Intel confirms it worked closely with Microsoft to optimize Alder Lake processors for Windows 11

Intel launched its Alder Lake processor architecture today, and at their Architecture Day 2021 event the company explained that the processor was specially optimised for Windows 11.

Windows 11 for the first time takes advantage of Intel’s big.LITTLE architecture and when Intel spoke about its Alder Lake processor and hybrid architecture along with the new Arc GPUs the company said:

To enable this high level of coordination that improves real-world performance, Intel has partnered with Microsoft to incorporate this revolutionary capability into the next version of Windows 11.

When Microsoft was interviewed on the subject, Mehmet Iyigun – Partner Development Manager, said:

Throughout the development cycle of Windows 11, my team worked with our colleagues at Intel to update and optimize our next operating system to make the most of the Performance Hybrid architecture and Thread Director in particular.
With Thread Director feedback, the Windows 11 thread scheduler is much smarter in dynamically choosing the most appropriate core based on the workload to get the best power and performance.

Alder Lake will be Intel’s first performance hybrid architecture that includes a Performance-core and an Efficient-core to provide significant performance across all workload types. Intel also detailed the new Efficient-core and its Performance-core x86 CPU units that will power the Alder Lake.

• The Efficient-core microarchitecture is designed for throughput efficiency and efficient offloading of background tasks for multitasking. It runs at low voltage and creates headroom to increase frequency and ramp up performance for more demanding workloads. The new Efficient-core will deliver same performance when compared to Skylake core but with 40% less power.
• The Performance-core microarchitecture is designed for speed, the highest performing CPU core Intel has built. It pushes the limits of low latency and single-threaded application performance and provides a significant boost at high-power efficiency that can better support large applications. Intel claims that this new Performance-core will deliver 19% better performance over 11th gen cores.

To make both the cores work seamlessly with the OS, Intel developed Intel Thread Director that will enable the OS to place the right thread on the right core at the right time. Also, Alder Lake will power devices ranging from ultra-portable laptops to enthusiast and commercial desktops.

Early benchmarks have shown Windows 11 would be up to 15% faster on Alder Lake than Windows 10.

via WBI