Tech oasis at IDF Taipei '08Intel Nehalem micro architectureThe 45nm Nehalem microarchitecture is the new building block for its high-performance, power-efficient processors in mainstream personal and enterprise computing categories. It supplements the Atom series and comprises Core i7 chips for high-end desktops and Clarksfield/Auburndale for thin-and-light notebooks. The Core i7 will be available in November 2008, while the two mobile equivalents will follow in 2H 2009.To boost the number-crunching capability of the Nehalem family, Intel has added a slew of key enhancements. Most notable is the QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology which eliminates the bottleneck of conventional front-side bus design for point-to-point high-speed data link between the processing cores and chipset. Other major upgrades are an integrated memory controller and three-channel DDR3 memory support to enable a three-fold bandwidth leap. On the energy efficiency front, the Nehalem offers even better power management through Power Gate and Turbo Boost technologies. By tweaking the processor fabrication and transistor design, Intel has managed to cut down current leakage to near-zero levels. Furthermore, Power Gate also has the capability to automatically shut down idle cores and other sub-components. Complementing this is Turbo Boost which improves system performance by making the remaining cores work harder through an increase in operating voltage and frequency. In the event that only one processing core is active, it can be given a double boost for maximum performance to tackle regular single-threaded programs without compromising system stability. This concept is similar to "enthusiast overclocking" where hardware is forced to operate above its specifications, except that in this case, it's validated and officially sanction by Intel. These chips are shipped in multicore configuration and a sizeable 8MB level three memory cache. Tags: processor, Intel Corp., performance scalability, Taipei, Shanghai
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