2.93 GHz Nehalem Derivative Presented

[btarunr]

One of the newest toys at Tom's Hardware is a Nehalem derivative Intel Bloomfield processor clocked at 2.93 GHz. This processor brings with it, a host of changes. To begin with, say goodbye to FSB. The processor communicates with the system using a technology called QuickPath interconnect. This is a high-speed, low-latency point to point link. It's comparable to the HyperTransport technology, which AMD has been using for close to five years now. Initially, Bloomfield will use a 20-bit wide 25.6 GB/sec. QuickPath link. The CPU incorporates the memory controller, which implies that your choice of memory will depend on the processor. As already noted in regard to the AMD processors, this approach of integrating a memory controller greatly reduces system-level latency. The CPU supports 3-channel DDR3 1333 MHz memory. That's 32 GB/s of bandwidth, with support for up to 24 GB of system memory. Of the six DDR3 slots, the first slot is required to be populated.

Unfortunately, Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) don't allow them to disclose performance evaluations at this point though - ironically - their Taiwanese team ran preliminary tests on a Radeon HD4850 and a Foxconn X58 motherboard we covered here.



Read the whole article here.

Source: Tom's Hardware

[PVTCaboose1337]

It seems that the processor is going to blow all the older ones out of the water because of the new QuickPath link. On the bad side, the NDA not disclosing performance evals... well that means it is not all that fast yet...

[chron]

good, better, best, ultimate really means bad, decent, good, best, but intel would never call any one of their processors anything other than good

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by chron

good, better, best, ultimate really means bad, decent, good, best, but intel would never call any one of their processors anything other than good

'Good' because it's better than similarly priced processors from AMD.

[Mussels]

triple channel is going to be great as well. i wonder if dual channel still exists on the platform, or its single/triple only?

[btarunr]

Single, dual, triple, anything as long as the first DIMM in the motherboard is populated.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Single, dual, triple, anything as long as the first DIMM in the motherboard is populated.

sexy. The thing is, triple channel alone is going to be a real winner in a lot of benchmarks and apps, even if the CPU's arent that great.

[btarunr]

Add to that, the latency reduction that the IMC brings about.

[chron]

Originally Posted by btarunr

'Good' because it's better than similarly priced processors from AMD.

pentiums always got ate up by amd chips at same prices... At least, thats what everyone's always said?

[InnocentCriminal]

Originally Posted by chron

pentiums always got ate up by amd chips at same prices... At least, thats what everyone's always said?

That doesn't apply anymore since the introduction of the Core/Core 2 line of processors. You were right in saying Pentium(s) as that was Intel's best until they continued the P3/Mobile m-architecture which became Conroe.

I'm looking forward to seeing the inital results of Nehalem/Bloomfield based set ups once they're ready to hit the market. As for now, these little 'insights' are interesting, but leave me wanting more.

[bowman]

There's a thread at xtremesystems where an NDA breaker posts requested benchmarks. So far, the Bloomfield early revision silicon on an early board and a single stick of 1066 DDR3 is beating out every would-be competitor..

I don't think this will disappoint at all!

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by chron

pentiums always got ate up by amd chips at same prices... At least, thats what everyone's always said?

That's unrelarted to the chart. In it is a Pentium Dual Core (not to be confused with Pentium D). That is better than Athlon64 X2 at price-to-price.

[InnocentCriminal]

Originally Posted by bowman

There's a thread at xtremesystems where an NDA breaker posts requested benchmarks. So far, the Bloomfield early revision silicon on an early board and a single stick of 1066 DDR3 is beating out every would-be competitor..

I don't think this will disappoint at all!

You mean this one?

I'm not sure it's real tbh.

[DaMulta]

I wonder how much a QX is going to cost, and if they will overclock like a dream like the last chips.

[WarEagleAU]

Tha Good at the bottom isnt from their conroe line up. So I highly doubt its better than similar AMD chips at that price.

On another note, the few things that made AMD somewhat superior with their chips, is now gone. Intel now has HTT (nixed the FSB) and Integrated Memory Controller. 2 Key things AMD had going for it. Factor in the fact that intel blew AMDs stuff out of the water with the FSB and non integrated memory controller and you start to see how this sucks for us AMD fellas. I hope AMD has something new and exciting up its sleeve.

[Atnevon]

Ok. So they say bye bye to the FSB. So now what is the main determinate of the speed and regulation? From what was stated in the article, the CPU can really deliver better depending on the RAM that is onboard. This could be my lack of experience from compys, but it seems they took a key factor in speed regulation.

[farlex85]

The fact that they put this in the ultimate section is scary to me. Nothing that could be called a good buy resides there, and if they are gonna put this up at $1000+ I might have to buy some amd, or a yorkie I guess. Hopefully it will move down to the best category (at least pricing-wise).......

[tigger]

Overclocking these is going to be a whole new ballgame.

[thoughtdisorder]

Originally Posted by WarEagleAU

Tha Good at the bottom isnt from their conroe line up. So I highly doubt its better than similar AMD chips at that price.

On another note, the few things that made AMD somewhat superior with their chips, is now gone. Intel now has HTT (nixed the FSB) and Integrated Memory Controller. 2 Key things AMD had going for it. Factor in the fact that intel blew AMDs stuff out of the water with the FSB and non integrated memory controller and you start to see how this sucks for us AMD fellas. I hope AMD has something new and exciting up its sleeve.

Nicely stated! I used to swear by AMD and was hesitant to ever even build an Intel rig up until just about two years ago. Now until AMD comes up with something better (and it will), I am an Intel consumer for a myriad of reasons. I am fairly confident AMD will be back in the game soon which will be good news for all consumers (Intel and AMD) cost wise .

[Darkrealms]

Originally Posted by Atnevon

Ok. So they say bye bye to the FSB. So now what is the main determinate of the speed and regulation? From what was stated in the article, the CPU can really deliver better depending on the RAM that is onboard. This could be my lack of experience from compys, but it seems they took a key factor in speed regulation.

Similar interest. So Intel is saying bye to FSB for their CPUs. What impact will this have on future of FSBs? It is not for CPU use alone is it. /scratchs head


Very nice looking chip, I cringe at the thought of the price as well.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Darkrealms

Similar interest. So Intel is saying bye to FSB for their CPUs. What impact will this have on future of FSBs? It is not for CPU use alone is it. /scratchs head

The fsb was previously the point on the motherboard that the ram and the cpu "conversed" through. The information had to go from the proc through the fsb to get to the rest of the system. This bottlenecks the system somewhat b/c the proc's themselves move instructions quicker than the fsb can carry them out. Now, w/ the qpi, the cpu will be able to send instructions to the ram directly, w/o having to bother w/ the fsb, speeding up the whole process considerably. The cpu's clock is still derived in a similar fashion as it is now, w/ an external clock from the motherboard being multiplied by the chip's multi. The way the info gets from point A to point B is what changes. It has direct connections rather than having to travel through another chokepoint. Basically, there will be no such thing as a front side bus, although the quick path interconnect performs a similar function, just much more efficiently. Hopefully that clears it up a little, and hopefully I got everything right there.

[InnocentCriminal]

Look at the voltage in the CPU-Z pictures.

[tigger]

Aye,i noticed.5ghz@1.3v ftw.

How are these gonna oc tho' with no fsb? will it be similar to the way amd chips are overclocked?

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by tigger69

Aye,i noticed.5ghz@1.3v ftw.

How are these gonna oc tho' with no fsb? will it be similar to the way amd chips are overclocked?

They are clocked in the same way they are now I believe. An external clock x chip's multi. The external clock is just no longer an fsb.

[Darkrealms]

Originally Posted by farlex85

The fsb was previously the point on the motherboard that the ram and the cpu "conversed" through. The information had to go from the proc through the fsb to get to the rest of the system. This bottlenecks the system somewhat b/c the proc's themselves move instructions quicker than the fsb can carry them out. Now, w/ the qpi, the cpu will be able to send instructions to the ram directly, w/o having to bother w/ the fsb, speeding up the whole process considerably. The cpu's clock is still derived in a similar fashion as it is now, w/ an external clock from the motherboard being multiplied by the chip's multi. The way the info gets from point A to point B is what changes. It has direct connections rather than having to travel through another chokepoint. Basically, there will be no such thing as a front side bus, although the quick path interconnect performs a similar function, just much more efficiently. Hopefully that clears it up a little, and hopefully I got everything right there.

Thanks!
Other than the RAM which this "new" chipset removes the bottle neck of, isn't the N/S Bridges and Video run through the FSB? So it still could be considered a bottle neck it just has one less thing running through it. I understand that for pure computation this is a massive improvement but on the other hand many of us are looking at graphics/game performance impacts.