for security and SGX for trusted execution. Enhanced power management through Speed Shift technology allowed for more responsive performance in mobile devices.

Processor cores

The processor cores in Skylake were redesigned for greater efficiency and performance per clock. The core design featured improved branch prediction, larger buffers, and a new micro-op cache. This allowed for higher instructions per cycle across a wide range of workloads, from single-threaded applications to heavily parallel tasks. The architecture supported configurations from dual-core designs in ultra-low-power Y-series parts to high-core-count models in the Xeon E3 and E5 families for servers.

Graphics

The integrated graphics solution in Skylake processors was branded as Intel HD Graphics, with variants including HD Graphics 510, HD Graphics 515, and the higher-performance Iris Graphics 540. Based on the Gen9 architecture, these GPUs offered significantly improved performance over the Broadwell generation, supporting features like HEVC hardware decoding and up to three independent 4K displays. The graphics architecture was a key component in devices like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

Chipsets

Skylake processors were paired with the Intel 100 Series chipsets, which included consumer platforms like the H110, B150, H170, and Z170. The flagship Z170 chipset unlocked overclocking capabilities and provided increased PCIe lanes. For business and workstation use, the C232 and C236 chipsets were introduced, supporting Xeon E3 processors. These chipsets enabled new storage technologies like Intel Optane Memory and faster connectivity via USB 3.1.

Successor and variants

Skylake was officially succeeded by Kaby Lake in 2016, which was an optimization of the 14 nm process. However, numerous variants and specialized derivatives of Skylake were produced. These included the high-performance desktop Skylake-X and server Skylake-SP architectures under the Core X-series and Xeon Scalable families. The architecture also lived on in embedded and IoT markets, and its core design influenced subsequent architectures like Coffee Lake and Cannon Lake.

Category:Intel microarchitectures Category:2015 in computing