Engadget's 2005 / 2006 Intel's chip lineup cheatsheet
posted August 26th 2005 1:20PM
Well, summer's drawing to a close, so it's about time for Intel's fall Developer Forum. Now that most of the news is
in, we figured we'd give you bitheads a little something to chew on in the way of a cheatsheet to their new 2005 / 2006
product lineup. You Mac fans might also want to listen up too, since these are the chips that're going to be running
your next Power Mac and/or Power Book.
So the big news here is in their Napa mobile computing platform—this year's take on what the
Sonoma Centrino platform was late last year—and the
processor at the heart of it all, codenamed Yonah, will be a dual-core mobile chip with 2MB of shared L2 cache and the
ability to address 64GB of memory. Did we scare you off yet? No? Well, read on, there's plenty to go around.
Apparently process enhancements in Yonah will make very common media functions are 30 percent faster, according to
Intel. The rest of the Napa platform will be fleshed out with a Intel 945 chipset and 3945ABG WiFi adapter. For those
paying close attention, the Intel 945 chipset includes Matrix RAID, which means new laptops will probably see SATA
drive connections and integrated RAID (instead of 3rd party RAID chips on-board, as with the
Qosmio, etc.). Though the 945 may also scale
beyond 667MHz on the front-side bus, the Yonah will only support 667MHz speeds.
The chips
Their new processor lineup is focused squarely on reducing power consumption, decreasing heat production, increasing
performace per cycle, but most noticeably, multi-core processors. Here are the names to look out for (besides Napa, of
course) and some quick deets:
(mobile)
-
To be introduced at CES, January 2006
-
Official wattage consumption not yet available, expected to be far less than 30
-
At introduction expect-
-
1.66GHz to 2.33GHz dual-core chips
-
1.5GHz to 1.83GHz low-voltage dual-core chips
-
1.06GHz and 1.2GHz ultra-low voltage dual-core chips
-
1.66GHz and 1.83GHz single-core chips
(mobilepost Yonah)
-
To be introduced in the 2nd half of 2006
-
Chips will debut in the low 2GHz range
-
Should incorporate 64-bit processing
-
Power consumption is targeted at 5 watts(!)
(desktop)
-
To be introduced in the 2nd half of 2006
-
Introductory speeds will be between 2-3GHz
-
Power consumption is targeted at 65 watts (compared to the P4s 95 watts)
(server)
-
Woodcrest: dual-core / Whitefield quad-core
-
Power consumption is targeted at 80-90 watts (compared to the Xeons 110 watts)
Odds & Ends
-
Next gen chips will lose HyperThreading at first, and will begin to rely on true dual-core processing
-
Intels expects to yield power-saving processes that will run x86 code at high speeds but with ten times less power than currentlyas little as 0.5 watts in the next few years. They showed off some design mockups, earlier.
-
Intels new VIIV spec should have the Yonah, Pentium D, or Pentium Extreme at its core, as well as requiring a 945G, 945P 955X, or Calistoga chipset, HD audio, and run XP MCE with Intels Integrated Media Server software. P.S. -Its pronounced vive, as in vivacious.
-
Intel also announced PCI Express II, which would break the 5GHz barrier, and have backwards compatibility with first generation products. Expect to see these devices in 2007 - 2008.
-
Prescott-based CPUs will begin to reach 4GHz clock speeds and higher
-
Xscale chips were also demoed at 1.2GHz
-
Intel also mentioned their new blade-platform chips, Sossaman. These should run up to four cores, are based on Yonah chips, and consume less than 31 watts.
Wow. My new Mac will have one of these.
Powerbook running Dual-Core. Waiting...
Conroe sounds suspiciously like current Athlon 64 CPUs based on just the TDP and GHz rating. It'll be interesting to see whether they truly have an IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) high enough to beat the Athlon 64 CPUs, let alone FX CPUs, which will be out by then.
If PowerMacs and PowerBooks will no longer run on PowerPC, think they'll change the name to CentrinoMac? Yeah, I don't think so either.
It seems like Intel is trying to boldly go where AMD already is. It will be very interesting to see: A) How long it will actually take them to get there, B) If AMD can make significant market-share gains in the meantime, and C) If AMD can keep ahead of Intel on this roadmap and continue to increase share down the line.
Also, if uber-low power and performance-per-watt (PPW) is really all that important, why don't we see more products sporting XScale or AMD's Geode?
Anyway, I'm going to build my next desktop with a 25W Turion. I bet I'll even be able to run my computer fan-less while idling/web-browsing, anyway (well, my super-quiet Seasonic PSU will do all the required cooling).
does this mean any device running one of these chips will be automatically wifi enabled? please say yes. tank u
that new logo looks a better than the old, gayerific one-- not that there is anything wrong with that.
omg, this is totally nuts! too bad i have an old amd athlon xp, i can't upgrade to any of these new chipsets. i would love a 3ghz dual core processor, that would run half life 2 like my p2 runs solitaire (very well, considering i have almost no extra software installed on it) its bad enough that my pda has a better processor than my laptop, so maybe its my thinkpad that needs to go, along with, well everything else that has an intel chipset.
Anyone know how they're going to market or label these chips now that they're clocked lower than before? Are they going to do some sort of AMD performance rating instead?
#2, I don't know where you got that ridiculous notion (I don't see it in the article), but a computer case acts as a Faraday cage - there's no chance of a processor itself having wifi functionality. Sure, things can be built to go outside the case, just like they are now, and perhaps they'll be packaged with the chip, but the chip itself ... no.
norebonomis: No, Wifi support is part of the chipset, not the CPU. You would have to have a computer with the proper chipset, just as today.
Only 64 GB? Pfft! Come on... Oh wait, it's a *mobile* proc? Oh. Um...
Oh, and very common media functions are 30 percent faster,?
Reserve the marketing hyerbole Intel, thanks.
I love when peopl fling around terms like "faraday cage" without having the slightest idea what they really mean.
Or maybe you just have a REALLY interesting casemod going on....?
"Apparently process enhancements in Yonah will make very common media functions are 30 percent faster, "
Huh?
I don't think they can keep calling them Power books, wasn't the first part of the name "Power Book" extracted from the PowerPC namesake?
Pretty sad when the "market leader" Intel has to copy AMD's CPUs just to keep up with them. I would expect from Intel some groundbreaking new development in the x86 arena. Looks like AMD is still leading the way
to 14:
no, the Powerbook, introduced in 1991, originally sported a Motorola 68030 processor.
Even though the the name 'PowerMac' coincided with the release of the first PowerPC based Macintoshes, both Power monikers likely exist only as marketing terms.
They both seem, IMO, to be rather tired terms. Has any of the PC manufacturer had a product line bearing the same name for 11 and 14 years respectively?
Josh: They've been calling them Powerbooks since the line started back in 1991, when they were still using the old Motorola 68k series chips. You know, back when they invented modern laptop shape by shoving the keyboard back toward the screen. They didn't switch to the PPC until 95, with that POS Hindenbook 5300. It was the PowerMac that changed names with the PPC. I highly doubt you'll see a name change on either... as the word Power has many meanings outside of the PPC architecture and the old AIM alliance.
Dothan already has better IPC than Athlon 64, and Conroe is two generations better than Dothan.
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=lpcpuso&page=12
"While we feel that the Pentium-M is all in all a better chip for those looking for the best performance and the lowest power consumption / heat production, AMDs Winchester Athlon64 is a much more consumer friendly choice. Its less expensive, more readily available, and can be used with a much greater range of motherboards. The Pentium-M will consume less power and perform a little better per clock cycle, but will typically cost a third to twice as much"
If performace is your primary concern, Yonah should definitely be towards the top of your list.
"Dothan already has better IPC than Athlon 64, and Conroe is two generations better than Dothan."
Hmmm strange, it just doesn't show in benchmarks. The Athlon64 FX is still the fastest chip on the market today.
22 - You're confusing outright speed with how much work a processor can deliver per clock-tick. So, Intel's claim that Dothan can has a higher IPC (Intructions Per Clock) than the Athlon may well be true.
sk,
Your a moron. The whole new platform is based off the Pentium M which is based loosely off the P6 architecture which rocks. idiot. You are worse then a Mac zealot screeching like a baboon who lost his bannana about MS stealing Apples wares. Let me guess you are also morally opposed to Windows as well.
I'd rather have a dual-core AMD Turion 64 in my laptop than a single core Pentium M derivative.
Will there ever be a Pentium 5?? Or is that branding over?
#24: "Your a moron."
This is too easy.
hahahah Jonathan N.
Guys like you make me laugh out loud. You think to insult someone with your immature out brake by using words like idiot and moron. This is just exposing your low IQ. Therefore you didn't know which is almost a little bit sad.
I think a few of you may need to return to 6th grade English.
Exhibit A - "your a moron"
Exhibit B - "out brake"
:)
I think the real question for PowerMac users is: will the desktop or server processor be used after the transition?
This is very cool. I wonder why AMD doesn't release a roadmap.
mm, that processor looks just like the Pentium 3
The thing that got my attention is .5 W in the future. That is a big deal. Where did that number come from? Does anyone know?
looks like a P3? that because it is a P3, or based on one. Yonah should be quite something, dual core, low power consumption. BTW, an overclocked P-M completely wipes the floor with an FX57, and costs substancially less. I'll be first up for a yonah based powerbook (or whatever they choose to call it.
re: exhibit b, makes me wonder if they ever made it 6th grade english to start with