Intel Fast Throttle tech will allow per-core throttling on Arrow Lake

[zohaibahd]

In context: Intel's 13th-generation Raptor Lake CPUs brought many performance improvements but also had a few issues, including running hot. To help combat the heat factor, Intel baked in a new thermal throttling technology called Fast Throttle. However, it was a quiet release – barely even mentioned in the flurry of Raptor Lake coverage.

An X user who goes by "Jaykihn" claims that "Intel Per Core Thermal Throttle" officially debuts with Arrow Lake. Fast Throttle gives Intel's CPUs some added thermal headroom by providing more granular performance throttling when temperatures get too high. Rather than just bluntly dialing back clock speeds across the whole processor, it can precisely target the individual CPU cores that are getting too hot.

A per-core thermal throttling approach is different from the typical temperature protection techniques used before. Those mostly look at the overall chip temperature and take broader actions like capping frequencies, downclocking turbo boost behavior, or adjusting voltages.

Intel Per Core Thermal Throttle will officially debut with Arrow Lake.

I've linked a third-party article written by @skatterbencher, showcasing this feature's performance during its limited debut on Raptor Lake Refresh.https://t.co/MnYLeUAVZM

– Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 4, 2024

With Fast Throttle, Intel is using a clever idea called clock modulation. Instead of changing clock speeds up or down, it briefly turns off the physical CPU clock to particular cores for tiny splits of time. The result is far more nuanced thermal management. If just one core or two is spiking in temperature, Fast Throttle can selectively dial them back without disturbing the performance of the other cores, which are still running cool.

However, when Raptor Lake launched, Fast Throttle was locked down. Intel hadn't exposed any controls for users to configure it manually. That changed with the late 2023 Raptor Lake refresh, finally giving overclockers and PC enthusiasts the keys to tinker with it. If Jaykihn's tip is valid, Arrow Lake may offer manual controls right out of the gate.

For many of today's overclocked gaming rigs and workstations, thermal constraints are one of the biggest limiters on raw performance. So, having finer throttling levers like Fast Throttle to squeeze out extra headroom could be huge.

Intel expects to launch its 15th-generation Arrow Lake processors in the second half of 2024, likely between October and December. However, some rumors suggest that laptops with the new CPU may not arrive until early 2025. Jaykihn recently reported that motherboards sporting 800-series chipsets will accompany the new chips.

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Intel Fast Throttle tech will allow per-core throttling on Arrow Lake

 

[pencea]

This basically foretells that Arrow Lake will be another hot processor if Intel feels the need to add a feature like this..

 

[godrilla]

This basically foretells that Arrow Lake will be another hot processor if Intel feels the need to add a feature like this..

If it doesn't destroy Zen5 in single and light threaded tasks it will be pretty sad especially if they removed hyperthreading. Also does core that is utilized dependent on software, operating system ( scheduler dependent) , or part of the core design? Is the coolest core always going to be prioritized? Will this add latency if the priority core is constantly changing? Task manager cpu utilization will probably look like a roller coaster.
It sounds promising on paper and hopefully Intel brings some impressive performance.

 

[Watzupken]

Looking forward to see this in action and if it’s beneficial. Tired of reading through all the marketing stuff which most end user don’t really care. This sounds good by allowing a longer boost clock for cores that are not hitting thermal limit, as oppose to dropping clock on all the cores. But I feel the benefit is going to be minimal because these cores are very tightly packed. So it won’t take very long for heat from one overheating core to spread to its surroundings if the heat transfer is no fast enough. On laptops especially, the lack of surface area for heatsink means this is unlikely to make a huge difference.

 

[WhiteLeaff]

The track says it will be a very hot CPU.

 

[MSIGamer]

The track says it will be a very hot CPU.

If they've learned anything they will have at least clocked it a lot lower.
But if I read this article it looks like thread scheduling is going to be even more of a mess than it already is with the current E and p-core configuration.
Also this will have zero effect in 100% workloads I guess.

We're hearing nothing about performance.
Meanwhile AMD is going to be ~14% faster?
Intel will likely be the same or worse perhaps, because the previous skus were not stable at those clocks, so that'll be a huge gap with amd.

Wonder how they are going to market that. Wonder how this is going to be received.
My wallet voted differently already.

 

[kiwigraeme]

If it doesn't destroy Zen5 in single and light threaded tasks it will be pretty sad especially if they removed hyperthreading. Also does core that is utilized dependent on software, operating system ( scheduler dependent) , or part of the core design? Is the coolest core always going to be prioritized? Will this add latency if the priority core is constantly changing? Task manager cpu utilization will probably look like a roller coaster.
It sounds promising on paper and hopefully Intel brings some impressive performance.

All else being equal I will buy AMD , probably a Zen 6 , is next upgrade
But even in the low watt space, the competition will be very fierce now with ARM etc and other big players Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Mediatek and Google, Isn't Intel using TSMC for these ?
Thing this market will grow, as more or just better products come about , especially as great screen tech gets cheaper if they are not just microPCs/media streamers /retro gaming etc
So what will they compete on?
best of best?
cheap and good enough
Features inputs/outputs, codecs , integration to other products in the home/car
Brand recognition ( intel inside )

Premium handhelds mean customers want the best Intel Igpu vs AMD APUs , not sure in Intel has anything coming out in the arena to compete

 

[zamroni111]

In the past, intel talked about boosting performance.
then today they talk about throttling due to overheat.

 

[Puiu]

I may not be physicist, but doesn't turning it on and off rapidly increase the risk of fatigue in the materials because of the the differences in heat? Maybe it doesn't have time to cool down that much.

 

[MSIGamer]

In the past, intel talked about boosting performance.
then today they talk about throttling due to overheat.

Why? First rumors are in: 3% perf uplift over 14th Gen. Hilarious

 

[Bamda]

OMG! This is the funniest thing ever. If I were reviewing these CPUs this would be a MAJOR RED FLAG. You just keep impressing me Intel. /s