Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - The 45nm Era Begins

The past two years have been exciting for fans of the processor world, with Intel doing their job well to keep the momentum going. Since Conroe's launch last July, Intel has successfully kept their foot atop AMD by offering products that not only outperform theirs by a significant margin, but are also offered at such low prices that only hardcore AMD fans would ponder purchasing a non-C2D product.Everyone had hoped that AMD's Barcelona architecture would bring them back to the competitive table, but not unlike the current-gen ATI vs. NVIDIA battle, there wasn't a mark to be left. While AMD undoubtedly needs to release a product that prove to people that they haven't completely lost their grip on things, consumers have been benefiting either way.

Today, it would be a challenge to purchase a processor that didn't perform exceptionally... at any price range. Quad-Cores can be had for under $300 and both Intel and AMD have superb dual-core processors that retail for under $200. Without question, it is a great time to build a new machine or for being in the mood to upgrade.
True to the tick tock model, Intel today is unveiling their first 45nm processor. For those unaware, the tick tock model is Intel's term for describing their product cycle, with tick referring to the initial launch of a new microarchitecture and tock denoting it's successor. In today's case, tick is Penryn, while tock is Nehalem, which we've taken a look at earlier this year and also learned more about at last months IDF.

Also at last month’s IDF, we were told the official launch date for Penryn: November 12. This date still holds true, with the first and only model being offered on that day being the QX9650. Intel hasn't stated pricing yet, but previous leaks have stated the usual $999 in shipments of 1,000. Once the QX9650 hits your favorite retailer or e-tailer, prices you pay will be greater than this, around $1,300 at a guess.

Intel's Brand-New i7's Closer Look

The i7-950 and i7-975 are more evolutionary than revolutionary, or as many like to call them... "speed bumps", meaning that the architecture is the same, but the clocks experience a boost. Although Intel hasn't been entirely open about any other changes made, it's been rumored that minor changes have also been made to the chip to help improve overclocking, but we'll have to wait and see what overclockers can accomplish before we settle on that.

As you can see in the chart below, Intel currently has a huge line-up of CPUs (excluding Dual-Core), with five Core i7 total. Core i5 will soon be added to this list, but not until around late August/early September when the chips start to flow to the market. As it stands though, the top two models are the only to use a 6.4GT/s QPI, while the others use 4.8GT/s, although the real-world differences between the two are difficult to pinpoint. While we don't have an i7-950 on-hand, we do have an i7-975 Extreme Edition. So, let's see how it compares to our entire line-up of processors, including its predecessor, the i7-965.

Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition

It's been a good seven months since the launch of the original Core i7 processors, so isn't it about time we got to see some new models? Don't fret, as Intel has just announced their i7-950 3.06GHz mid-range and i7-975 3.33GHz high-end models. We're taking a look at the latter today, so let's see how it compares to its predecessor.Where has the time gone? It feels like (to me, at least), that Intel just dropped their Core i7 launch processors, but in reality, it happened a full seven months ago. That's a long time in CPU years, so what about a follow-up? Don't fret... Intel is delivering just that today, although exact availability is yet to be seen. To quickly recap, in November of 2008, Intel kick-started their i7 line-up with the mainstream i7-920 ($284), the mid-range i7-940 ($562) and also the high-end i7-965 Extreme Edition. Since then, nothing else Core i7 has launched, although a few Core 2 Quad's have, such as the S series (power-efficient) and also some budget Quad-Core.

Intel today launches two models that are set to replace two already launched. The main focus from the company is the i7-975, an Extreme Edition, which boosts the i7-965's clock speed from 3.2GHz to 3.33GHz. It's a sure thing that the i7-975 will eventually replace the i7-965 wholly, but when that will happen is unknown. Also new is the i7-950, a 3.06GHz part that bumps the clock speeds of the i7-940 from 2.93. Like the i7-975, this model is likely to entirely replace the i7-940. It's important to note that speculated pricing for these two new models put them a little more expensive than the previous parts, but it's highly doubtful that they will stay at such prices for long.

Welcome to Intel's Lynnfield

The good news is that Lynnfield is different in almost all regards. With the introduction of the Core i5-750, we finally have a ~$200 option. We're avoiding ultra-expensive motherboards this time around also, as companies such as ASUS and Gigabyte are prepping to release boards that range anywhere from $140 - $300. And because Lynnfield drops us back to a dual-channel memory controller, memory kits are plentiful, and affordable.

During the Nehalem launch, one major complaint I had was that it was near impossible to find a Core i7 CPU cooler at launch. There just weren't any. I'm not sure who's fault that was, but it doesn't matter, because this is another bad situation that we're avoiding. For the past six months, companies have boasted their LGA1156 CPU coolers and mounts, so you can expect a wide-variety of models to become immediately available

Intel Core i7-870 & i5-750 - Nehalem for the Mainstream

The wait for Intel's Lynnfield has been long, but it's safe to say that it's been well worth it. They may be considered "mainstream" models, but the new Core i5 and i7 processors are powerful. Expect faster performance, improved power consumption and greater efficiency. With the i5-750 set to sell for $199, the time to build that new PC is now.

Welcome to Lynnfield, also known as the worst-kept secret in history. Where technology is concerned, it's not uncommon to see details released (rather, leaked) about a product long before its launch, but with Lynnfield, the months leading up to this day have been something else. The question lately hasn't been so much, "What do we know, but rather, "What don't we know?" I have to admit, that because of this, publishing this article that we put so much time and effort into doesn't feel quite as rewarding as it should. This is thanks in part not only to the flood of leaks of month's past, but more because certain e-tailers don't seem to mind breaking embargo by actually selling Lynnfield processors and P55 motherboards long before the launch.

While I wish some of the above events never occurred, the fact that Lynnfield was such an exciting product to test pretty-well overshadows them. Yes, I'm going to jump into the conclusion early... Lynnfield is amazing, and in many ways, I consider this launch to be much more important than Nehalem's last fall. Why? As Intel puts it, this is "Core i for the mainstream". That quote is spot-on, because that's just what Lynnfield is. When Nehalem launched last fall, Intel introduced a brand-new processor architecture that instantly became the best we'd ever seen.

The processors were faster than the previous Penryn models, and with the addition of Hyper Threading, a triple-channel memory controller and L3 Cache, Nehalem didn't just push the bar higher, it jumped while doing it.
But, there were a few sizable caveats that prevented as much adoption as there could have been. First was the pricing, with the least-expensive model, the Core i7-920, selling for near $300. That of course would have been easy to stomach if the motherboards didn't start out at $250. Couple those factors along with the limited availability of LGA1366 CPU coolers and (at the time) expensive DDR3 triple-channel kits, and the rough economy... it's no wonder most consumers decided to settle for Core 2.

Intel Westmere Bullet-Points

1. Intel's first 32nm processor micro architecture.
2. Pairs up both a CPU and GPU into a single processor chip.
3. Integrated GPU accelerates Blu-ray and other HD content (includes Blu-ray dual decode).
   Utilizes a dual-channel memory controller.
4. Features Turbo technology (automated clock-boosts).
5. Clarkdale chips feature 4MB of L3 Cache, except for Pentium, which features 3MB.
6. Arrondale chips feature 4MB of Cache for Core i7, and 3MB for Core i3 and i5.
7. All Westmere-based chips include the AES-NI instruction set.
8. Clarkdale focuses on the mATX form-factor.
9. One of the biggest and most notable features of Westmere is that it's built on Intel's 32nm process, which makes it the first of its kind in a desktop processor.
10. Intel was also first with 45nm, which we saw in the form of Penryn just a little over two years ago (oh, how the time flies). If Intel successfully sticks to its tick/tock cadence, we should be seeing a 22nm launch at some point during 2011.

Intel's Westmere Micro architecture

Before we dive deep into Westmere, let's take a moment to clear up all of the codenames that are floating around. Westmere, first and foremost, is the latest microarchitecture out of Intel, and is not the name of the processors which use it. Rather, those names are Clarkdale (Desktop) and Arrandale (Mobile). The former isn't to be confused with Clarksfield, which is Intel's mobile Nehalem (45nm). On the chipset side, all LGA1156 models thus far (P55, H55, et cetera) are classified as Ibex Peak. Future six-core Westmere's (which will not include an IGP) use the Gulftown codename. Finally, Westmere's IGP is codenamed Ironlake.

To help confuse things further, Westmere is ultimately based on Lynnfield, which was derived from Nehalem. That means that the same Nehalem features that were shaved off for Lynnfield are also gone from Westmere. This is putting it all simply, however, as Westmere features a few things Lynnfield processors do not, such as the AES-NI instruction set. We'll tackle this and more throughout the article.