Saturday, January 31st 2009

Intel Scraps 45 nm Nehalem Dual-Core Chips, Plans Replacement

Grappling with a deteriorating world economy, and overstocked inventories with current-generation Core 2 platforms, Intel seems to have had a change of plans with regards to its dual-core Nehalem-derivatives. Company roadmaps originally pointed at two chips, codenamed Havendale and Auburndale to be the dual-core MCM implementations of the Nehalem architecture, for desktops and notebooks respectively. The "MCM" (multi-chip module) part comes to light in the way the chips were originally conceived: two dice on a package, one holding the CPU complex and the other holding the northbridge, consisting of a memory controller, PCI-Express root complex, and a graphics controller.

Theo Valich, noted industry commentator, in his latest blog post in Theo's Bright Side of IT, mentions that Intel scrapped Havendale and Auburndale in its conceived form. The two were set to make possible Intel Core i4 and i3 SKUs. Instead, Intel is working to push forward the launch of their common successor by six months: the Arandale core. Arandale features in the future series of Nehalem-derived processors to be built on the 32nm high-K silicon process, slated for 2010. Arandale from all that is known thus far is the dual-core Nehalem implementation on 32nm lithography, apart from speculation of it holding a higher amount of L3 cache: possibly 6 MB against 4 MB on the Havendale/Auburndale. The Arandale core was originally slated for "back to school" season, 2010 (around September~October). After rescheduling the launch, it could arrive by March.
Source: Theo's Bright Side of IT
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48 Comments on Intel Scraps 45 nm Nehalem Dual-Core Chips, Plans Replacement

#26
AltecV1
I just bought a E8400:rockout:and im very happy.Belive me dual cores are here to stay for a while(32nm ULPC prossesors);)AND HOW SAID THAT THERE IS NO MARKET FOR SINGEL CORES ANYMORE:wtf:Thase ATOM ring-a-bell(ONE OF THE BEST SELLING PROSSESORS OF THE YEAR)you NUB:shadedshu
peace out tech geeks;)
Posted on Reply
#27
BarbaricSoul
I'm extremely happy with my e8400. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a I7 system, but I just dont see the need to spend the money considering how happy I am with my wolfdales performance.
Posted on Reply
#28
Darren
AltecV1I just bought a E8400:rockout:and im very happy.Belive me dual cores are here to stay for a while(32nm ULPC prossesors);)AND HOW SAID THAT THERE IS NO MARKET FOR SINGEL CORES ANYMORE:wtf:Thase ATOM ring-a-bell(ONE OF THE BEST SELLING PROSSESORS OF THE YEAR)you NUB:shadedshu
peace out tech geeks;)
Indeed, half the time the E8400 is faster than those quadcores in applications and games :)

Edit:

We have to remember in developed countries there is at least one computer in each home.


Most homes would have probably have a Dell system prebuilt with an average spec for web browsing, using Microsoft office etc, and hence wouldn't need to upgrade for years. A single core Sempron or Pentium 4 Prescott is enough.

A lot of professional video editors or animators use Mac systems for software support.

Statistics also show that in the USA at least one home has a gaming console (whether for games or DVD usage)

The majority of casual gamers use consoles, although PC is a huge gaming community chunk respectably.

Therefore, if we can establish that gamers tend to use consoles and that there is a console and PC in almost every home we can establish that the highest end quad core or GPU isn't required for every household.

Because once you factor in the house holds which use purely office software or browse the net casually, or the gamers that opt for consoles. Even the so called "fake enthusiasts" that think the 8400 GS is a high end gaming card just because they were mislead and failed to do their research, they are the type of people that will stick with their single core Pentium 4 Prescott because of the high clock rating regardless of the new quad cores with better architectures (with lower clocks)

My point is the PC community is massive, us real enthusiasts are a small community in comparison the "fake enthusiast", or "office software or web browsers" - You cant expect Intel or AMD to cater for us, we make them little money in comparison.
Posted on Reply
#29
1Kurgan1
The Knife in your Back
Interesting, I was wondering how the i7 duals would be seeing as the E series especially the e8xxx's were so good.
Posted on Reply
#30
mtosev
erockerAwesome, I can't wait untill we have only one company to buy our processors from!:rockout: What a sweet deal that's going to be.:rolleyes: That was sarcasm, now once again sir, please stay on topic.
VIA also has X86 CPUs. ;)
Posted on Reply
#31
trickson
OH, I have such a headache
mtosevVIA also has X86 CPUs. ;)
Are they any good ?
Posted on Reply
#32
spearman914
Dual cores are still kicking today. but By the time they release it, almost all games will support 4-8 threads so cancelling Nehalem dual cores is not as bad.
Posted on Reply
#34
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
Once again, please stay on topic. We will be handing out infractions.
Posted on Reply
#35
Sasqui
Given the demand picture and bloated inventory reports for CPU's, chipsets and motherboards, this isn't surprising.

Intel has flat-lined in the performance department with Core2's (and Quads). Not counting the i7 .
Posted on Reply
#36
PP Mguire
No more than 2 cores is currently being used by games. The only thing quads are good for is benching and encoding and the sort.

As a gamer, i see no need for anything more than 2. And with SLI/Tri SLI at my disposal i need more megahurtz then i need more cores.
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#37
farlex85
Yeah this makes sense. With the way AMD and the needs of normal internet use are doing, there don't really see a need for any of intel's planned procs, including i5 or the havendales. Core 2 is still going strong and really more than most people need, and AMD is just now catching up to that tech. In some ways core 2 performs similarly to i7 as well (games). So in effect releasing new procs where there is absolutely no demand is simply going to saturate the market. Perhaps AMD can pull a punch in soon and get things rolling, but until then things will likely remain fairly stagnant in the cpu sector for a bit.
Posted on Reply
#38
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
spearman914Dual cores are still kicking today. but By the time they release it, almost all games will support 4-8 threads so cancelling Nehalem dual cores is not as bad.
Again, them cancelling this doesn't mean they are cancelling their dual-core plans.

Basically the plan was:

Quad-Cores:
45nm Nahelem -> 32nm Westmere

Dual-Cores:
45nm Havendale and Auburndale -> 32nm Arandale

Now they are just cutting out the 45nm Dual-Core phase and skipping to the 32nm Dual-Cores. I don't know where people are getting that they aren't releasing Dual-Cores anymore.:banghead:
Posted on Reply
#39
OnBoard
Not a bad idea at all, we all ready have 45nm Duals and by the time the i5 32nm Duals come out DDR3 will be cheap :)
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#40
AltecV1
OnBoardNot a bad idea at all, we all ready have 45nm Duals and by the time the i5 32nm Duals come out DDR3 will be cheap :)
Now that is the best comment so far and you are absolutle right my man:toast:higer clocked(~4Ghz) duals with HT what more to gamers need:D
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#41
R_1
The real stupidity is to build native quad core CPU and to disable it's two working cores (and half or more of the cache) just to sell it as dual core CPU.
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#42
Nick89
FieryIt is true. Multiple sources confirmed it.

We've already got EVEREST report of an Arrandale-based mobile test platform. All I can tell you: it works, and it works very well. It is definiately manufactured on a 32nm process, and it packs more features than Auburndale (the 45nm variant that got cancelled). It will not only kill AMD, but also VIA -- if those companies survive 2009 ;)
If AMD or VIA die then intel will sell for stupid prices. Lets say 500$ for a celeron @ 1ghz.:shadedshu

There would be no more innovation because intel would have no competition. Why would intel waste money to make a new processor if the only competition they have is from themselves..:shadedshu

Thats why I hope AMD comes out with something to kick Intels ass.:rockout:
Posted on Reply
#43
hat
Enthusiast
What's with all this talk of dual core being crap now?

I'll continue to buy dual cores for some time now. As a gamer, quad core doesn't benefit me. Also, considering the cheapest quad core is $150 on newegg, and the cheapest dual core doesn't even touch $40... I'm led to believe that I could take that $150 I had planned for the quad core and buy a really fast dual core for $150 and be much better off.

There is virtually no reason to buy a single core anymore, and that's because:
1.dual core has a much greater advantage over single core than quad core has over dual core, and
2.dual core processors have virtually replaced single core processors mostly because of #1, and they are cheap (cheapest dual isn't even $40)
Posted on Reply
#44
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
R_1The real stupidity is to build native quad core CPU and to disable it's two working cores (and half or more of the cache) just to sell it as dual core CPU.
Well it actually makes perfect sense once you realize that the two cores or cache they disable are usually not working.

However, in this case, they are not disabling cores in the natve quads, they are making native duals based on the same technology as the quads.

Yields are never 100%, there are always processors that have damaged parts after production. It has been the practice for ages to disable those damaged parts and sell them as cheaper processors. It is either that or throw them out.
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#45
pr0n Inspector
some people seem to have forgotten about the scalability of Intel's new CPUs. they don't need to disable a quad to make a dual.
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#47
Joe Public
Saying everyone should have a quad core is like saying everyone should drive high powered sports cars instead of regular consumer cars. Which is completely unrealistic and unnecessary.
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#48
zithe
Joe PublicSaying everyone should have a quad core is like saying everyone should drive high powered sports cars instead of regular consumer cars. Which is completely unrealistic and unnecessary.
And so is making a new series of dual cores. :D
Posted on Reply
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