Being involved in the tech sector, it’s easy to concentrate on the technical design of a product overlooking the value these technologies introduce. With the Intel Core Ultra 200S much of the attention has been placed on the design or the micro architecture, the processor cores, the re-engineered cache, and the manufacturing node which are all important but are not the only measure of customer value.

As the heart of the PC, the processor plays a critical role in determining the overall system performance as demonstrated in benchmark testing, but it also determines other features that bring value to the customer. With that, there are several key features available on a system based on the Intel Core Ultra 200S and Intel Z890 chipset that are worth highlighting. As we explore these technologies, it’s important to understand “What it is”, “What it does”, and “What’s its value” so the benefits can be easily translated to the end client.

The Integrated NPU:

Along with the tradition CPU and GPU, the Intel Core Ultra 200S features an Integrated AI specific NPU that software vendors can leverage to optimize the AI capabilities they build in to their application.  By offloading certain AI centric tasks to the NPU, the CPU and GPU functionality can be better applied to not just maximizing AI performance but to also improving overall system performance. Moving some AI tasks from the GPU, as an example, will free up the resources to perform video workloads, such as improving or maintaining maximum frame rates.

CUDIMM Support:

The Intel Core Ultra 200S and Z890 chipset support Clock Unbuffered Dual Inline Memory which is a new DDR5 module that includes an integrated clock driver which is an IC that regenerates the clock signal to provide more stable performance at higher frequencies allowing for modules to run at 9200MT/s or higher. CUDIMMs are not a new form factor as they are 288 pin compatible with standard UDIMM slots so customers can use either CUDIMMs or standard UDIMMs but not both. CUDIMMs give customers the flexibility to run faster memory to improve overall system performance in any workload.

More PCIe 5.0 Lanes:

The Intel Core Ultra 200S has increased the number of PCIe lanes to include 20 PCIe 5.0 which provide double the bandwidth, up to 16GB/s, over PCIe 4.0. The additional PCIe 5.0 lanes can be leveraged by the motherboard manufacturers to allow for more features such as providing more PCIe 5.0 M.2 storage on the motherboard giving the end customer the ability to expand leading edge storage capacity.

Thunderbolt 5.0:

The Z890 chipset supports Thunderbolt 5.0 which delivers up to 80Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth and 160Gbps with Bandwidth Boost. This provides for better display quality supporting 8K resolution and reduces latency while working with increasingly larger video and data files.

Being able to position the benefits these technologies helps strengthen partnerships, directs conversations toward value and helps broaden discussions that will create opportunity for business growth.