Intel's Nehalem architecture and the promise of efficient yet powerful computing

Nehalem from Intel Corporation The desktop processor wars between Intel and AMD have been a tug of war for the ages but it looks like Intel is gearing up for its secret weapon. Codenamed Nehalem, the next-generation chips are called Intel Core i7 and boast an entirely new architecture that focuses not only on blazing performance by unrivaled efficiency. This “best of both world,” approach is expected to trickle down to the mobile, desktop and server market segments for the processor giant. More on Nehalem from Intel after the jump Most of us are probably pretty happy with the processors we have today, in fact, anything produced in the past two years has enough power to run all but the most demanding applications, right? The Core 2 Duo architecture has been stellar in most of its iterations for desktop and mobile applications. Even the low-voltage processors used in the likes of netbooks and ultra-slim notebooks like the MacBook Air and ThinkPad X300 manage to run the most demanding applications admirably. So what can Nehalem offer that we don’t have today? Launching initially as the Extreme Edition line, the Intel Core i7, is designed to manage data at an unprecedented rate. Nehalem is capable of simultaneous multi-threading, these processors will handle eight software “threads” on four processor cores. That’s an unparalleled amount of data crunching and will be useful for high-volume data transfers such as video and audio encoding, gaming and scientific applications. This marks a bold step in processor design, with more cores built into chips than ever before. Think of each chip as being a cluster of cores acting as mini-computers, each core with the processing power of one desktop from 2 years ago. Intel isn’t just bunching together Core 2 Duo chips to create 4 core Frankenstein processors, it is building multi-core processors on a single-die. This guarantees improved bandwidth and reduced latency Coupled with Intel’s fastidious architecture and cooling design, its is only a matter of time before we see these chips powering all sorts of PCs from slim servers to notebooks and tablets. There are actually three variants of the Core i7. The first, Bloomfield, is the high-performance and gaming-class chip which is already out in the market and which slings a 3.2Ghz Quad Core processor. Soon to hit the market are more affordable mainstream models called Lynnfield and Ibex Peak. The bandwidth on these bad boys is expected to be double that of the fastest bus interconnect available on current Core 2 chips. Turbo Mode and Multi-threading inside These fast processors will be offering users some new features such as Turbo Mode, which independently ramps up the operating frequency of individual cores. This means that the clock speed of one, two or three cores can be increased by up to 266 MHz above the official rating whenever the chips detect single, double or triple-threaded software is being processed. As multi-threaded applications become more common, the power of the eight core Nehalem processors will be put to better use. Caption: Nehalem Demoed by Intel. The processor game isn’t just about raw power and brute force but also about properly channeling all this computing power effectively and distributing the workload among the different cores. Expect great things from Intel on the processor front, those who are slated to replace their desktops in 2009 and who are considering getting Nehalem processors will be no doubt rewarded with unparalleled power, efficiency and versatility that these new chips offer in abundance. -By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

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