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Intel Core i7 - Nehalem Architecture Dive
Manufacturer:Intel
Every so often in this industry someone says something that
makes you do that funny double-take prompting you to
ask that question of doubt: " I'm sorry, could you repeat that
please?"
This happened when Intel first talked about Nehalem in some
detail (as opposed to just announcing the name) -
that was about six months before Penryn, Intel's first 45nm
processor, made its way onto the market.
At that time, Intel revealed that its new Nehalem architecture
would have an on-die memory controller, sparking the
end to its institutional Front Side Bus model. It was a defining
moment in the future of Intel's CPU microarchitecture,
just like it was when AMD reinvented itself as a serious and, in
some places, market leading manufacturer with the
excellent K8 architecture and its integrated memory
controller.
Some interpretations argue that Intel is admitting AMD was right
to move the northbridge onto the CPU die in order
to make things more efficient and that Intels very antiquated
front side bus model was very quickly running out of
steam. While the latter maybe true, Intel will no doubt argue
that waiting until now was the right idea: with its 45nm
process it can achieve a specific power density that offers
acceptable performance and keeps costs reasonable. All
of which could mean that despite being "late" with the
technology, it could now develop an advantage.
After the nightmare of Netburst, Intel designed the Core
microarchitecture with top to bottom scalability of utmost
importance right from multi-socket server down to ultra-portable
notebooks. Thats an incredibly difficult task to
balance power saving thats most important in battery limited
mobile applications, to highly scalable, ultra high
performance servers.
This is where Intel's "modular" design comes in even though
Nehalem is a bigger, more complex die, internally it's
split into parts that can in theory be mix and matched like
simple building blocks.
If you need more cores, or integrated graphics, or more QPI
links; just drop them in. Intel splits the CPU into the
Core(s) section and Uncore section that has, well, everything
else. AMD has also cited itself to take this approach
when we first heard about its next generation Fusion CPU - so by
both retaining an element of flexibility it can
approach and satisfy new markets quicker and meet the
competition sooner, both of which are good for us as
consumers.
While on some level Nehalem was designed with this in mind
again, in others this greater d iversity in product type
will also bring many more new sockets than were currently used
to. This diversity will focus the greater populous of
its users into particular hardware models that will be optimal
products for their needs, however it could also mean
upgrading costs far more if you decide to jump between
boundaries - it's not just a CPU, it's the motherboard and
possibly memory as well.
MORE ABOUT...
Intel
Intel's Core i7 920, 940 & 965 processors
Early Look: Gigabyte GA-EX58-Extreme
Early Look: Asus Rampage II Extreme
Early Look: MSI X58 Eclipse
Early Look: Asus P6T Deluxe
Intel talks about Nehalem, Larrabee & 32nm
Custom PC Issue
116
3 Issues for just 1
PC Hardware
Buyer's Guide
August 2012
Published on 3rd November 2008 by Richard Swinburne
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Click to enlarge
The new Core i7 brand was recently revealed as the official
naming of Nehalem. We've also since been told that the
"7" portion doesn't particularly mean much, although we expect
there will be Core i5/6/8 etc as future processor
sockets with specific abilities get introduced next year.
Click to enlarge
Die size - Nehalem has a larger 263mm versus 214mm for Yorkfield
(both cores included)
Transistor Count - Nehalem's is actually lower at 731M versus
820M for Yorkfield, this is mostly because of
the reduction of overall cache: 9MB L2 and L3 versus 12MB L2, as
SRAM cells require four transistors per
bit.
Physical Size - LGA1366 is considerably larger at 45x42mm versus
37x37mm for LGA775.
Side by side the Core i7 dwarfs the tiny quad core Penryn, and
the larger central core is surrounded by a 76
percent increase in LGA pads and quite clearly the two are not
compatible. Core i7's new socket is LGA1366, and
the extra pads accommodate the power and data traffic for new
components inside the package, that we will further
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