We recently learned that Intel would be (officially) calling Nehalem Core i7 and Centrino Atom, um, Atom. Now, however, we've got a few more related details for you to digest thanks to a stack of leaked presentation slides. The Tick Tock Development Model explains that both Westmere and Sandy Bridge (codenames, of course) will be fabricated with 32-nanometer technology in 2009 - 2010. Moving even further into the unknown, geeks can expect Ivy Bridge and Haswell (both doing the whole 22-nanometer thing) to surface between 2011 and 2012. The Sandy Bridge architecture will reportedly "double the number of cores per die to eight," while a new instruction set coined Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) will likely get most of the attention. For those of you who haven't conked out yet (you know who you are), hit the links below to get a better idea of what your future rigs will likely house.

[Via Electronista]

Just an FYI to the CPU geeks in the house: if you've been following Nehalem, you can officially start calling it Core i7 (which means that it's not getting the code name we all thought it'd carry: Core 3 Trio Quad Duo Pro Extreme Edition). Everyone else can feel free to continue scratching their head.

Look, we're all nerds around here, no shame in that game, but Maximum PC is taking it to a special level with its latest write-up. They managed to sneak into an unnamed "hardware contact" who let them mess around with a mid-range, 2.93GHz Bloomfield chip -- the desktop version of Nehalem -- and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard. No benchmarks just yet, but they do go over all sorts of interesting topics like DDR3, larger heatsinks and SLI compatibility. Riveting stuff, we tell you.

Intel's barely out the door with Centrino 2, but those in the know are already getting ready for Nehalem -- so get used to hearing the "Calpella" codename a lot more, since it's apparently what Intel is calling its next laptop platform. In addition to supporting WiMAX in addition to b/g/n WiFi, the new chipset rearranges things from Intel's typical package, with the memory controller moving onto the CPU and a new integrated chipset called Ibex Peak-M handling many other duties. Like all processor / chipset roadmaps, this one is definitely still in flux -- and it's a Digitimes rumor, so expect things to significantly change by the time the first Nehalem laptops hit the street in the second half of 2009.

[Via The Inquirer]

Check it gamers, things are about to get like, so extreme in Q4. RegHardware has it from "motherboard-maker moles" that Intel will be loosing its smokin' Nehalem architecture before the end of the year starting with a trio of quad-core "Bloomfield" processors aimed at desktop users. A top o' the line 3.2GHz Extreme proc brings 8MB of L3 cache, connects to 1333MHz DDR3 memory, and rides Intel's new QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) bus capable of delivering 4.6 billion transactions per second. Front Side Bus, be gone.

Intel's got some Nehalem chips floating around Computex, and the crew from Anandtech managed to snag a couple and run some benchmarks. As you'd expect, Intel's latest and greatest put up pretty solid numbers, performing most operations faster than a 3.2GHz Penryn chip -- while only clocked at 2.66GHz. When the Penryn chip was clocked at 2.66GHz, Nehalem ran 20 to 44 percent faster, mostly due to insanely fast memory access speeds and Hyper Threading. Sadly, due to a wonky test mobo, Anandtech wasn't able to test performance when paired with a GPU, and there were some memory latency issues -- which hopefully means Nehalem will be even faster when it's out for real. Your move, AMD.

[Via AeroXperience]

It doesn't look as if much has changed with Nehalem since Intel showed the thing off at IDF, but rather than staring at still images and imagining just how fast said processor can churn through data, TweakTown hosted up a video to really get the point across. According to them, the demo setup was wicked fast at everything it did, and while representatives wouldn't divulge the clock speed, whispers have it right around 3.2GHz. Check out the vid just after the cut, and be sure to peep the full writeup in the read link below.

[Thanks, Lin Mei]

Intel's Nehalem chips were just officially announced a couple weeks ago, but the company's already showing off early samples at the Intel Developer Forum in China this week. Performance numbers are being closely guarded, but quad-core samples are clocked at 3.2GHz, and it's expected that Nehalem chips will offer up to a 30 percent performance increase at the same clock speeds over Core 2 processors. Of course, the name still sounds like a particularly violent sneeze, but you know Intel's running some hard-core focus groups right now to fix that problem.

Although they've gotten better recently, Intel's integrated graphics chipsets have never gotten a ton of love -- the underpowered 915 chipset is at the heart of the whole "Vista Capable" debacle, for example -- but it looks like the company's about to make a strong play to be your new pixel-pusher of choice with the new Larrabee graphics chip. Based on the x86 instruction set, the new chip isn't just limited to GPU duties, but can serve as a general-purpose processor as well. Early 16-core versions have been developed with max speeds of over 2GHz, but the design can apparently scale to thousands of cores in the future. The plan is first to release Larrabee chips as separate graphics units in Q4 of this year, but early next year we should see both laptop and desktop-oriented 45nm Nehalem processors with the Larrabee tech built right in. That should beat AMD's Fusion processors to market -- looks like the race is on.

Read - PC Perspective roadmap article with Intel slides
Read - DailyTech roadmap with Larrabee details

Quad-core shmod-core Intel, we need 6 cores or more to keep our uh, web browsers snappy. While you're at it, how about tossing in some Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) so that each core can process two threads at a time -- 16 simultaneous threads per 8-core processor or 32 for dual-processor, 8-core rigs. If that sounds good then you're in luck; Intel just went official with its near-term architecture plans which include the 2008 launch of a 6-core Dunnington-class server CPU platform based on Intel's 45-nm Penryn "tick" architecture. On deck is Intel's second generation Nehalem "tock" architecture with SMT and scalable from 2- to 8-cores. We're talking "dramatic" performance and energy improvements, according to Intel, from a microarchitecture bent on delivering an 8 MB level-3 cache, DDR3-800 memory support, 25.6GB per second Quickpath interconnects (so long Front Side Bus!), an integrated memory controller and optional integrated graphics to high-end servers and eventually laptops. Hear that AMD? Tick, tock goes the clock.

P.S. That's Nehalem pictured. What, can't you tell?

[Via BetaNews, thanks Mike O.]

Intel's had its new processor plans slipped out to the public thanks to Sun, according to DailyTech. Details on the 6-core (!) Xeon Dunnington, as well as the kinda-sorta hush-hush Nehalem were apparently leaked out onto Sun's public web server over the weekend, including plans for the new Xeons to overtake the company's Tigerton CPU line. The Dunnington processors will have a 16MB L3 cache shared by all six cores, and will be pin-compatible with the Tigertons, thus making integration with your Clarksboro chipset slightly less painful... by being possible. The Nehalem also got the spy treatment, with news that it will not only replace the Penryn line in Q4 '08, but will also be the first time in 18 years that Intel includes on-die memory controllers. If this sort of thing is important to you (and we think it may be) hit the read link and get all the juicy details.

Just a day after hearing that Intel was firing up its new Arizona-based facility in order to crank out heaps of 45-nanometer Penryn chips, along comes more news on the next best thing. Granted, Intel already gave Nehalem a share of the limelight earlier this year, but new documents are giving us a more detailed look at what types of quad-core processors we can expect in late 2008. Among the new names are Gainstown and Bloomfield, both of which are expected to land in high-end rigs and boast "Extreme" monikers. There's not a whole of lot of surprises here, as the charts still point to an estimated Q4 release date and show speeds topping out around the 3.2GHz mark. For those with nothing better to do than overlook the present and long for the future, be sure and hit the read link below -- preferably after you've rounded up a Japanese translator.

[Via RegHardware]

It's Fall IDF time in San Francisco, and Intel really came out swinging in the chips department. The company is releasing 15 of its new 45nm Penryn this year, with the first chips hitting on November 12th, and another 20 hitting in Q1 2008. That could get some of those chips into desktops before AMD's 65nm Phenom hits, and is earlier than was expected from the chip giant. The Penryn chips are promised to bring a 20 percent performance increase while improving energy efficiency. Intel also took the opportunity to show off Nehalem, Penryn's followup. Nehalem sports a new micro-architecture to further reduce power drain, and it can adjust itself dynamically to best suit the task at hand while saving power in the process. And just to tease, Intel talked up its 32nm SRAM tech, the world's first 32nm chip, which will apparently be ready in 2009, but we'll settle for faster chips and longer battery life from the likes of Intel and AMD in the interim.

[Via TG Daily]

While we already have a pretty good idea of Intel's near-term processor plans, the company has now decided to give folks a glimpse a bit further into the future, laying out some its processor plans through the year 2010 at its spring analyst meeting this week. Among the more notable boastings by the company is a promised 20x reduction in UMPCs' power consumption by 2009-2010. That'll supposedly be made possible by its new "Moorestown" system on a chip, which is set to replace its still-to-be-released Menlow system. In addition to the lower power consumption, Moorestown also promises to reduce thermals by 9x and cut the actual size by the same amount. As for the rest of its roadmap, Intel is continuing to talk up its 45-nanometer manufacturing process, with the first such chip (code-named Penryn) still on track to ship this year. Don't get too used to those 45nm chips though, as Intel's says it's planning to release its first 32-nanometer chip, a Nehalem-based processor dubbed "Westmere," sometime in 2009.

Read - RegHardware, "Intel web tablet SoC to cut power consumption by 20x"
Read - InformationWeek, "Intel Road Map Stretches From Quad Cores To Mobile Internet"