SiFive announced two new RISC-V cores called P550 and P270. P550 will be used for the first time in Intel’s 7-nanometer (nm) CPU codenamed Horse Creek, which will launch sometime between 2022 and 2023.
In March, Intel had said its 7nm CPU Meteor Lake will enter tape-in stage in the second quarter of this year and launch in 2023. Horse Creek could launch earlier if it is released in 2022, which will make it Intel’s first 7nm chip.
In May, the US chip giant has also said it plans to offer RISC-V and Arm-based processors for its foundry service.
Intel said it plans to offer scalable development tools by combining its DDR, PCIe and other interface IP with SiFive’s high performance processors.
P550 is SiFive’s highest performing core to date. The company claimed it outperforms Arm’s Cortex-A75. SiFive also claimed four P550 cores can be placed on a space where only one Cortex-A75 can fit in.
SiFive was founded in 2015 and is offering an alternative chip IP in open source format to Arm. Last year, Nvidia announced that it was acquiring Arm. Intel is planning to buy SiFive.
Intel, SK Hynix, Western Digital and other companies have invested in SiFive.
