Intel’s pumping out a whole new generation of chips even though their previous offerings are only a year old. What new surprises could they possibly have in store for us?
The year 2011 is of to a fl ying start, thanks to Intel’s long-
awaited Second Generation Core Microprocessor family. We’ve been
seeing some exciting (but top-secret) demos since early September, but now
the products have fi nally had a formal launch and so we can talk about them!
The Core i-series family isn’t even that old, but already there’s a new generation ready to take over. The main reason for excitement is that Sandy
Bridge represents the fi rst brand new architecture in a long while. Everything is new, from the basic CPU architecture to the chipsets and motherboards required. Sadly, this means that anyone
who bought a brand new Intel-based system last year is out of upgrade options. Interestingly, while the low-end and mid-range Core i3s and i5s are being refreshed, the high-end i7s will continue at the top of the heap till at least the latter half of this year—even though their new younger siblings are quite capable of nipping at their heels, as we’ll shortly illustrate. The best way to identify that you’re getting a new 2011-series CPU is to check that your new desktop or laptop comes with one of the new stickers you see alongside, rather than the older curved design. The CPUs also have an extra “2” prefi xed to the model number, for example last year’s products were named Core i3-XXX, whereas this year’s will be Core i3-2XXX. The chipsets are named H67 and P67—both use the new Socket 1155
Architecture
Following Intel’s tick-tock strategy which has been going well for several years now, Sandy Bridge introduces a new architecture using the same 32nm manufacturing technology. The focus here has been on power ei ciency and tight integration of components, to increase performance while decreasing power draw. At the heart of the new design, a ring-shaped bus carries databetween the CPU cores, the graphics logic, the L3 cache, and the memory controller. All these are now implemented in the same silicone die, which allows or tremendous improvements in speed when data needs to move between them. A new instruction set called AVX (Advanced Vector eXtensions) also speeds up the processing of fl oating point instructions, which are much more demanding considering the highly parallel nature of today’s media encoding and creation software. Turbo Boost, which lets individual cores speed up while others lie idle,
now extends to the graphics logic as well. The areas of the chip that handle traditional CPU and GPU tasks can now trade of with each other, allowing each to ramp up when needed, as long as overall power consumption stays within limits. Turbo Boost also ramps up and down much more rapidly, in response to software typically operating with short but intense bursts of activity. With traditional desktop PCs fading away, Intel is also focusing on power ei ciency for laptops and compact or all-in-one desktops that don’t require massive cooling contraptions. The new CPUs consume between 17 and 55 Watts (mobile) and between 45 and 95 Watts (desktop); a marked improvement over older generations.
2nd Gen Intel Core Processor Overview
[NOTE: ARTICLE BY BY ANAND TULIANI AND JAMSHED AVARI]
The year 2011 is of to a fl ying start, thanks to Intel’s long-
awaited Second Generation Core Microprocessor family. We’ve been
seeing some exciting (but top-secret) demos since early September, but now
the products have fi nally had a formal launch and so we can talk about them!
The Core i-series family isn’t even that old, but already there’s a new generation ready to take over. The main reason for excitement is that Sandy
Bridge represents the fi rst brand new architecture in a long while. Everything is new, from the basic CPU architecture to the chipsets and motherboards required. Sadly, this means that anyone
who bought a brand new Intel-based system last year is out of upgrade options. Interestingly, while the low-end and mid-range Core i3s and i5s are being refreshed, the high-end i7s will continue at the top of the heap till at least the latter half of this year—even though their new younger siblings are quite capable of nipping at their heels, as we’ll shortly illustrate. The best way to identify that you’re getting a new 2011-series CPU is to check that your new desktop or laptop comes with one of the new stickers you see alongside, rather than the older curved design. The CPUs also have an extra “2” prefi xed to the model number, for example last year’s products were named Core i3-XXX, whereas this year’s will be Core i3-2XXX. The chipsets are named H67 and P67—both use the new Socket 1155
Architecture
Following Intel’s tick-tock strategy which has been going well for several years now, Sandy Bridge introduces a new architecture using the same 32nm manufacturing technology. The focus here has been on power ei ciency and tight integration of components, to increase performance while decreasing power draw. At the heart of the new design, a ring-shaped bus carries databetween the CPU cores, the graphics logic, the L3 cache, and the memory controller. All these are now implemented in the same silicone die, which allows or tremendous improvements in speed when data needs to move between them. A new instruction set called AVX (Advanced Vector eXtensions) also speeds up the processing of fl oating point instructions, which are much more demanding considering the highly parallel nature of today’s media encoding and creation software. Turbo Boost, which lets individual cores speed up while others lie idle,
now extends to the graphics logic as well. The areas of the chip that handle traditional CPU and GPU tasks can now trade of with each other, allowing each to ramp up when needed, as long as overall power consumption stays within limits. Turbo Boost also ramps up and down much more rapidly, in response to software typically operating with short but intense bursts of activity. With traditional desktop PCs fading away, Intel is also focusing on power ei ciency for laptops and compact or all-in-one desktops that don’t require massive cooling contraptions. The new CPUs consume between 17 and 55 Watts (mobile) and between 45 and 95 Watts (desktop); a marked improvement over older generations.
2nd Gen Intel Core Processor Overview
[NOTE: ARTICLE BY BY ANAND TULIANI AND JAMSHED AVARI]
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