THE LATEST PROCESSOR NEWS

Intel's new Socket LGA1366 Core i7 quad-core desktop PC processors are now availableThe new processors, which are built using the latest 45nm fabrication process, differ in several significant ways from Intel's Core 2 Duo dual-core and Core 2 Quad quad-core processors. The traditional frontside bus that links the processor to the RAM memory on the motherboard has been replaced by the new QuickPath interface - a memory controller built into the processor, which operates in a similar way to the HyperTransport memory controller that has been built into AMD processors for several years. Unfortunately, QuickPath only supports the latest DDR3 RAM memory, so you won't be able to reuse any DDR2 memory that you may have. Moreover, the DDR3 memory can be run in triple-channel mode instead of the dual-channel mode that AMD's processors support. This means that instead of using two memory modules in conjunction, as is the case with dual-channel mode, three modules of the same capacity and type can be run from the controller at the same time in order to increase performance. For this reason, Socket 1366 motherboards have six memory slots so that two sets of three modules can be run in triple-channel mode.
As with the Core 2 Quad range of processors, all of the Core i7 processors have four processor cores (in effect four processors housed in a single unit), which makes running multiple applications easy, because each application can have its own core processing it. Moreover, all of the Core i7 processors also use Hyper-Threading Technology that was introduced by Intel's Pentium 4 processors. Using it, each core can process two threads of information at the same time, in effect adding four virtual cores, which boosts performance significantly, but doesn't double it.
All of the Core i7 processors have 256K of Level 2 (L2) cache for each core, which share 8MB of Level 3 (L3) cache.
Despite using the same 45nm fabrication process as the latest Core 2 Quad processors, the new Core i7 quad-core processors have a higher power requirement (130W) compared to that of the Core 2 Quad processors (95W), which means that a bigger heatsink and fan unit is required to keep the processor cool, which, in turn, means a noisier PC.
Computer Shopper reviewed the Core i7 920, which runs at 2.66GHz, in issue 251. It was only give a a two-star rating due to the high cost of DDR3 memory and the motherboards that run them, plus the fact that the prototype system Computer Shopper used had a lower benchmark performance than an equivalent Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor. The advice was not to rush out and buy Core i7 until finalised motherboards and updated drivers can be used to put them to the test.
Here is the review:
http://www.computershopper.co.uk/reviews/238866/intel-core-i7-920.html
Intel's new Socket LGA1366 Core i7 quad-core processors due out later this month
November 5, 2008. - The latest quad-core processor chip from Intel, code-named Nehalem and officially named Core i7, is aimed at high-end desktop PCs for power users and PC gamers. Unlike the Core2 Quad quad-core processors, which are really two dual-core processors connected together, the new processors, like all of AMD's quad-core processors, have four individual cores connected together.
The new processors feature a turbo mode that is not like the turbo mode button found on computers during the 1980s. The turbo mode of Core i7 processors works automatically and results in increased single-core performance when all of the cores are not in use, achieving higher single-core performance.
Instead of the Front Side Bus (FSB) that PCs have been using for decades, the new processors use the new QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology to communicate with the motherboard's Northbridge chip.
For the first time, Intel has integrated the memory controller into the processor, which AMD processors have had for several years. Because the new processors have a new socket (Socket LGA1366), use DDR3 RAM memory, and use an integrated memory controller and other new technology, the motherboards that run Core 2 processors are not compatible with the motherboards that run Core i7 processors and vice versa. A processor cooler is included with the retail boxed product.
When Intel launches the range of Core i7 processors officially later this month, several PC manufacturers will begin shipping desktop PCs that run them. The company has been making the new processors available to hardware vendors and websites since September. Test reports are very favourable, describing the performance as blazingly, blindingly and blisteringly fast. However, there is next to no information available on the new processors on Intel's website. That should change after the official release.
Eight-core Core i7 processors and two-core and four-core models for laptop/notebook PCs are expected to be made available in the second half of 2009. Three Core i7 models are to be released initially - the Core i7 920 (2.66 GHz), the Core i7 940 (2.93GHz), and the Core i7 965 Extreme (3.20 GHz).
As Intel prepares the launch its new Socket LGA1366 desktop PC processors in November, Asus has already made a motherboard available for them
October 9, 2008. - Intel is preparing for the launch of its new Core i7 processors in November 2008. This is how Intel describes the processors on its website: "These processors will feature Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, also known as simultaneous multi-threading, and are capable of handling eight software "threads" on four processor cores."
The processors have not been made available to reviewers yet, but the motherboard manufacturer, Asus, has already made its P6T Deluxe motherboard with the X58 chipset, which has the new LGA1366 processor socket, available to reviewers world-wide and ready for the market when Intel makes the Core i7 processors available.
The new motherboard provides new power-saving and overclocking technology. As an optional extra a device known as the OC Palm is available that provides overclocking on-the-fly during gaming or benchmarking. You can see an image of the device attached to a USB port on this page:
New ASUS P6T DELUXE with Super Hybrid Engine Delivers Maximum Overclocking and Energy Efficiency -
"The P6T DELUXE adopts the usage of TurboV—an advanced overclocking tool that utilizes a micro-controller to provide precise overclocking adjustments, and allow users to conveniently adjust the CPU ratio (multiplier)* for instant CPU upgrades for real-time performance enhancements. TurboV can also provide adjustments to the NB voltage, NB-PCIe voltage, CPU PLL voltage and DRAM voltage in 0.02V micro-intervals." -
http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=12949
Apart from that page, there is no other information on the board on the Asus site yet. To locate reviews of this motherboard enter asus p6T deluxe in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).
Intel Core i7 (Nehalem): Architecture By AMD? -
Intel's new Socket LGA1366 quad-core processors. -
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Intel-i7-nehalem,review-31375.html