Intel Core i7 - Nehalem Architecture Dive - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 3rd Nov 2008, 06:00

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...tecture-dive/1

Intel's new, revolutionary CPU architecture has arrived and inevitably we take a deep dive into its workings and design to find what makes this tock, tick.

Langer · 3rd Nov 2008, 06:32

Sounds very promising.

RotoSequence · 3rd Nov 2008, 06:44

Looks interesting, but there's a strong overtone of reservation in the article. Were you perchance thinking "why is everything but the execution core changed?"

Adnoctum · 3rd Nov 2008, 07:13

I'm unsure of BitTech's feeling on links to competing sites, so I don't know if I'm committing a massive faux pas or what.

TechReport previewed two X58 mobos (Intel DX58SO, Asus P6T Deluxe) hitched up to a Core i7-965 Extreme. It includes some benchmarks.
They can't give an i7 preview yet, but you can compare specific application performance figures with a big CPU comparison review they did in April on the Q9300.

I'm not too impressed by the i7 just yet, and this architecture briefing explains why. Hugely more expensive (both CPU and entire platform), with mixed performance results.

BTW, P6T cheesecake. Cheaper and faster.

xtremeownage · 3rd Nov 2008, 07:17

Any new processor that requires a new socket is an expensive upgrade. Intel can forget getting my money for a while because the q6600 hasn't even been pushed to its limits let alone have all the 4 cores running at 100% load at any given time. Hardly any game as come to this point. Alan Wake may in fact pull this 1 off but even then the xbox 360 has 3 cores so why bother upgrading from q6600 to i7 when the 360 price has fallen dramatically for us gamers.

From a a developers point of view whether it be 3d animation and other intensive tasks then maybe they can consider these new processors. I would like to also stress the introduction of Physic cores in graphics card play a better role in processing physics calculations. Adobe and other companies use Nvidia GPU Cores to run software intensive tasks these days and the performance gains are phenomenal. I really don't see the point of upgrading if you already own the latest GPU's from Nvidia and ATi riding shot gun along side a Q6600.

Tim S · 3rd Nov 2008, 07:25

there is a full i7 performance breakdown coming... we're just triple checking everything before hitting fire

Singularity · 3rd Nov 2008, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

there is a full i7 performance breakdown coming... we're just triple checking everything before hitting fire

Coming today, or...? Sorry, just can't wait to see benchmarks

Tim S · 3rd Nov 2008, 08:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Singularity

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

there is a full i7 performance breakdown coming... we're just triple checking everything before hitting fire

Coming today, or...? Sorry, just can't wait to see benchmarks

yes

Kúsař · 3rd Nov 2008, 09:06

1366 BGA balls...now that's a real challange for motherboard manufacturers. Did intel make any changes to that stupid cooler mounting system? Or at least recommended back plate(like AMD boards use) to MB manufacturers? And god forbid they use micro BGA balls...

djDEATH · 3rd Nov 2008, 15:03

win and want

i think unless somethign rather spectacular happens, i may have to throw in my AMD fanboy towel for the last time (sniff)

i was really really hoping that something amazing was going to happen and a magical Phenom that actually doesn't suck balls would appear.. alas its never going to happen

Redbeaver · 3rd Nov 2008, 16:08

DFI Lanparty X58 certified for 3-way SLI............

*drool*

Cupboard · 3rd Nov 2008, 20:02

One day I will even be able to understand everything that you say!

quick question: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...tecture-dive/5

Quote:

It has moulded a power efficient pipeline originating from P6-Pentium M-Core-Core 2 era with the resource efficient width that Pentium 4 later tried to achieve.

P6? is that P3?

edit: love the writing on this picture:
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_i...e/ich10c-8.jpg

*Alex* · 3rd Nov 2008, 23:26

id like to be able to get an i7 setup as rendering is taxing my q6600 and would liek to see how much better these are.

Shadowed_fury · 4th Nov 2008, 04:22

above reported. ^^

I dunno whether to hold on for i7, or not. Tough choice.

willyolio · 4th Nov 2008, 04:51

honestly, while this undoubtedly is a very powerful architecture, i just can't get excited about it. i seriously can't think of a single time in the past year where i've been aching for more CPU power. GPU, for sure. but CPUs? even budget processors have enough power for me, so another high-end product really doesn't make a difference.

Shielder · 4th Nov 2008, 13:13

Why all the fuss over 8 threads on a 4 core chip. I'm using a Sun chip with 32 threads on a 4 core chip. True, it isn't as fast as a P3, but, 32 threads!!!

Heh, okay, so I want an i7, who wouldn't? I'll just keep my Q6600 soldiering on for another year or two and then think about upgrading.

Andy

r4tch3t · 11th Nov 2008, 09:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cupboard

One day I will even be able to understand everything that you say!

quick question: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...tecture-dive/5
P6? is that P3?

edit: love the writing on this picture:
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_i...e/ich10c-8.jpg

It is the P3, the P6 is the sixth gen Intel architecture that was in the P3, the Pentium M used that as a base for it's architecture.

3rd Nov 2008, 06:00	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Intel Core i7 - Nehalem Architecture Dive http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...tecture-dive/1 Intel's new, revolutionary CPU architecture has arrived and inevitably we take a deep dive into its workings and design to find what makes this tock, tick. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

3rd Nov 2008, 06:32	#2
Langer Jesse Lang Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 2,449	Sounds very promising. __________________ PROMETHEUS^CU - powered by: AquaComputer, Corsair, MiPS, and Watercool --- Click here to resister for my MyBrute clan today!

3rd Nov 2008, 06:44	#3
RotoSequence Lazy Lurker Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: 'States Posts: 4,527	Looks interesting, but there's a strong overtone of reservation in the article. Were you perchance thinking "why is everything but the execution core changed?" __________________ Technology Schmecnology

3rd Nov 2008, 07:25	#6
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	there is a full i7 performance breakdown coming... we're just triple checking everything before hitting fire __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

3rd Nov 2008, 15:03	#10
djDEATH gert rubbish or summat Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: BRISTOL Posts: 370	win and want i think unless somethign rather spectacular happens, i may have to throw in my AMD fanboy towel for the last time (sniff) i was really really hoping that something amazing was going to happen and a magical Phenom that actually doesn't suck balls would appear.. alas its never going to happen __________________ BEASTIE Lian-Li PC-07b ASUS M2N-E nForce 570 Ultra OCZ StealthXtreme 600W PSU Phenom X3 8750 BLACK EDITION @ 3.103 Ghz (14.5 x 214 FSB, HTT @ 1070 Mhz) Gainward 8800GT Golden Sample @ 730/1825/1000 Mhz 4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Blade PC8500 CL5 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB WD Caviar SE 250GB

3rd Nov 2008, 07:13	#4
Adnoctum Smeghead Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 89	I'm unsure of BitTech's feeling on links to competing sites, so I don't know if I'm committing a massive faux pas or what. TechReport previewed two X58 mobos (Intel DX58SO, Asus P6T Deluxe) hitched up to a Core i7-965 Extreme. It includes some benchmarks. They can't give an i7 preview yet, but you can compare specific application performance figures with a big CPU comparison review they did in April on the Q9300. I'm not too impressed by the i7 just yet, and this architecture briefing explains why. Hugely more expensive (both CPU and entire platform), with mixed performance results. BTW, P6T cheesecake. Cheaper and faster.

3rd Nov 2008, 07:17	#5
xtremeownage What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 13	Any new processor that requires a new socket is an expensive upgrade. Intel can forget getting my money for a while because the q6600 hasn't even been pushed to its limits let alone have all the 4 cores running at 100% load at any given time. Hardly any game as come to this point. Alan Wake may in fact pull this 1 off but even then the xbox 360 has 3 cores so why bother upgrading from q6600 to i7 when the 360 price has fallen dramatically for us gamers. From a a developers point of view whether it be 3d animation and other intensive tasks then maybe they can consider these new processors. I would like to also stress the introduction of Physic cores in graphics card play a better role in processing physics calculations. Adobe and other companies use Nvidia GPU Cores to run software intensive tasks these days and the performance gains are phenomenal. I really don't see the point of upgrading if you already own the latest GPU's from Nvidia and ATi riding shot gun along side a Q6600.

3rd Nov 2008, 09:06	#9
Kúsař regular bit-tech reader Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Brnicko, CZ Posts: 219	1366 BGA balls...now that's a real challange for motherboard manufacturers. Did intel make any changes to that stupid cooler mounting system? Or at least recommended back plate(like AMD boards use) to MB manufacturers? And god forbid they use micro BGA balls...

3rd Nov 2008, 16:08	#11
Redbeaver Hypermodder Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ontario, CANADA Posts: 718	DFI Lanparty X58 certified for 3-way SLI............ drool __________________ Monita DFI NF4 Expert - X2 3800+ 2.925Ghz - 2x1Gb OCZ Gold XTC DDR500 - 2x eVGA 7900GT SLI - 2x80Gb Seagate 7200.9 [RAID-0 4k] - Enermax Liberty 500 - Vista Ultimate x86 - Silverstone Kublai [Modded] Keisha DFI BloodIron P35 - Q6600 3.6Ghz - 4x1Gb OCZ Gold XTC2 DDR2-800 - eVGA 8800GTS 640MB - 2x80Gb Seagate 7200.9 [RAID-0 4k] - OCZ GameXstream 700 - Vista Ultimate x86 - Silverstone TJ-06 [Modded] www.pecelayam.com

3rd Nov 2008, 23:26	#13
Alex Multimodder Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 120	id like to be able to get an i7 setup as rendering is taxing my q6600 and would liek to see how much better these are.

4th Nov 2008, 04:22	#14
Shadowed_fury Natural Born Chaos Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Telford Posts: 7,133	above reported. ^^ I dunno whether to hold on for i7, or not. Tough choice. __________________ Steam: kev_fury New Frag Video - Gigabyte EP43-DS3L - E8200 - XFX 4870 1GB - 4GB Kingston - - Steel Series 7.1s - Logitech G11 - Razer Diamondback 3G - 2209WA -

4th Nov 2008, 04:51	#15
willyolio Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 136	honestly, while this undoubtedly is a very powerful architecture, i just can't get excited about it. i seriously can't think of a single time in the past year where i've been aching for more CPU power. GPU, for sure. but CPUs? even budget processors have enough power for me, so another high-end product really doesn't make a difference.

4th Nov 2008, 13:13	#16
Shielder Live long & prosper! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwich, UK Posts: 515	Why all the fuss over 8 threads on a 4 core chip. I'm using a Sun chip with 32 threads on a 4 core chip. True, it isn't as fast as a P3, but, 32 threads!!! Heh, okay, so I want an i7, who wouldn't? I'll just keep my Q6600 soldiering on for another year or two and then think about upgrading. Andy __________________ New Rig: GA-X38-DS5, Q6600 (running at stock until I get everything installed), 8GB OCZ RAM (not sure on timings), Inno3D 8800 GTS 512, Noctua NH-U12P heat sink, Hiper Type M 580, 4 HDDs, 2 opticals, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Sharkoon Rush gaming mouse, Samsung 2220WM monitor, running XP SP2 (32-bit), Vista HP (x64) and Fedora 9 Beta (x86-64).