2024 is set to be an exciting year for PC and server hardware with Intel, AMD and Apple preparing to launch brand new processor families across desktops, laptops and data centers. Leveraging bleeding edge process nodes and packaging innovations, these upcoming CPUs promise significant performance, efficiency and capability improvements over current generations.
This roundup previews the most promising next-generation processors suited for varying 2024 use cases – from budget home builds to ultraportable notebooks and hyperscale server farms.
Overview of Processor Innovations Expected in 2024
Before diving into recommendations, let‘s briefly discuss some of the major manufacturing and architectural advancements on tap from key semiconductor players for their 2024 product portfolios:
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Intel‘s performance-leading hybrid x86 cores will employ advanced 3D Foveros packaging to deliver major IPC and efficiency gains. Expect mixes of high-power and energy-efficient cores paired with beefed up graphics, AI acceleration and security features.
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AMD‘s upcoming Zen CPU architectures and next-gen EPYC server processors will double down on more cores, wider vectors and large last-level caches to dramatically improve multi-threaded throughput.
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Apple continues to go from strength to strength with its ingeniously efficient Arm-based Apple Silicon. The 2024 M3 chip will likely get significant upgrades across the board to stretch Apple‘s mobile performance lead.
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TSMC‘s cutting-edge 3nm node going mainstream in 2024 will allow packing in over 50 billion transistors per mm2 to enable massive parallelism and speed boosts while optimizing power draw.
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Advanced 3D packaging techniques like Intel‘s Foveros and AMD‘s hybrid 2D+3D chiplet designs will let SoC architectures scale new complexity frontiers while balancing thermals.
We‘ll now analyze the six most promising desktop, mobile and server CPUs slated to launch in 2024 across budget mainstream, high-end and absolute top-tier segments.
Best Overall Desktop CPU – Intel Meteor Lake
| Component | Expected Specs |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Microarchitecture | Meteor Lake |
| Process Node | Intel 4 + TSMC N3 |
| Cores/Threads | Up to 24/32 |
| Clock Speeds | Up to 5.8 GHz |
| Launch | Q3 2024 |
Intel‘s 14th generation Core desktop family, codenamed Meteor Lake, will bring together major microarchitectural innovations like a multi-tile hybrid x86 design, radically improved IPC and bleeding edge manufacturing to deliver up to 40% more single-threaded performance over 2023‘s Raptor Lake.
Built on an Intel 4 and external TSMC N3 process node mix, Meteor Lake will for the first time integrate high-performance compute tiles built using Intel‘s performance-optimized compute cores with smaller efficient tiles housing ARM-based cores optimized for latency and throughput.
Combined with enhanced AI acceleration, media encoding/decoding engines and external discrete-level graphics support, Meteor Lake‘s configurable tile-based SoC template will provide users unmatched flexibility in optimizing desktop builds spanning budget general computing to premium high-fps gaming and professional creative workflows.
Gamers, streamers and creators seeking a well-balanced flagship desktop client platform for building high-end gaming rigs and workstations in 2024 should strongly consider basing builds around Intel‘s versatile Meteor Lake.
Target Launch: Q3 2024
Best Budget Desktop CPU – AMD Ryzen 7000 Non-X
While flagship variants like the Ryzen 9 7950X push the high-end envelope with 16 Zen 4 cores, the Non-X models in AMD‘s Ryzen 7000 desktop portfolio are expected to deliver excellent mainstream application performance at more accessible price points – making them a tantalizing option for budget 2024 system builds.
| Component | Ryzen 5 7600 | Ryzen 7 7700 |
|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | 6/12 | 8/16 |
| Cache | 32MB | 32MB |
| TDP | 65W | 65W |
| PCIe Lanes | 24 | 24 |
| Clock Speed | 5.1 GHz | 5.3 GHz |
| Launch | Q1 2024 | Q1 2024 |
Rumored Ryzen 5 7600 and Ryzen 7 7700 chips are anticipated to retain impressive IPC gains from the fundamental Zen 4 architecture overhaul while cutting down on L3 cache capacity, PCIe lanes and maximum boost frequencies compared to the overkill 7950X flagship.
They will almost certainly continue AMD‘s legacy of maintaining broadly compatible AM5 motherboard socket support, allowing budget-focused gamers to pick AMD B650/B650E platforms to maximize performance-per-dollar when assembling mainstream gaming desktops targeted at eSports titles.
Best High-End Desktop CPU – Intel Lunar Lake-X
In a bid to reclaim market share in premium content creation systems against AMD‘s unrelenting core count onslaught through Ryzen Threadripper Pro, Intel is readying its most ambitious enthusiast-grade desktop platform yet – the Lunar Lake-X.
| Component | Expected Specs |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Microarchitecture | Lunar Lake-X |
| Process Node | Intel 20A |
| Cores/Threads | Up to 56/112 |
| Clock Speeds | 5.8 GHz (P-core) |
| Launch | Late 2024 |
This new monster HEDT platform will target professionals requiring uncompromising single and multi-threaded muscle – like game designers, VFX artists, AI researchers and embedded software engineers.
Rumored to leverage a unified CPU complex spanning up to 56 high-throughput Golden Cove performance cores aided by Intel‘s advanced Foveros 3D stacking and EMIB packaging to deliver leaps in memory bandwidth, Lunar Lake-X could decisively tilt content creator preferences back towards Intel when configuring no-holds-barred workstation builds designed to crush extreme workloads in 2024.
Target Launch: Late 2024
Best Mobile CPU – Apple M3
While Windows laptops are projected to see major gains thanks to new x86 architectures from Intel and AMD, Apple continues to push the envelope with its disruptively power-efficient Arm-based Apple Silicon pushing the limits for laptop performance in slim form factors.
The M3 built on cutting-edge TSMC 3nm manufacturing is expected to dramatically widen the gulf in efficiency and compute between MacBooks and Windows counterparts – translates to speed jumps of over 20% over already blazing-fast M2 variants.
| Component | M2 (2022) | M3 (Expected 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | 5nm | 3nm |
| Transistors | 20 billion | 33 billion |
| CPU Cores | 8 | 12 |
| GPU Cores | 10 | 12 |
| Launch | June 2022 | Late 2024 |
With core counts scaling up further, major GPU upgrades and continued unified memory architecture advancements, Apple‘s M3 Silicon for MacBooks in 2024 could represent the biggest generational leap in laptop compute performance, setting the bar for thin and light portables across Windows and MacOS.
Target Launch: Late 2024
Best Mobile Gaming CPU – Intel Arrow Lake
Despite meteoric rises in gaming laptop popularity, mobile processors still fail to offer no-compromise triple-A gaming experiences with sustained high frame rates while also enabling thin and light industrial designs and all-day battery life.
Intel is determined to fix this gap by launching the Arrow Lake mobile architecture in 2024 – purpose-built using enhanced x86 Performance-cores and Efficient-cores in a new performance hybrid configuration to lift gaming fps by over 50% compared to 2023‘s Meteor Lake chips, that too within streamlined power budgets enabling super portable gaming notebooks.
Gamers who wish to maximize gaming fps when on the move while retaining laptop conveniences like a slim and aesthetic chassis, fast wake times, quiet acoustics and enduring battery should watch out for Arrow Lake gaming rigs in 2024.Intel is working overtime to make mobile high refresh rate AAA gaming achievable without sacrificing mobility next year.
Target Launch: Late 2024
Best Server CPU – AMD EPYC Genoa-X
To tackle surging enterprise workloads spanning AI, ML, data analytics, large-scale SaaS hosting, EDA and complex simulations, hyperscaler cloud data centers require increasingly specialized server silicon. AMD‘s next-gen EPYC line built using cutting-edge Zen 5 architecture aims to deliver exactly that through Genoa-X.
Following in the footsteps of 96-core heavyweights like 2023‘s EPYC Bergamo, Genoa-X will drive core counts even higher leveraging advanced TSMC 3nm manufacturing while quadrupling L3 cache sizes to astronomical levels expected to breach 800MB. This will enable new highs in memory bandwidth to feed the beastly multi-core architecture.
For elite cloud infrastructure operators like AWS and Azure running mission-critical enterprise applications in 2024, the unmatched memory bandwidth and bleeding-edge process nodes powering AMD‘s EPYC Genoa-X will almost certainly provide next-generation datacenter capabilities at scale.
Target Launch: Mid 2024
Recommendations for Choosing your 2024 Processor
Here are some quick tips to pick the 2024 processor best matched to your budget and usage:
- For high-end gaming desktops, choose between Intel Meteor Lake Core i7/i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D
- For mainstream home builds, AMD Ryzen 7000 non-X variants offer solid value
- Content creator workstations will benefit tremendously from an Intel Lunar Lake-X or AMD Threadripper Pro beast
- Pick Apple‘s ultra-efficient M3 ARM chip to power slick MacBooks and Windows 2-in-1 convertibles
- Competitive gamers must watch out for Intel Arrow Lake specialized gaming laptops
- Cutting-edge datacenters will run best on AMD‘s next-gen EPYC Genoa-X enterprise server processors
Conclusion
We hope this sneak peek into the future of desktop, mobile and data center processors proved informative. The incredible pace of semiconductor innovation shows no signs of slowing down. Leading fabs like TSMC, Samsung and Intel Foundry are pushing the very limits of silicon manufacturing – enabling chip architects at AMD, Intel and Apple to deliver generation-defining performance and efficiency transformations spanning client devices to enterprise server farms using cutting-edge process geometries paired with novel 3D packaging breakthroughs.
With billion-transistor processors accessing petabytes of memory built using manufacturing techniques accurate to the widths of individual atoms now within reach, it‘s clearer than ever that we‘re truly living in the golden age of computing. Peak CPU performance metrics are getting rewritten virtually every device refresh cycle while retaining optimal TDPs. Where we go from here whether for gaming, content creation or scientific discovery is limited solely by imagination – which is precisely what makes covering this field so endlessly exciting!
