Intel® Multi-Core Technology for Embedded and Communications Applications

Intel® multi-core technology offers scalable and energy-efficient performance in a smaller footprint enabled by the advanced parallel processing of next-generation hafnium-based 45nm technology. With multiple execution cores within a single chip, these processors can operate at the same power level as previous generation single-core processors.
Ideal for communications and embedded systems where performance-per-watt has become increasingly critical, each execution core in an Intel multi-core processor is clocked slower than a single-core processor resulting in lower input voltage and greater performance.

Intel® Network Processors

Built on a high-performance fully programmable architecture, Intel network processors offer the speed, flexibility, and ease-of-use/reuse you need to accelerate time-to-market, extend time-in-market, and to enable a broad range of services from the customer premises to the core of the network.Versatile, high-performance, and scalable network processors designed for network access, edge, and core applications from T1/E1 to OC-192 GbE.Network processors optimized for home, small-to-medium enterprise, and networked embedded applications.Flexible wire-speed processing for OC-3 to OC-12 multiservice network applications.

Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770

Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770Get untouchable desktop performance from Intel's latest Extreme processor. Play games, edit high definition video and easily tackle the most demanding multitasking environments like never before.Intel® Core™2 Extreme processorFor extreme computing. Enjoy revolutionary levels of performance enabling vivid, high-definition experiences and multi-tasking responsiveness from state-of-the-art Intel dual-core and quad-core technologies.Intel® Core™2 Quad processorMultimedia enthusiasts, prepare to enthuse. Bring quad-core performance to your desktop with the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor. It's the ideal engine for highly threaded entertainment applications and highly productive multitasking.Intel® Core™2 Duo processorThe power to perform. With power-optimized enabled dual-core technology and exceptional energy efficiency, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor excels running the most intense applications.

Intel Latest Technology

In the 'Tick, Tock' model, Tock means a new CPU architecture every two years followed by the Tick which means die-shrinkWhile the world is still talking about Intel's shift from 45nm to 32nm, Intel has gone one step ahead and added a 22nm 8-core processor micro-architecture to their design roadmap.At the Intel Developer Forums, Intel talked about their 'Tick, Tock' model of chip development, transition from 45nm to 32nm and also briefed about the 22nm chip design plans. This update comes in the wake of Intel's talks with regional R&D engineers, who shared the project status for next 5 years. A French site called CanardPlus managed to grab the slide from Intel Developer Forum.In the 'Tick, Tock' model, Tock means a new CPU architecture every two years followed by the Tick which means die-shrink. Intel has announced the 45nm Nehalem's successor called Westmere (previously Nehalem-c) on 32nm die-shrink due for release in 2009. Westmere's special feature is the 8-core CPU design where each core will have its own 512 KB L2 cache, and general divided 16 MB cache at the third level.During 2011-12, Intel plans to release 'Ivy Bridge' as the first 22nm chip in 2011, and then follow it up with the 22nm micro-architecture, code named Haswell, that will carry 8-cores in 2012. The Ivy Bridge will be released after 'Sandy Bridge' (previously named Gesher) from the 32nm micro-architecture in 2010.

Intel Xeon Processors

Intel Launches New High-End Xeon ProcessorsIntel Corporation has extended its lead in the high-end server segment, setting new standards in virtualization performance with the launch of seven 45 nanometer (nm)-manufactured Intel Xeon Processor 7400 Series products. With up to six processing cores per chip and 16MB of shared cache memory, applications built for virtualized environments and data demanding workloads, such as databases, business intelligence, enterprise resource planning and server consolidation, experience dramatic performance increases of almost 50 percent in some cases.Platforms based on these processors can scale up to 16 processor "sockets" to deliver servers with up to 96 processing cores inside, offering tremendous scalability, ample computing threads, extensive memory resources and uncompromising reliability for enterprise data centers."The arrival of these processors extends Intel's lead in the high-end server segment," said Tom Kilroy, Intel vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. "This new processor series helps IT manage increasingly complex enterprise server environments, providing a great opportunity to boost the scalable performance of multi-threaded applications within a stable platform infrastructure. With new features such as additional cores, large shared caches and advanced virtualization technologies, the Xeon 7400 series delivers record-breaking performance that will lead enterprises into the next wave of virtualization deployments."Several Performance RecordsThe Intel Xeon processor 7400 series has already set new four-socket and eight-socket world records on key industry benchmarks for virtualization, database, enterprise resource planning and e-commerce. IBM, following the record-setting 1.2 million tpmC result on its eight-socket System x* 3950 M2 platform, delivers an all-time high result for four-socket servers on System x* 3850 M2 server with a score of 684,508 tpmC on the TPC*-C benchmark, which measures database performance in an online transaction processing environment.An HP ProLiant DL580 G5 server on the SAP-SD benchmark that measures a server's sales and distribution capability on SAP software set a world record with a score of 5155 SD-Users. On the SPECint*_rate2006 benchmark, which measures a system's integer throughput performance, a Fujitsu-Siemens PRIMERGY* RX600 S4 server set a record with a score of 291. Several other records were also set on other key enterprise-related benchmarks.Virtualization Platform of ChoiceBased on Intel's 45nm high-k process technology and reinvented transistors that use a Hafnium-based, high-k metal gate formula, the new Xeon 7400 series delivers exceptional performance improvements with lower power consumption. This delivers almost 50 percent better performance in some cases, and up to 10 percent reduction in platform power, and has resulted in a world record VMmark (a virtualization benchmark) score for four-socket, 24 processing core servers at 18.49 on a Dell PowerEdge R900 platform using VMware ESX server v3.5.0.*These virtualization performance increases, and advanced virtualization capabilities such as Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) FlexMigration make Xeon 7400 series-based servers ideal platforms for customers to standardize their virtual infrastructures. FlexMigration enables VM migration from previous-, present- and future-generation Core microarchitecture-based platforms. This ensures investment protection for administrators seeking to establish pools of virtualized systems and using those pools to facilitate failover, disaster recovery, load balancing and optimizing server maintenance and downtime.Product Details, CustomersThese products offer frequencies up to 2.66 GHz and power levels down to 50 watts, including the first 6-core, x86 compatible 65-watt version which translates to just under 11 watts per processor core, with platforms available in rack, tower and highly dense blade form factors.The Xeon 7400 processor series is compatible with Intel's existing Xeon 7300 series platforms and the Intel 7300 chipset with memory capacity up to 256GB, allowing IT departments to quickly deploy the new processor into a stable platform infrastructure.Starting today, servers based on the Intel Xeon 7400 processor series are expected to be announced by more than 50 system manufacturers around the world, including four-socket rack servers from Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hitachi, HP, IBM, NEC, Sun, Supermicro and Unisys; four-socket blade servers from Egenera, HP, Sun and NEC; and servers that scale up to 16-sockets from IBM, NEC and Unisys.Many software vendors are also supporting Intel Xeon 7400 based platforms with innovative solutions enabling virtualization and scalable performance for the high-end enterprise, including Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP and VMware.Pricing for the Xeon 7000 Sequence processors in quantities of 1,000 ranges from $856 to $2,729. For more details on the Intel Xeon 7400 processor series, visit www.intel.com/xeon.

Intel Amd Desktops

Intel and AMD's New Desktop PlatformsOn one level, it's easy enough to understand what chips go in the computers we use - they either have AMD or Intel CPUs. But the CPU alone doesn't really describe the performance of the system - it also depends on lots of other features, notably the chipset that supports the CPU, plus things like the memory, graphics, and networking components, not to mention the software loads.To make things even more confusing, you often hear tech reports talk about "platforms", which from the hardware perspective usually means a combination of a CPU, supporting chipset, and sometimes the networking components and/or software as well. This first became popular with "Centrino," which was and is Intel's way of describing a system with its CPU, chipset, and wireless networking, and the platform concept has made its way into both vendors codenames, first on mobile systems and more recently on desktops and servers. To make things even more confusing, sometimes the vendors call their chipsets "platforms" and sometimes they use the same name for the chipset and the platform, or for the CPU and the platform; and sometimes they don't.I'll admit it - I'm often confused by all the platform names, CPU code names, and chipset code names I hear, so as best as I can, here's the desktop list -- what is currently on the market; and what Intel and AMD are planning in the next year or so: (The notebook list will follow shortly).Intel-based Desktop: Intel's current CPUs are in the Core 2 family, with both quad-core and dual-core chips available. Most of the current chips are produced at 45nm, and are based on the "Penryn" design. The desktop chips are known as "Wolfdale" (dual-core) and "Yorkfield" (quad-core), although older 65nm chips (called "Conroe" and "Kentsfield") are still around.Intel doesn't really name its current desktop platforms, but its current chipsets are the 3-series (called "Bearlake") and 4-series (called "Eaglelake,") which was introduced at Computex and supports more configurations of PCI Express 2.0. Both are available in a variety of versions, notably the P35 and P45 without graphics and G35 and G45 with graphics. (The G35 includes GMA X3500 graphics, while the G45 includes x4500 Graphics . The newer graphics are supposed to be faster and capable of Blu-Ray playback). All of these chipsets have two basic chips, a "northbridge" (memory controller hub) that controls connections to the memory, to the display, manageability controls, and in some cases integrated graphics; and a "southbridge" (I/O controller hub) that primarily controls communications with the peripheral chips.This fall, Intel will introduce its new X58 chipset (sometimes called "Tylersburg"), designed to work with the new Core i7 processors (codenamed "Bloomfield" with 4 cores and 8 threads in the Nehalem design). This is aimed at enthusiast and high-end systems, so it will only come in a version without graphics, as such systems always add discrete graphics boards. This will have two chips - a traditional southbridge for I/O communications, and another chip that primarily connects to the PCI Express slots. Core i7 will use the QuickPath Interconnect to connect multiple chips.For next year, Intel is planning two mainstream desktop versions of this Nehalem-based CPU design, currently slated to go into production in the second half of 2009: a 4-core version called "Lynnfield" and a dual-core called "Havendale." One big difference: Lynnfield will not be available with integrated graphics; but Havendale will be available either with graphics or without. But unlike current chipsets, the graphics components will not be integrated into the motherboard chipset; instead it will be integrated in the processor "package" itself (though not necessarily the CPU die, unlike AMD's announced "Fusion" project.)These chips will be part of a new platform, which Intel calls "Piketon" which uses a new chipset called "Ibex Peak." Since the Nehalem processors will have an integrated memory controller in the CPU, IBEX Peak is now a single chip that adds the display communications and the manageability engine, in addition to traditional southbridge functions, including support for up to 14 USB 2.0 ports, 8 PCIe lanes, six SATA drives, etc. Intel says that Piketon and similar platforms will have a different interconnect than Core i7's.Piketon includes vPro support, including anti-theft technology, integrated TPM chip, and advanced management features; while a variation called "Kings Creek" is aimed at consumers instead of business users.Intel has announced plans to develop products at the 32nm code. If the company keeps its "tick/tock" process on schedule, I would expect to see a shrink of the Nehalem" generation of CPUs to 32nm, sometimes referred to under the name of "Westmere," towards the end of 2009 or early 2010; and the next generation of microarchitecture (sometimes called "Sandy Bridge") about a year later.AMD-based Desktops: AMD currently has two primary lines of desktop CPUs: Athlon chips, typically dual core design; and Phenom chips, typically labeled X4 and X3. The Athlon is based on a CPU design called "K8," while the Phenom is based on a quad-core design also used in the "Barcelona" family of Operton server chips (I've often heard this referred to as K10, though AMD says that term isn't really current; instead using "10h" in its technical presentions.) Most Phenoms are quad core but in the X3 version, one core is disabled. Both are primarily manufactured on a 65nm process today.AMD's newest desktop platforms based around the Phenom processors are "Perseus," aimed at commercial users under the Business Class brand, and "Cartwheel" aimed at consumers. Both are based around its AMD-7 family of chipsets. Probably the most interesting of these are the variations with integrated ATI Radeon 3000 graphics as well as a hybrid graphics option, which lets the system use both integrated and discrete chips. There are several variations with different levels of graphics, including the 780G and the higher end 790GX, with integrated Radeon 3300 graphics and support for 2 PCI Express slots for adding discrete graphics and up to 12 USB 2.0 ports and 6 SATA 2.0 drives. The 790 series is part of what AMD has sometimes called the "Spider" platform, aimed at enthusiasts. The numbers typically refer to higher speeds, with the "G" denoting integrated graphics, and the "X" denoting support for more than one GPU - the ATI CrossFire configuration. The 790GX is an unusual mix of both.AMD also has chipsets that are designed for discrete graphics, notably the 790X, which adds support for HyperTransport 3.0 and PCI Express 2.0 for faster connections to memory and graphics; and the high-end 790FX, which supports up to 4 ATI Radeon graphics cards. Unlike Intel's current chips, AMD's already have integrated memory controllers, so the "northbridge" functions are inside the CPU, rather than in a separate chip.Later this year, AMD is expected to start manufacturing a 45nm shrink of the quad-core "10h" architecture. While this has been primarily been referred to as "Shanghai" (the name of the server version), desktop versions have been using the code-name "Deneb." I'd expect the server version to come later this year, with the desktop chip following in the first half of 2009.Next year, AMD is expected to move refresh its platforms to patch the 45nm chips. The new commercial platform will be "Kodiak," the consumer platform will be a refreshed version of "Cartwheel," and the new enthusiast platform will be "Leo."