Overview
Conroe At IDF
Intel's Core architecture bullets
Conroe At IDF
Intel Core Microarchitecture
Intel's Core architecture bullets
The Core architecture has four issue execution with a fourteen stage pipeline. Rattner focused on five new technologies that will make Core different than previous architectures like Netburst :
- The wider issue execution was obviously the first and most important announcement.
- Conroe will also feature a new 128-bit SSE optimization that will allow all SSE instructions to be completed in a single cycle.
- Core architecture will have micro-ops fusion (already present on all modern Intel processors), but that the new architecture will also include macro-ops fusion. Essentially, macro-ops fusion takes multiple high level instructions, and combines them into a single instruction. For example a “compare†and “jump†instruction can be combined into a single operation.
- Core will feature shared L2 cache for all of the next generation processors – including the quad core Kentsfield/Clovertown and dual core Conroe/Merom.
- Intel has completely redesigned the scheduler to prevent collisions with the added bonus that advanced memory management leaves the door open to advanced gating techniques. In a nutshell, the new gating techniques will dynamically power certain portions of the CPU on and off on the fly.
Conroe Die Shot
Dual-cores, lots of cache
Dual-cores, lots of cache
While the diagram is very low resolution, it shows that Conroe is definitely slated to run on the Intel 975X family of chipsets. The chipset itself supports DDR-2 memory, one PCIe 16x or twin 8x slots and will remain as Intel's flagship through a good part of this year. L2 cache makes up a significant portion of Conroe's silicon space.
Conroe Block Diagram
Conroe uses a shared L2 cache with independent L1 caches per core
Details
Conroe uses a shared L2 cache with independent L1 caches per core
Details
Rattner gave attendees the briefest of peeks at examples of two Conroe-derived quad-core desktop platforms, Kentsfield for desktop packaging and Clovertown for server packaging (Xeon). Both processors will feature a pair of dual-core dies sandwiched together, and supplied with 4 Mb of on-board L2 cache.
Conroe-based products, Rattner predicted, will perform 40% faster than systems running the Pentium D 950 processor, while at the same time consuming 40% less power.
[break=Conroe Pricing]
Conroe Pricing
Freshly leaked Pentium D pricing information has added weight to claims that Intel will ship the next model in the series, the 960, at the end of this month before slashing prices in Q3 when its next-generation architecture 'Conroe' processor debuts.
Pentium D pricing data provided by DailyTech confirms earlier reports that the 960 will cost $533 at launch on 30 April before falling to $316 in Q3 when Conroe launches. Current Pentium D 9xx chips will see their prices cut on 23 April, as expected.
Four Conroe chips will ship initially: the E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700, following Intel's new processor numbering scheme, introduced when the Core Duo mobile processor family arrived earlier this year. The four dual-core Conroes are clocked at 1.86, 2.13, 2.40 and 2.67GHz, respectively, run on a 1066MHz frontside bus and contain 4MB of cache shared between the two cores.
The CPUs will be priced at $209, $244, $316 and $530, respectively, at launch, the new report claims. At the same time, Intel will debut the VT-less Pentium D 925 at $178. In addition to the 960's price reduction to $316, the 950 will come down to $241 and the 940 to $209. Intel has already indicated it intends to phase out the 930 and 920.
The 2.67GHz Conroe CPU featured in the IDF benchmarks last month will have an official MSRP of $530 at launch. The 2.6GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX processor used in those benchmarks costs a little over $1000 today, though AMD roadmaps have revealed this product will not get a price cut until June at the earliest. AMD's top of the line DDR2 2.6GHz processor will ship for just under $700 at the end of Q2'06.
The slightly slower 2.4GHz version will come with a $316 price tag. Even slower versions with half of the L2 cache will start at $209. As expected, Pentium D processors will take a huge price cut. The Pentium D 950, available today for a mere $637, will drop to an incredible $241 at the time of the Conroe launch.
Conroe still does not have an official launch date, but Intel employees have claimed Conroe will launch "as early in Q3 as humanly possible."
[break=Conroe Benchmarks]
Conroe Benchmarks
TestBed
Conroe E6600 on Stock, 2.4Ghz, 1066FSB, 4M L2
965G
DDR2 533 256m*2
SATA 80G
3dmark05(CpuTest)
Sisoft Sandra Memory B/W
Sisoft Sandra Memory Cache & Memory
Sisoft Sandra Memory Cache & Memory
Sisoft Sandra Memory CPU Multimedia
Sisoft Sandra Memory CPU Arthimetic
Super PI 32M
Super PI 1M
[break="Conroe" To Account for 40% of Intel Desktop in Q1'07]TestBed
Conroe E6600 on Stock, 2.4Ghz, 1066FSB, 4M L2
965G
DDR2 533 256m*2
SATA 80G
3dmark05(CpuTest)
Sisoft Sandra Memory B/W
Sisoft Sandra Memory Cache & Memory
Sisoft Sandra Memory Cache & Memory
Sisoft Sandra Memory CPU Multimedia
Sisoft Sandra Memory CPU Arthimetic
Super PI 32M
Super PI 1M
[B][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]"Conroe" To Account for 40% of Intel Desktop in Q1'07[/COLOR]
If you're buying an Intel CPU a year from now, you're buying a dual core[/B]
Intel plans to put multi-core processors in 85% of new Intel-based desktops by 2007, at least according to the most recent roadmaps from the company. Three quarters after the launch of Intel's upcoming Core processor, dubbed Conroe, is expected to account for a staggering 40% of all Intel-based desktops.
65nm Pentium D processors will account for the multi-core desktop processors not allocated for Conroe -- roughly 45% of all Intel desktop sales.
Intel also released its guidance for retail processor sales of Conroe, and the trend is identical to the OEM forecasts; Conroe will account for 40% (or more) of retail Intel desktop chip sales in Q1'07.
The 65nm Pentium D processors still in the retail and OEM channel by 2007 will mostly be used in business platforms and low cost systems. Pentium 4 processors will still hold a small percentage of the Intel market, but these chips are for the absolute lowest end systems and include Celeron single core forecasts.
This is one of the most aggressive ramps for a new technology outlined by Intel on the desktop. Prescott, Intel's 90nm single core CPU, was only expected to consume 30% of OEM desktop sales three quarters after launch. Even a year after Intel's Pentium D launch, dual core technology still accounts for less than 35% of all desktops.
Conroe gave enthusiasts a bit of a double take after benchmarks from the Intel Developer Forum put the CPU 20% faster than AMD's best offerings in head to head benchmarking.
AMD has plans of its own to counter Conroe. By the middle of 2007, AMD is expected to launch its K8L architecture. AMD's Henri Richard claims K8L is more "evolutionary than revolutionary," but even minimal improvements on the tried and true K8 could cascade into large gains in performance.
[break=Intel Conroe chips priced up]
Intel Conroe chips priced up
Desktop Road Maps 960 to launch on 30 April
ROAD MAPS SPOTTED papering the walls of the Porcupine Pub in Leicester Square today show how Intel will price the Conroe family at its launch in the third quarter of this year.
The E6700, which is a 2.67GHz chip with 4MB of cache and a 1066 front side bus will cost $529 while the E6600, a 2.40GHz version will cost $315. The other two members of the Intel Cointreau family have 2MB of cache apiece, with the E6400 (2.13GHz) costing $240, while the E6300 (1.86GHz) will cost $210.
On the 30th of April, Intel will introduce the 800MHz bus 960 chip, priced at $531. The next slated price cuts are on the 23rd of April, with the 950, the 940, the 930 and the 920 all dropping in price. The price for these old warrior will fall further when the Conroe processors make their debut on the world's stage.
Expect heavy discounting on the 6XX family as Intel says hello to the new lamps and goodbye to the old.
There are also price cuts coming on the good old Celeron as Intel readies 65 nanometre chips the 356 (3.33GHz) and the 352 (3.2GHz) at the end of May. These 533MHz bus chips have 512K of cache and will cost $90 and $80 respectively. There are price cuts on the existing Celerons this week.
[break=Intel to launch Woodcrest, Conroe and Merom in Q3]
Intel to launch Woodcrest, Conroe and Merom in Q3
Faced with increasing competitive pressure from AMD, Intel apparently has accelerated its launch schedule of its new Core microarchitecture. While Woodcrest, which will carry the Xeon 5100-series designation, was always scheduled for a Q3 introduction, chief executive Paul Otellini on Wednesday confirmed that the company will also be announcing the desktop processor "Conroe" (Core Duo E4000 and E6000 series) as well as the mobile CPU "Merom" (Core Duo T5000 and T7000 series) in the third quarter. All three variants will be shipping "in volume."
Sources previously indicated that especially Merom may see an October or possibly November launch. Conroe recently was also rumored to be slipping into October. Otellini indicated that Intel is gearing up for mass production of its Core architecture at this time; if Intel will be able to keep its Q3 promise, the company may be shipping Woodcrests, Conroes and Meroms for revenue as early as in June or July of this year.
In preparation of Core, Intel has to deal with rising inventory levels of 90 nm and also 65 nm processors. According to the company, already higher than usual inventory levels will continue to climb during Q2 and improve in Q3.
The company now has three 65 nm factories online and mentioned that it will see more 65 nm than 90 nm wafer starts during this month. Despite increasing inventory levels, the company does not intend to slow its 65 nm chip production: "The 65 nm ramp and yields are on target. We are not slowing the process down. 65 nm is our future," said chief financial officer Andy Bryant during a conference call with analysts.
According to Otellini, Intel will be using the second quarter time frame to "reset" its business a lay the foundation for the launch of Core, which he described as "the most compelling product lineup in years." During 2007 he plans to thoroughly analyze and improve the overall efficiency of the company - a process that Intel has not seen in about 20 years.
[break=Intel Celeron M 3.0GHz Beats AMD Athlon 64 FX-60]
Intel Celeron M 3.0GHz Beats AMD Athlon 64 FX-60
Superior Overclocking Potential of 0.065micron Celeron M Processors
Mobile Yonah (Core Duo) processors overclocked in desktop mainboards have been considered capable of demonstrating the performance level we could expect from the upcoming desktop Conroe CPUs.
Some time ago, we found out that this comparison cannot be regarded as absolutely relevant because Intel Core architecture is quite different from Core Duo architecture of Pentium M processors.
However, some hardware enthusiasts are still getting down to exciting Yonah overclocking experiments while waiting for the Conroe. Especially, since there are more and more desktop mainboards in the market that support mobile Core Duo and Pentium M CPUs and the price of these mainboards keeps dropping.
A famous overclocker aka Coolaler posted some results of his overclocking experiment performed on a 0.065micron Celeron M version when this baby reached 2.6-3.0GHz core frequency in an AOpen i975Xa-YDG mainboard based on i975X chipset and equipped with a powerful air cooler. The results of the SuperPI benchmark are given in the table below:
I would like to stress that 21 seconds for PI calculation is a typical result for such CPUs as Core E6600 (2.4GHz) or dual-core Athlon 64 FX-60 overclocked to over 3.0GHz. I think you would agree that it is a more than impressive result for a CPU worth less than $150 – Celeron M 420 (1.6GHz). Its performance, as well as overclocking potential are truly remarkable here. I only wish that we didn’t have to hunt for specific $200-mainboards to be able to use this CPU in our desktop platforms.
Celeron M CPUs on 0.065micron Yonah core have already started selling. Celeron M 420 (1.6GHz) and Celeron M 430 (1.73GHz) are already available in Japanese and Hong-Kong retail stores. They are offered for $125 and $150 respectively. They feature a single core, 1MB L2 cache, support 533MHz bus. The Vcore equals 1.3V. These processors haven’t been officially announced yet.
[break=Conroe E6400 Does SuperPi in 16s]
Conroe E6400 Does SuperPi in 16s
HKEPC has another scoop with a Conroe E6400 overclocked to nearly 3.11GHz from 2.16GHz, nearly 50% overclock. Man, that baby did Super Pi 1M in 16s.
How it translates in real life is something that has to be seen but still, 16s in Super Pi is something unheard of and bodes very well for Intel and sends very bad vibes towards AMD. I sincerely hope that the K8L and K10 can provide some strong competition to Conroe. Not since the transition from 286 to 386 have I seen such a huge jump in performance between two Intel CPU families.
[break=Intel Kentsfield Has 2 x 4MB L2 Cache]
Intel Kentsfield Has 2 x 4MB L2 Cache
We have heard more about Kentsfield, the 65nm Quad Core processor from a recent Intel briefing and it will be having 2 x 4MB of L2 cache which is essentially 2 Conroe cores on the same package. Kentsfield is slated for release in Q1 2007 and will compete against AMD K8L architecture.
Intel refuses to comment which is better although they are confident Conroe will be leading in performance from second half of this year. The successor to Kentsfield, a Quad Core processor slated for later date will have 8MB of shared L2 cache. Intel is currently working with game developers to improve performance on multi-core processors.
[break=Benchies : Conroe, X1900XTX and 3dmark05]
Benchies : Conroe, X1900XTX and 3dmark05.
FCG from XS has just tried his hands on Conroe.
CPU: Intel 2.13Ghz 4MB L2 "Conroe" ES (dual core) @ 8 x 333Mhz = 2.66Ghz stock volts (~1.15v real)
CPU Cooling: stock Intel aircooling aluminum heatsink
DDR2: Mushkin PC-4200 @ 3-2-2-8 (~2.2v) - 2x512MB
Video: ATI X1900XTX @ 720/828 (stock aircooling)
MB: Intel D975XBX "Bad Axe" stock w/BIOS 0807
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 (absolutely NO tweaks)
FCG - "Let me further clarify the significance of this score. This is on an Intel 975X chipset, not ATI for best CF scores, 975X. Second, this is an Intel board. Not bad for a board built for stability and not all-out speed. Third, all stock cooling with absolutely no modifications to any component. And lastly, I am severely limited by FSB on this board. This Conroe could go much higher if I had the right board."
Single card 3DMark05 :
Score : 13588
3dmark01 :
Score : 41210
Update :
Single card 3DMark05 With Crossfire :
Score : 16823
CPU: Intel 2.13Ghz 4MB L2 "Conroe" ES (dual core) @ 8 x 333Mhz = 2.66Ghz stock volts (~1.15v real)
CPU Cooling: stock aircooling Intel aluminum heatsink
DDR2: Mushkin PC-4200 @ 3-2-2-10 (~2.2v) - 2x512MB
Video: ATI X1900XTX Crossfire @ 684/738 (stock aircooling)
MB: Intel D975XBX "Bad Axe" stock w/BIOS 0807
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 (absolutely NO tweaks)
EDIT: Please note that the GPU/mem clocks in the SS are wrong, those are for the XTX card, the CF cards speeds are above.
[break=2.72Ghz Conroe On Air Takes AM3 World Record]
2.72Ghz Conroe On Air Takes AM3 World Record
FCG from XS "Running your system at only 2.72GHz on air (stock Intel heatsink) with stock volts.......how can you put a price on this?
2x ATI x1900 cards in crossfire on stock air at only 712 core/738 mem.....$850
Stock Intel D975XBX motherboard.....$210
Taking the WR in AM3 away from AMD running with phase on the CPU and GPUs .......priceless"
New AM3 World Record : 153,219 points
Previous AM3 World Record : 152,653 points
FX60 and 7900GTX SLI at 931/1075....
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