Processador Intel Apollo Lake

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This week, at IDF Shenzhen, Intel has formally introduced its Apollo Lake platform for the next generation of Atom-based notebook SoCs. The platform will feature a new x86 microarchitecture as well as a new-generation graphics core for increased performance. Intel’s Apollo Lake is aimed at affordable all-in-ones, miniature PCs, hybrid devices, notebooks and tablet PCs in the second half of this year.


The Apollo Lake system-on-chips for PCs are based on the new Atom-based x86 microarchitecture, named Goldmont, as well as a new graphics core that features Intel’s ninth-generation architecture (Gen9) which is currently used in Skylake processors. Intel claims that due to microarchitectural enhancements the new SoCs will be faster in general-purpose tasks, but at this stage Intel has not quantified the improvements. The new graphics core is listed as being more powerful (most likely due to both better architecture and a higher count of execution units), but will also integrate more codecs, enabling hardware-accelerated playback of 4K video from hardware decoding of HEVC and VP9 codecs. The SoCs will support dual-channel DDR4, DDR3L and LPDDR3/4 memory, which will help PC makers to choose DRAM based on performance and costs. As for storage, the Apollo Lake will support traditional SATA drives, PCIe x4 drives and eMMC 5.0 options to appeal to all types of form-factors. When it comes to I/O, Intel proposes to use USB Type-C along with wireless technologies with Apollo Lake-powered systems.


http://www.anandtech.com/show/10256/intel-unveils-apollo-lake-14nm-goldmont
 
Ainda faltam muitos detalhes, mas pode ser uma boa oportunidade para alguns sectores. Estou a pensar em Media centers, com o suporte dos últimos codecs, cpu para NAS, chromebooks, etc.
O custo também parece que vai descer além do consumo.
Vamos ver também como se portam estes novos socs em telemóveis.
 
Em 2017/2018 a Intel anunciou silenciosamente que os Intel Atom "Apollo Lake" de servidores e embedded (C2XXX e E38XX) sofriam de um bug LPC que fazia com que o processador morresse e fizesse com que a Motherboard (são processadores soldados) não bootasse mais.
Houve programas de substituição por parte das OEMs e fez com que o lançamento do Intel Atom "Gemini Lake" (geração seguinte) fosse adiado por uns meses, visto que a Intel lançou um novo stepping.

Here is AVR54 which popped up in the latest errata:

AVR54. System May Experience Inability to Boot or May Cease Operation Problem: The SoC LPC_CLKOUT0 and/or LPC_CLKOUT1 signals (Low Pin Count bus clock outputs) may stop functioning.

Implication: If the LPC clock(s) stop functioning the system will no longer be able to boot.

Workaround: A platform level change has been identified and may be implemented as a workaround for this erratum.

(Source: Intel Atom C2000 family spec update dated January 2017)

From Cisco’s FAQ:

Q: Do you expect these products to fail at 18 months in operation?
Although the issue may occur beginning at 18 months in operation, based on information provided by the supplier, we don’t expect an unusual spike in failures until year three of runtime.

Podem ler mais detalhes:
https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2000-series-bug-quiet/
https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2000-c0-stepping-fixing-the-avr54-bug/
https://www.servethehome.com/another-atom-bomb-intel-e3800-bay-trail-atom-vli89-bug/


Passado este tempo todo, a Intel anuncia que os Intel Atom "Apollo Lake" do mercado consumidor sofrem do mesmo problema:

For those of you that want to skip the mumbo-jumbo, Intel is basically saying there are reliability issues with its Apollo Lake processors where the 14nm chips are likely to die before the warranty is up. Having identified the problems, Intel is proceeding to refresh the entire Apollo Lake lineup. Current Apollo Lake chips with the B1 stepping are moving over to the new F1 stepping. These problems stem from the same LPC bus degradation issue that was present on the Atom C2000 family, and also impacted the company's E3800-series processors.

E vai lançar um novo stepping dos "Apollo Lake". Para realçar a mudança, o nome destes processadores terá um "E" no fim da designação:
The Celeron J3455, J3355, N3350 and Pentium N4200 are the affected Apollo Lake models. The first two models are desktop parts, while the remaining two are mobile chips.

Intel is urging its customers to transition existing affected products to the new stepping as soon as possible. To simplify the transition and avoid confusion between the new and old stepping, Intel adding the "E" suffix to the processor names. As a result, the processors with the F1 stepping will be marketed as Celeron J3455E, J3355E, N3350E and Pentium N4200E. If you're shopping and come by one of affected Apollo Lake SKUs, make sure the processor have the "E" suffix.

It remains to be seen if this issue is as widespread as the C2000 issue, and given that this also impacted the E3800-series processors, we might see even more Intel processor families impacted. We're reaching out to Intel for comment for further details, and will update as necessary.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-apollo-lake-refresh-degradation-cpu-failure,40362.html

Eu sei que os entusistas não ligam muito aos Intel Atom e que o mercado (infelizmente) não tem grande interesse nos Intel Atom, mas ficarei bastante admirado se a Intel conseguir passar sem se molhar pelos pingos da chuva.
Não parece haver um programa de substituição ou qualquer outro programa para o mercado consumidor.
 
Então só posso falar directamente com o fabricante quando tiver um problema no NAS ? Ou posso começar já a falar com o fabricante para me trocarem por outro com outro CPU ?
 
Afinal, "parece" que os Apollo Lake do mercado consumidor não sofrem do problema.....
A Intel tirou o artigo que tinha online a descrever o problema.

Regrettable errors happen all the time in life, but we rarely see one of this proportion from the world's leading semiconductor producer. We reported this week on an Intel PCN (Product Change Notice) posted to its QDMS website that stated the Apollo Lake chips suffered from LPC bus degradation issues that have been tied to previous Intel chip recalls, but we noticed the following day that Intel pulled the PCN from the company's website. Below you can see the original PCN that called out the LPC bug specifically as the reason for a stepping change to the processors.

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We've never seen a PCN pulled from Intel's site, so we followed up with the company to investigate. Intel tells us it posted the PCN in error. Apparently the Apollo Lake Pentium and Celeron chips do not suffer from LPC bus degradation...under some conditions, Which we're working to get a better description of.

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Here you can see the new PCN (PDF) posted to Intel's site this morning. The new PCN clarifies the reasons behind the stepping change, with an obvious emphasis on assuring the chips are in fact reliable. We notice the change says "Customers that do not need Intel IOTG Long Life Product Availability" can continue to purchase the older chips. We're following up with Intel for more clarification on the meaning behind that statement.

E que o novo stepping só tem uma alteração a nível físico.

There are no changes to the B-1 Stepping of the Intel® Celeron® N3350, J3355, J3455 Processors and Intel Pentium N4200 Processor as they meet all Intel quality goals for PC Usage and will continue to be available. The F-1 Apollo Lake Intel Celeron N3350, J3355, J3455 Processors and Intel Pentium N4200 Processor meet all Intel quality goals for PC Usage. With IOTG's operational decision to converge onto a single package for all of the IOTG Apollo Lake Processors, the F-1 stepping Celeron N3350, J3355, J3455 Processors and Pentium N4200 Processor has a slight increase in Z height compared to the B-1 Stepping.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-apollo-lake-cpu-not-dying-pcn-lpc-bus-degradation,40378.html

Isto é tudo um bocado bizarro.
 
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