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Intel Core I7 Launched, Nehalem and X58 Tested
MojoKid writes "Today marks the official launch of
Intel's new Core i7 processor, the most major overhaul of Intel's core processor architecture since the release of their Core 2
design. As has been reported, the Core i7 is a major departure from
Intel's aging Front Side Bus architecture of old, now replaced by
Intel's QPI (Quick Path Interconnect) serial links. This 20 lane
bi-directional (40 lanes total) point-to-point connection provides 6.4 GT/s of
bandwidth and scalability for future multi-socket designs as well. In
addition, the Core i7 now has an integrated triple channel memory controller
offering over 3X the bandwidth of the previous Core 2 architecture with
DDR3 system memory. Though the product is set to ship in volume later this
month,
the early benchmark numbers show Intel's new chip is markedly faster
clock-for-clock versus their previous generation CPU and much faster than
anything AMD has out currently."
What is a GT/s? (Honest question, looking for an honest answer.)
Giga-Transfers per second (or at least that's what google found).
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
actually, it's gigatransfers per second... thanx for dkf ( http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1016475&cid=25611995 ) for informing that link.
`echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
Funnily enough a gaming performance review found not that much difference in running Crysis on i7 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/03/intel-core-i7-920-945-965-review/4) and in fact worse performance for the brand-new Far Cry 2 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/03/intel-core-i7-920-945-965-review/5). It remains to be seen whether or not other new games show a similar effect or not...
DEC invented that hypertransport for the DEC alpha. AMD liked the idea and adopted it. it was not AMD's idea.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Crosstalk and synchronization issues make parallel links impractical in the GHz range. There's a reason USB, PCI Express, HT/QPI, Ethernet are all serial and packet-based. The only major holdout is RAM, but I see it going serial eventually.
The only major holdout is RAM, but I see it going serial eventually.
Well, depending on how you look at it, is sort of has already. FB-DIMM does parallel to serial conversion right on the DIMM. The DRAM chips themselves still have a parallel bus, but that bus doesn't even make it to the socket anymore.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
http://anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3448
http://www.planetx64.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1435&Itemid=14
1) 64 bit macro-op fusion is new. See it tested here..
2) Virtualisation is more efficient with nested pagetables.
3) Gaming should benefit, since all x58 mobos support Crossfire
and nVidia SLI.
4) 12 gigs ram supported with 2gb dims - this is rare for desktop boards.
Numerous other minor tweaks, but read it for yourself..
Have fun with your upgrade dollars!
The law is a weapon of the government, not a protection for the likes of you. Surely you understand that.
You seem to be thinking about the Alpha EV6 front-side bus architecture that AMD used on the original Athlon. It's very different from the HyperTransport bus, and predates it by several years.
3 if you count FarCry which was developed by Crytek but published by Ubisoft rather then EA. It's also worth pointing out that IMHO FarCry was the better game.
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
Another review with some more data, including memory channel performance testing, good explanations of overclocking process, etc.
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=634
Intel didn't change sockets? How many sockets have they launched in the past six years? AMD has launched 3 main sockets in that time (754, 939 and AM2). Anyone remember Intel ditching Socket 423 after less than a year?
And AMD would release one proc on different sockets so you could still upgrade with your old mobo. For instance, when they came out with Socket 939, they were still releasing new procs under Socket 754. Even though they have Socket AM2/AM2+, you can still get Socket 939 procs.
AM2 came out in early 2006, and when I build my next rig in the spring, I'll still likely be building an AM2 rig. That being said, I'll probably go with a new motherboard for a faster bus, and faster memory support.
I could keep my existing mobo which will support quad-core AM2+ processors with a BIOS update, but to get the full potential, I need a new motherboard for the bus speed and memory improvements.
Intel is in the same boat. Chipsets and cores change often enough that you need to replace everything to get the best possible results.
Your logic was that you didn't want to change sockets and replace your entire system (AMD provided you that option to stay on the same socket) so you replaced your whole system and changed sockets to go to Intel.
How does that make sense?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Actually the Gentoo docs tell you to compile for the more generic architectures, and not the real specific CPU for reasons like that. Then again, I always compiled for the specific CPU.
I miss me some Frys. I loved that store. However I live in Nebraska these days, so I use NewEgg. You can still order a 386 motherboard on NewEgg (I kid you not).
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
All processors have errata. Waiting is good.
Like software, VLSI circuits have bugs on release day. The Core i7 CPU is HUGELY complex, and will undoubtedly have bugs. I would rather know the severity of those bugs before spending hundreds of dollars on a new CPU.
Palm trees and 8