~Nehalem Progress Report and Updates....~

[sam9s]

Well quite a few minor threads on this subject but non is actually comprehensively maintained...

I am starting this thread only for those who REALLY are interested in Nehalemes, its layman architecture, releases, updates, reviews, comparisions and almost everything releated to it. Would keep on maintaining the thread from my end atleast........

To start with..... (no not the architecture, that turns out to be pretty boaring for most of the people,..... I will discuess it anyway later). Nobody has actually pointed out its varients and difference between them, which segment would be interested in which flavor......

Nehalems processors would be shipped in 3 flavours..... code named

1. Bloomfield
2. Lynnfield
3. Havendale.

The first generation Nehalems processor would be code named Bloomfield....
Bloomfield would be the elite class of the 3 processor family, with main difference in the 3 Channel DDR3 memory.

Next to follow would be the mainstream processor Nehalems called Lynnfield and should be the one we would look forward to. Lynnfields would be based on the same Bloomfield architecture but would support the conventional 2 Channel DDR3 memory.
Intel is just shipping the high-end version first, so all the "gotta-have-it" types pay them the maximum amount possible (this anyhow is always the markiting stratagy of Intel when releasing their next CPU vairent)

.......Check out the following graph for a comprehensive comparision between the 3 Nehalems variants.....




More news and updated to follow................

[sam9s]

mmm people are not very enthusiastic about Nehalems I suppose.....any way I am and so the next post.......

Leme share the Nehalems Road Map with you, when and how would the different varients would be released in the course of year 2009....

At first as I said Nehalem will only available in uber high end when it meet the launch date, but according to the new roadmap, Intel has already prepared three Bloomfield with different clock for different class of users.

The Bloomfield for Extreme class clocks at 3.2GHz, performance class Bloomfield runs at 2.92GHz, the lowest one run is 2.66GHz, which Anandtech have already run several benchmarks with.

All of them are based on the Bloomfield core, which means they are quad-cores specially designed with an integrated QPI controller and built for enthusiasts. The Core i7 3.2GHz has one QPI link at 6.4GHz, while the other two has one link at 4.8GHz. All three sport 8MB L3 cache and 256KB L2 cache per core, and slide into the LGA1366 socket used by Intel X58 motherboards. All sport an integrated triple-channel DDR3 memory controller with official support for up to 1066MHz, and overclocking support

THE ROAD MAP



Lynnfield is a bit different from Bloomfield as the QPI controller has been replaced by a PCIe 2.0 generation controller. The memory controller has also been stripped of one channel, which leaves two DDR3 64-bit channels, which also means that it only need 1160 pins instead of the 1366 pins Bloomfield requires. It still sports 8MB shared L3 cache and 256KB L2 cache per core.



The last of the bunch will be Havendale, the one with the integrated GPU that had been moved back to 2010. Havendale sports two CPU cores, not three that some of you might have thought, and one GPU core. The specifics of the GPU is so far unknown but it should certainly be based on something Inteltastic so expect a focus on the basic features and not performance. The L3 cache will be cut in half to 4MB, since there are only two CPU cores now.

[comp@ddict]

Well,where's the source?

And here's tow other threads where u cud hav posted all this instead:

<<Unofficial i7 Thread>>

Intel Nehalem and AMD Phenom Update

I'm adding this there okay!

[sam9s]

^^ No single source, all taken from various different sites, I am just compiling it to be more in laymen tearms......that it.....

Well I have added few in those threads as well, but its just the shear excitement and love for Nehalems I started a new thread.....

[Cool Joe]

Thanks a lot for this work of yours. I'm definitely interested.
BTW, any info about the starting prices of all these 3 variants?
And also could you post more info about the graphics core integrated into the Havendale processors? Are they good enough to compete with discrete cards or are they just like the gfx integrated into the mobos?

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by beta testing

Thanks a lot for this work of yours. I'm definitely interested.
BTW, any info about the starting prices of all these 3 variants?
And also could you post more info about the graphics core integrated into the Havendale processors? Are they good enough to compete with discrete cards or are they just like the gfx integrated into the mobos?

Yep the expected launch price for the 3 varients would be as follows...



Also about your question regarding intigrated graphics (Sorry I forgot to see it)....... Intigrated graphics is just an added feature that "Havendale" would have. It cannot be compared to an indipendent graphic solution. Intigrated graphics could be a benifit to Notebooks which would have Havendale as the proc.

If you ask me, an integrated PCIe controller is something to look forwarded to (at least the architecture looks promising). An integrate PCI Express controller, would allow the chip to connect directly to a graphics card, just as it would connect directly to the main memory (thanks to the memory controller integrated as well). This could mean faster transfer and elimination of same on the supporting platform. Now what difference would that make in real time usage would only be seen when mass production hits and benchmarks starts to flow anytime during Q2 2009

[Cool Joe]

Originally Posted by sam9s

If you ask me, an integrated PCIe controller is something to look forwarded to (at least the architecture looks promising). An integrate PCI Express controller, would allowing the chip to connect directly to a graphics card, just as it would connect directly to the main memory (thanks to the memory controller integrated as well). This could mean faster transfer and elimination of same on the supporting platform.

That was exactly what I was thinking.... Since they're all integrated, they ought to perform faster.... But it would be nice if they used quite powerful gfx cores on the Havendales....
The prices you've quoted are quite decent....

[comp@ddict]

I'm lukin for Clarksfield, and triple channel and dual channel hardly hav any difference.

it's single channel and dual channel that posts a big difference in benchies

[hellgate]

i've have the Core i7 920 in my mind.its my next target procy for upgradation.

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by comp@ddict

I'm lukin for Clarksfield, and triple channel and dual channel hardly hav any difference.

it's single channel and dual channel that posts a big difference in benchies

lol....Clarksfield and Auburndale both would only be mobile processors using Nehalem architecture.......with quad core and dual core being the difference respectively......

Originally Posted by hellgate

i've have the Core i7 920 in my mind.its my next target procy for upgradation.

Yep 920 shoud be the sweet spot for most of us, however Lynnfield has certain very specific architectural difference (whether it turns out to be an advantage is yet to be seen) over Bloomfiled. Both Lynnfield and Havendale will have substantial differences compared to Bloomfield, which will catalyze dramatic changes to PC architecture going forward.

Both Lynnfield and Havendale have memory controller as well as PCI Express interconnection inside, there will be no need for North Bridge on the mainboard. Instead, the new processors will connect directly to controller hub (PCH code-named Ibexpeak) that will carry hard drive controller, wired and wireless network controllers, monitor physical interfaces, PCI controller and other input/output as well as platform-related capabilities.

On the Bloomfield front the major difference is the faster QPI link and triple channed DDR3 support.

Now we do not have any benchmarks for Lynnfield or Havendale and so we can not judge what exact benifit would these do over Bloomfield when a neck to neck comparision is done.

Anyhow in both the case I am pretty excited about the performance of Nehalems, coupled with upcoming GTX 350, we should be looking at a pretty powerfull desktop by mid 2009........

[comp@ddict]

i920 is the best procc among these

284$, half of i940, less than one-fourth of i965, but performance is like QX9770 after all, and this performance waz like super a few months ago and still is. And best is OC room is very good too luk at TDP despite clock.

[sam9s]

Intel's First Nehalem Server Chips Set For Q4 Production

The first Nehalem DP server product on Intel's roadmap is codenamed Gainestown and it's identified as a 45nm quad-core Xeon chip in the first half of 2009.
Features listed for Gainestown include DDR3 memory, PCI Express Gen 2 support and shared L3 cache. Also new is SSE 4.2, which includes support for XML acceleration. The advantages over the Core architecture that Intel lists include improved power management, 33 percent more micro-operations over existing Penryn products for better parallelism, and enhanced algorithms and branch prediction capabilities.

Intel also says its Quick Path memory controller architecture delivers "up to 25.6Gb/sec" of bandwidth per link on Gainestown. The chip giant claims in its presentation that the unnumbered Xeon chip enjoys a 33 percent energy efficiency advantage over a presumably comparable Opteron processor from rival Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), due to more instructions per clock on the Intel product.

On the virtualization front, Intel says the VT FlexMigration technology it developed for moving virtual machines on older Core servers to the newer Penryn platforms carries over and is improved on Nehalem. VT FlexMigration eases the migration of Live VMs across Intel server generations, which in Intel's words "allows future platforms to be entered into the virtual infrastructure pool" by IT budget planners, one imagines.

Some other Gainestown specs named in various reports but not mentioned in the presentation are also believed to be applicable to all three Bloomfield, or Core i7, chips. Specifically, the Gainestown and Bloomfield chips will have a 130W thermal envelope (as will an eight-core Nehalem MP server chip called Beckton due in Q2 2009) and slot into Intel's upcoming Socket B, or LGA1366, superseding Socket T on motherboards.

[comp@ddict]

Wish they sell for under 10k within 6 months (the i7 9xx proccs i mean)

[nvidia]

^^They surely will come down once the Denebs are out.. But will take more time to come down to 10k in India..

[comp@ddict]

Yeah, with """XTRA""" price on the dollar, and seeing Rs.47=1$, I know that sounds a bit ""HARD"".

[MetalheadGautham]

Deneb has a rather distinct advantage over Nehalem. When it launches, people can just buy cheap DDR2 1066MHz memory and put it into their 4K 780G motherboards and remove the old CPU and replace it with a Deneb. But for Intel, you need to buy expensive DDR3 RAM that performs the same for most practical purposes and get a motherboard that won't come for less than 20K.

So AMD still has performance/price advantage. You can build an uber rig at a much lower price with AMD than Intel.

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

Deneb has a rather distinct advantage over Nehalem. When it launches, people can just buy cheap DDR2 1066MHz memory and put it into their 4K 780G motherboards and remove the old CPU and replace it with a Deneb. But for Intel, you need to buy expensive DDR3 RAM that performs the same for most practical purposes and get a motherboard that won't come for less than 20K.

So AMD still has performance/price advantage. You can build an uber rig at a much lower price with AMD than Intel.

I clearly mentioned in the beginning that this thread would be for people ONLY interested in Nehalems. Its not a Comparison thread, so I would request people to refrain from doing it.

Who wins the most powerful processor crown and who would have the adv over price is something time would tell. Lets stick only to what the coming year has to offer in terms of desktop computing.

Coming up :::: Socket LGA 1366 under the scope.......

Socket LGA 1366 under the scope

So finally Intel has paved its way for new Socket LGA 1366. LGA 775 seems to have gone longer than expected. Pentium 4 released in Q4 04 was the first LGA 775 and till date we have the LGA 775. When LGA 775 first came on the scene we were still using Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) graphics cards.

New micro-architecture of LGA 1366 promises to give a lot of hassle to its adopters, since the new chips are completely different from what we have seen until now.

The official name for LGA 1366 is Socket B and it is the successor to Socket T, or what is commonly referred to as Land Grid Array (LGA) 775. Socket B is the first of a new three socket system that Intel plans to unleash on the market. LGA 1160 is slated for use in entry level systems and LGA 1567 will handle server and workstation duty. At this time little is known about LGA 1160 and 1567

The Nehalem CPU micro-architecture will be seated on a new socket, to comply with the chip manufacturer's dramatic changes to the processor's silicon, The LGA 1366 CPU socket will be able to host both the single-CPU in the Bloomfield family and the dual-GPU architecture in the Gainestown series.

According to the reports, the new socket is about 20 percent larger than the previous LGA 775. The size increase is understandable, given the fact the processor will come with 600 extra pins for the QuickPath Interconnect and the built-in DDR3 memory controller. This will allow for processor heat to be spread across a larger area. In turn, cooler manufacturers now have more room at the base to work with.

The LGA 1366 socket is also more solid and is better fastened to the motherboard.



The new socket is also better fastened to the motherboard, as the Bloomfield test board shows. On the motherboard's solder side, one can notice the metal back plate that firmly fastens the CPU socket using four metal screws.

Proper fastening is essential, as the new processor will come with increased energy requirements and a significant thermal envelope that will require huge cooling solutions. The additional fastening elements will prevent the cooler from ripping the socket apart from the motherboard when the fan throttles up.

Another novelty in the socket design is the independent loading mechanism (ILM), that dramatically changes the mounting process operation.

In order to add some extra 600 pins to the socket, Intel had to increase the socket's size up to 20 percent, and it seems that the pins are now thinner, which could result in accidental breaks during the system's hardware maintenance.