Intel chipsets are finally moving to 8 nm
Modern CPUs and GPUs grab most of the headlines with their cutting edge process nodes and huge transistor counts. But there is another crucial part of a gaming PC that usually sits quietly under a small heatsink on your motherboard. The chipset, also known as the platform controller hub or PCH.
The PCH handles all the communication between your CPU and the rest of your system. That includes PCI Express slots for your graphics card, M.2 slots for SSDs, USB ports, SATA storage and more. While CPUs and GPUs jump to the newest manufacturing nodes as fast as possible, chipsets typically stay on older and cheaper processes because they do not need the same level of dense logic or massive caches.
That is now starting to change. According to reports out of Korea, Intel is preparing to move its next generation desktop chipsets to an 8 nanometer process. The surprising part is that these chipset dies are expected to be manufactured not by Intel itself but by Samsung.
Why Samsung is making Intel’s 8 nm chipsets
Industry sources reported by The Korean Economic Daily suggest that Samsung is close to securing a major order to produce Intel’s 8 nm PCH chips. These are not Intel CPUs or GPUs. They are the motherboard chipsets that will sit alongside Intel’s upcoming desktop processors.
Historically, chipsets have been built on much older nodes such as 22 or 14 nanometer. They do not consume a lot of power. For example, Intel’s current Z890 desktop chipset uses around six watts. For that kind of part, bleeding edge nodes like Intel 7 or TSMC N3 are overkill and too expensive.
However, there is a key trend pushing Intel to upgrade its chipset technology. Each new CPU generation tends to add more PCI Express lanes and support for faster connectivity. That means more bandwidth to ports and slots, better support for NVMe SSDs, more USB and higher speed links in general. To keep up, future PCH designs need to be more capable and internally complex than the older ones.
Samsung is a strong fit here because it already has a mature and relatively low cost 8 nanometer process. Nvidia used Samsung 8 nm for its GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs and it is still used for chips like the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 SoC. For Intel, offloading chipset production to Samsung lets it focus its own manufacturing capacity on higher value parts like CPUs and potentially discrete GPUs.
For PC builders and gamers, this kind of collaboration is good news. More competition and foundry options can reduce costs and improve availability. It also helps Intel scale up quickly when it needs millions of chipset dies ready ahead of a new CPU launch.
What this means for Nova Lake and future gaming PCs
The big question is which Intel platform will use these Samsung made 8 nm chipsets. Current platforms are unlikely to switch mid cycle. And Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake and Wildcat Lake mobile processors integrate most chipset functions directly into the CPU package, so they do not need a separate PCH in the same way desktop platforms do.
That points strongly to Intel’s next generation of desktop CPUs, codenamed Nova Lake. Rumors suggest Nova Lake will be a significant step up over Arrow Lake, especially in terms of PCI Express connectivity and overall platform bandwidth. More PCIe lanes could mean better support for multiple high speed NVMe SSDs, future graphics cards, capture cards and other add in devices without as many compromises.
To feed all of that, the chipset needs to be more advanced than today’s Z890 or similar parts. Moving to 8 nm gives Intel more transistor budget to add features, improve internal routing and support next gen I O standards while keeping power consumption low.
Timing wise, Nova Lake is expected around 2026. That means Samsung would need to have chipset production ramped and stable well before that, so motherboard makers can design, validate and ship new boards in sync with the CPUs.
For enthusiasts, this likely will not change how you build or use your system. The chipset will still be the small chip under a heatsink on boards like future Z series and B series motherboards. But behind the scenes, you are getting a more modern and efficient part built on a smaller node by one of the biggest semiconductor manufacturers in the world.
Some die hard Intel fans might feel a bit odd knowing that a tiny but essential part of their all Intel build will actually be coming from Samsung. In practical terms though, what really matters is stability, features and performance. If Samsung’s 8 nm process delivers reliable chipsets with better I O for your GPU and SSDs, that is a win for gamers.
Looking ahead, the move hints at a broader trend. As CPUs keep integrating more functions and pushing PCI Express and memory bandwidth higher, chipsets will have to evolve with them. Partnering with external foundries like Samsung for these supporting chips could become more common, freeing Intel to use its own most advanced nodes where they matter most for gaming performance. For PC builders, the end result should be richer connectivity, better support for high speed storage and more flexible motherboard designs on future Intel platforms.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/motherboards/its-an-older-node-sir-but-it-checks-out-samsung-appears-to-have-scooped-a-deal-with-intel-to-make-its-next-generation-of-motherboard-chipsets-in-its-8-nm-fabs/
