Loongson, a Chinese chipmaker, recently announced its new 3B6600 CPU in an investor call, claiming that it could compete with Intel’s 13th-Gen Core i5 and i7 chips. This marks a major step forward for the company’s processors. The 3B6600 is expected to succeed the 3A6000 chip, which was introduced in April 2024.
The new Loongson 3B6600 will feature eight cores and an integrated GPU, making it more powerful than its predecessor. The company claims the new CPU’s single-core turbo frequency will increase by 20%, reaching up to 3GHz, up from the previous 2.5GHz. Loongson believes the 3B6600 will have top-tier single-core performance, but this still needs to be verified through testing and benchmarking.
Besides improving single-core performance, the 3B6600 will support DDR5 memory, PCIe 4.0, and HDMI 2.1 output. These features show the chip’s ability to handle modern standards, making it competitive in today’s market.
However, Loongson still faces a tough challenge. The 3B6600 will be going up against the Intel Alder Lake and Raptor Lake processors, which were released in November 2021. Despite being a few years old, these chips are more advanced than the 3A6000, which is compared to older 14nm chips used in production from 2014 to early 2021.
Though the company’s chips are making progress, they are still far behind the latest technologies from companies like TSMC, AMD, and Intel. Despite local support for homegrown processors, Loongson faces an uphill battle, especially with limited adoption even among local companies.
The company’s efforts are fueled by sanctions against American chips and the push to find alternatives for banned Western processors. With innovations like the “tock-tock-tick” strategy, Loongson continues its journey to close the performance gap with leading global chipmakers.
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