It's never a good sign when marketing focuses on dismantling a competitor's campaign.
September/October 2023 was a particularly sad year for the microprocessor world. AMD hadn't planned to release any new ranges anyway, but Intel promised a 14th generation that enthusiasts will soon have taken the measure of: Raptor Lake Refresh is virtually identical to the previous generation (Raptor Lake), and if Intel is talking about refresh, it's going too fast for a "new" architecture that essentially relies on an increase of around 200 MHz in boost frequencies to stand out from the crowd. In other words, nothing at all!
In fact, rather than emphasizing the benefits of Raptor Lake Refresh, and at a time when the next generation - Meteor Lake - is not scheduled to appear on our desktops, Intel's marketing department is running out of "ammunition". Is this why a campaign called Core Truths has been launched? Possibly, but one thing is already certain: it's clearly not Intel's best idea. Yet, on paper, there may have been something to it. Intel claims to be " enlightening " consumers by deciphering AMD's " untruths " when it comes to its latest processors.
Intel's example is not a bad one. Indeed, AMD has decided to market a processor called Ryzen 5 7520U, which we can legitimately assume is equipped with the latest technology from the American firm. After all, it's a Ryzen 7000. As Intel explains, it is indeed a Ryzen 7000, but its CPU cores are based on the aging Zen 2 architecture... launched in 2019! Intel then points out that AMD is trying to disguise the deception by using a deliberately vague nomenclature. In fact, the 7000 is only there for the year of release (2023), while the architecture used can be identified by the tens: 20 is there for Zen 2, 30 for Zen 3 and 40 for Zen 4. The name Ryzen 5 7520U is immediately clearer.
AMD could be clearer, there's no doubt about that, but we can't help thinking that it's a bit "the pot calling the kettle black" when we see that it's Intel that wants to flush out the " untruths ". Intel is indeed a specialist in true-false novelties, and the release of Raptor Lake Refresh a few weeks ago is an excellent example: in no way can this variation of Raptor Lake be considered a new generation, but there's something even more embarrassing for Intel.
In a few days' time, Pat Gelsinger's company will officially unveil its Meteor Lake processors. These introduce a new nomenclature that should make things clearer. However, we already know that, jointly, Meteor Lake chips stamped Core Ultra 100 and Core 100 chips "tout court" will be launched. The latter won't simply be scaled-down versions of the Core Ultra 100. No, we're talking about a completely different architecture. An architecture far removed from the revolution expected for Meteor Lake... since it's Raptor Lake Refresh! Before criticizing the competition, Intel would do well to put its own house in order. It's worth noting that no sooner had the campaign been launched than it was removed from the brand's official website. Pity Mr Intel?
