There are new transistor optimizations for Tigerlake says Intel, in fact it's 10nm+ vs 10nm++, and some of the earlier leaks were promising, this is the basis.
Willow Cove could improve the IPC by 5-10% though. Willow Cove is not a typical refresh generation, the L2 and L3 cache sizes are a lot bigger.
Yes, and look at the cannonlake 10nm low boost clocks, power consumption, etc. Look at the yields on that being so low. Then look at 10nm+ having a Max single core boost of 3.9GHz and much lower frequencies after the boost. Now, to be fair, the base clock was abysmal, and as I mentioned there is a ton of leakage.
Intel has been working on 10nm for longer than it was supposed to be implemented in 2016. Last year in 2018, yields were around 12%.
So, I ask again, other than Intel saying it is a refinement, which I will accept, how does that mean ANYTHING at this point considering what we have seen of Intel's 10nm to date and what proof is there of any significant change in frequency?
I even pointed to the leak with the higher clock. This is usually base clock. But base is not boost and you can improve performance on the more efficient end of the curve while not really moving the needle much as you approach the voltage knee for higher frequencies. This is why my edit explained those leaks only necessarily suggest they have worked out some of the leakage issues at the base frequencies to improve efficiency, which may not correlate with effecting the boost frequency in any significant way.
As to Willow IPC, when it makes it into desktop silicon, that will be in 2021. That is Zen 3 plus Zen 4 IPC gains. To put this into perspective, that means AMD has had the following IPC increases: 53%, 3-4%, 15-17%, expected 10-17% (redgamingtech rumor of 10-12% IPC on integer for Zen 3 and 17% average for mixed workloads). Zen 4 is a smaller process node allowing them to go wider, has a new memory subsystem and I/O changes, new AM5 socket, etc. So, there is a very real possibility to see 14nm++++ Willow lake going against a slower 5nm Zen4, but with enough of an IPC advantage to eek out the win on performance.
Intel's sunny cove was a huge IPC jump. Willow on 10nm++ will be on mobile only next year, and as explained, even though they suggest an increase in base clock, there is little to suggest changes in boost clock, due to voltage and heat considerations of what has been seen of 10nm to date.
So I applaud their architecture skills and designs. But Intel's word on process is, well, lacking these days. There is very little to believe from them at the moment. This is why Intel was vaporware memed equivalent at the hot chips conference when they tried at an IBM presentation to suggest they had a similar project they were working on and everyone basically laughed.
Edit: to be clear, Intel on mainstream and server seems to be behind due to process moving forward and back porting will help, but don't know if enough. On mobile, because AMD lags on releasing their current tech until around the Q1 of the year after release, AMD looks like it will remain behind on mobile performance moving forward, at least so long as Intel can deliver on 7nm in 2021-22 and doesn't see further issues delaying that significantly, while also needing to get yields up further on 10nm.