14 DAY TRIAL // In 2013 Intel will introduce a new processor architecture known under the code-name of Haswell and a recent report has come to suggest that chips built using this new technology could include more than one graphics cores.
According to an unnamed source cited by VR-Zone, Intel believes that such an approach would enable it to create more flexible processors that could cater to the needs of both the mobile and the desktop market.
Details about how these GPUs will be interconnected with eachother and about the specific configurations used are scarce at this time, but the Website suggests Intel's processors could pair 4 CPU cores with 2 GPU cores or even dual computing cores with three graphics cores to form a chip.
Intel's Haswell processors will come as the successors of Ivy Bridge and use a new architecture which the chip maker has fine tuned to reach TDPs between 10 and 20 Watts in their mobile version.
This is a significant departure from the current regular-voltage Sandy Bridge chips that are rated at 35 to 45 Watts.
The low power draw, together with the configurable TDP technology that will debut in Ivy Bridge, is expected to enable laptop makers to offer up to 10 days of connected standby battery life from their Haswell-based devices.
These will be paired with a new dynamic overclocking technology, that will massively enhance the functionality available in the second version of Turbo Core that is used in today's Sandy Bridge processors.
Other features will include support for the DirectX 11.1 API, support for the AVX2 instruction set as well as a series of IPC improvements meant to increase single-thread performance.
As mentioned a bit earlier, Haswell is expected to arrive in 2013, but a more specific release date hasn't been announced.