Intel Raises Performance Bar With Nehalem Core i7Intel Raises Performance Bar With Nehalem Core i7

Intel's new Nehalem (aka Core i7) processors are causing a stir, on the heels of the rave "first look" review on ChannelWeb. The chips are significant because they mark the introduction of an all-new microarchitecture, and, boy, are they powerful.Indeed, ChannelWeb characterizes the processors as having the performance to "drive current data center-class performance onto the desktop." The arsenal of chip-level technologies Intel has applied to achieve what's looking like a significant leap in performance is impressive. It's reworked so many elements of the design, you need a scorecard to keep track.

First off, the Nehalems will be fabricated in 45-nm technology. This isn't anything singular to this chip family; Intel has had 45-nm processors for about a year, and AMD will soon release its first such chips. But 45-nm is significant because its finer design rules enable lower-power operation and allow more gates to be packed onto a similarly sized silicon die.

More significant is Intel's jettisoning of its long-time use of a front-side bus in favor of an integrated memory controller. This is one area where AMD took the industry lead, in 2003, by being first with an on-chip controller in its Operton server processor. As chips get faster, an onboard controller becomes more important. With slow devices, long-latency memory accesses aren't a big deal, because then it's simply a case of hurry up and wait, anyway. However, as performance begins to push the envelope, you don't want to have to negotiate your memory accesses across pokey front-side buses.

Thus the move to the integrated memory controller, notwithstanding the fact that Intel pooh-poohed the need for this for years, probably because it didn't want to give props to its competitor. Also, Intel doesn't go out of its way to draw attention to the newly integrated design, instead using the rather nonspecific moniker "QuickPath" to denote the new technology. Whatever; it's there and it's obviously an important factor in Nehalem's performance.

I don't want to turn this post into a laundry list of features. Suffice to say, some of the other things supported in Nehalam are very sophisticated management of multithreading, and of the multilevel caches. Sophisticated power management, as is par for the course nowadays, also is in play.

So, this kind of gold-plated performance must cost a pretty penny, right? Not so fast, chip boy. Actually, the Core i7-965, which is the highest SKU of the three processors being released now, is officially listed at $999. However, its street price -- if you can get it -- is around $1,200, which more realistically reflects the demand which queues up behind a new, top-of-the-line Intel chip.

The Core i7-965 is a quad-core part clocked at 3.2 GHz. The other two devices, also quad cores, are the 2.93-GHz Core i7-940 and the 2.66-GHz Core i7-920. The 940 is selling at a street price of around $660 and the 920 can be had for an affordable $360.

Which processor is powering your PC? Let me know, by leaving a comment below or e-mailing me directly at [email protected].

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