Intel's 32nm Update: The Follow-on to Core i7 and More
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 11, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Westmere’s New Instructions
Much like Penryn and its new SSE4.1 instructions, Westmere comes with 7 new instructions added to those already in Core i7. These instructions are specifically focused on accelerating encryption/decryption algorithms. There’s a single carryless multiply instruction (PCLMULQDQ...I love typing that) and 6 instructions of AES.
Intel gives the example of hardware accelerated full disk encryption as a need for these instructions. With the new instructions being driven into the mainstream first, we’ll probably see quicker than usual software adoption.
Final Words
What is there to say other than: it’s a healthy roadmap. The only casualty I’ve seen is Havendale but I’d gladly trade Havendale for a 32nm version. But let’s get down to what this means for what you should buy and when.
At the very high end, Core i7 users have little reason to worry. While Intel is expected to bump i7 up to 3.33GHz in the near future, nothing below i7 looks threatening in 2009. Moving into 2010, the 6-core 32nm i7 successor should be extremely powerful. Intel’s strategy with LGA-1366 makes a lot of sense: if you want more cores, this is the platform you’re going to have to be on.
Now although I said that nothing will threaten Core i7 this year, you may be able to get i7-like performance out of Lynnfield in the second half. A quad-core Lynnfield running near 3GHz, should offer much of the performance of an i7 with a lower platform cost. Remember back to our original i7 review; we didn’t find a big performance benefit from three channels of DDR3 versus two.
Lynnfield is on track for a 2H 2009 introduction and if you’re unable to make the jump to i7 now, you’ll probably be able to get i7-like performance out of Lynnfield in about 6 months. Intel did mention that the most overclockable processors would go into the LGA-1366 socket. Combine better overclockability with the promise of 6 cores in the future and it seems like LGA-1366 is shaping up to be a platform that’s going to stick around despite cheaper alternatives.
The 32nm Clarkdale/Arrandale parts arriving by the end of this year really means one very important thing: the time to buy a new notebook will be either in Q4 2009 or Q1 2010. A 2-core, 4-thread 32nm Westmere derivative is not only going to put current Penryn cores to shame, it’s going to be extremely power efficient. In its briefing yesterday, Intel mentioned that while Clarkdale/Arrandale clock speeds and TDPs would be similar to what we have today, you’ll be getting much more performance. Seeing what we’ve seen thus far with Nehalem, I’d say a 2-core, 32nm version in a notebook is going to be reason enough for you to want to upgrade.
If I had to build a new desktop today I’d go Core i7 and think about upgrading to a 6-core version sometime next year. If I couldn’t or didn’t need to build today, then the thing to wait for is Lynnfield. Four cores that should deliver i7-like performance just can’t be beat, and platform costs will be much cheaper by then (expect ~$100 motherboards and near price parity between DDR3 and DDR2).
On the mainstream quad-core side, it may not make sense to try to upgrade to 32nm quad-core until Sandy Bridge at the end of 2010. If you buy Lynnfield this year, chances are that you won’t feel a need to upgrade until late 2010/2011.
On the notebook side, if I needed one today I’d buy whatever I could keeping in mind that within a year I’m going to want to upgrade. I mentioned this in much of my recent Mac coverage; if you bought a new MacBook, it looks great, but the one you’re going to really want will be here in about a year.
We owe Intel a huge thanks for being so forthcoming with its roadmaps. It’s going to be a good couple of years for performance.
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Calin - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
[quote]but at 45nm Intel’s switched from a SiO2 gate dielectric to a high-k one using Halfnium[/quote]It's Hafnium (even if halfnium sounds better)
aapocketz - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
hafnium is great for dielectrics. I hope their yields are good since its very expensive. Most CVD processes are only efficient in the single digit %.MrPoletski - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
doesn't sound as good as unobtanium.melgross - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
I just don't see how AMD competes, long term. With Intel moving to 32nm faster than expected, and with mainstream parts, that would put them 18 months ahead of AMD, unless somehow, they manage to pull off a similar coup. But it doesn't look as though they will be able to.We might remember that a bit over a year ago, AMD stated quite boldly, that they would move to within 6 months of Intel's process changes, but they are still a year behind. No progress there. Unless they can manage to switch around their roadmap the way Intel seems to be able to do, they will fall further behind.
LordanSS - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
I think we should wait and see how things will turn out. Now that AMD has spun off their fabs to a separate company, it's no longer their (AMD) job to invest on new manufacturing processes.Hopefully, now that the Foundry company has more "freedom", and injection of capital from sources outside of AMD, it'll be able to increase the pace of the shrinking processes.
Besides all that, doesn't AMD graphics division make use of TSMC's fabs to make their chips?
PrinceGaz - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
TSMC's fabs will always be a generation or so behind the like of Intel's own, just as AMD (with IBM's assistance) were ahead of them in the past.I can't see AMDs fab company getting much outside investment in the current economic climate -- new state-of-the-art fab facilities are too expensive and there is no guarantee of profitable contracts to keep them busy. The Foundry Company is never going to catch up with Intel unless a miracle happens, and TSMC etc will likely be direct competitors.
Intel are speeding up their fab and process development because they have money in the bank and continued profits to fuel it. AMD are in dire-straits financially and making a loss. Even with the risks hedge-fund managers take, they'd be mad to put money into AMD just now.
Triple Omega - Sunday, February 15, 2009 - link
I wouldn't count AMD out just yet if I were you. One false move from Intel and an unexpected innovation from AMD and they're back on their feet. If in Q4 2007 you said Ati would level the playing field with Nvidia the following year most would call you crazy, yet it still happened. So I still have hopes for AMD.ucsdmike - Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - link
AMD's staff will be hitting the bar tomorrow.This is amazing news from Intel. It is an exciting move.
Looking forward to cooler and longer running laptops in the near future.
icecold101 - Monday, August 24, 2009 - link
AMD still has one thing that intel dosent have... low prices. these new cores will cost more than $1000! In the slumping economy it isn't the best time to ask for top dollar.Ryun - Thursday, February 12, 2009 - link
More reason to work extra hard maybe?In all seriousness, I have a feeling AMD might pull a rabbit out of it's hat like ATi did with the 4 series with their new architecture. Actually, technically they did with Phenom II but really it was just too late in the game to make the significant dent that ATi's 4 series did (though I'd say the triple cores this round are a big win).
At any rate, 2011 (Bulldozer, or whatever they're calling it now) better be huge. The 65nm X2s were somewhat competitive with Conroe, but after that it just started going downhill. If Bulldozer doesn't do it I don't think AMD is going to be able to get back up. =(