Intel has some new cores in town and two new CPU families as revealed in the latest Linux Code patches which have unearthed the Adams Lake "Client" and Cooper Forest "Server" chips.
Intel Adams Lake With Douglas Cove Cores & Cooper Forest With Sheldonmont Cores Could Be Next-Gen CPUs For Client & Server Platforms
In an attempt to clear up its "Family 6" CPU naming scheme, Intel might have exposed its two next-gen CPU cores and families, reports Phoronix. It is reported that Intel's "Family 6" CPU is coming to an end. The Family 6 CPU ID has been running since the P6 architecture which was featured in the Pentium Pro lineup in the 90's and that's about to change soon as Intel has sent out patches that'll be used to modify the CPU family ID identification and model naming criteria.
In doing so, Intel has revealed what could be its next-generation CPU cores & CPU families which might be featured under the new CPU family ID. These new families include Adams Lake and Cooper Forest. Both families have also been defined with a new core architecture. Adams Lake is said to feature the new Douglas Cove P-Core architecture while Cooper Forest is said to feature the new Sheldonmont E-Core architecture.
It is currently unclear which CPU families will Adams Lake and Cooper Forest replace. What we do know is that Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake will be followed by Panther Lake and there's also word on Nova Lake being the successor to that. So it is possible either sometime after or between Nova Lake, we will see the introduction of Adams Lake for client CPUs based on the Douglas Cove uarch.
For Cooper Forest, it could be the successor to Clearwater Forest which itself is the successor to the upcoming Sierra Forest lineup. All three families are based on the E-Core architecture which is identified by the "mont" naming convention. 2024's Sierra Forest will utilize the Sierra Glen E-Core (an upgraded version of Crestmont), 2025's Clearwater Forest will utilize the Darkmont E-Core (an upgraded version of Skymont) and Cooper Forest will be the follow-up that will utilize the new Sheldonmont cores.
The Intel "Family 6" IDs will still show up for a couple of years since Clearwater Forest and Lunar Lake are already using those.
- Family 6 Model 170 = Meteor Lake
- Family 6 Model 189 = Lunar Lake
- Family 6 Model 207 = Emerald Rapids
- Family 6 Model 221 = Clearwater Forest
- Family (TBA) Model (TBA) = Adams Lake
- Family (TBA) Model (TBA) = Cooper Forest
These new CPU architectures and families will likely show up under the new Family ID sometime around 2026-2027.
Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison:
| Intel CPU Family | Processor Process | Processor Architecture | Graphics Architecture | Processors Cores/Threads (Max) | Platform | Memory Support | PCIe Support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alder Lake (12th Gen) | Intel 7 | Golden Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 16/24 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2022 |
| Raptor Lake Refresh (14th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2023 |
| Meteor Lake | Intel 4 | Redwood Cove (P-Core) Crestmont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 22/28 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 24/24 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake Refresh | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 24/24 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2026 |
| Lunar Lake | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe2 (Battlemage) | 8/8 | Mobile Only | LPDDR5X | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Panther Lake | Intel 18A | Cougar Cove (P-Core) Darkmont (E-Core) | Xe3 (Battlemage) | 16/16 | Mobile Only | LPDDR5/LPDDR5X | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2025 |
| Nova Lake | Intel 18A | Coyote Cove (P-Core) Arctic Wolf (E-Core) | Xe3 (Battlemage) Xe3P (Celestial) | 52/52 | LGA 1954 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2026 |
| Razor Lake | Intel 18A? | Griffin Cove (P-Core) Golden Eagle (E-Core) | TBA | TBA | LGA 1954 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2027 |
| Titan Lake | TBA | Copper Shark (Unified) Golden Eagle (E-Core) | TBA | TBA | Mobile Only | LPDDR6? | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2028 |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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