Intel roadmap leaked
Over the weekend, Japanese tech website – PC Watch – revealed Intel’s roadmap for Q1 2010. Low power consumption entry level processors with integrated GPUs are on the table, along with the rounding off of the i5 range.
As expected, the Core i3 brand will be making its appearance on the market, along with more of the Core i5 brand. Intel is still clinging to the Pentium brand, and this will be the lowest end of the range.
Using socket LGA1156, the new processors are based on the 32nm Westmere implementation of the Nehalem architecture, and are codenamed Clarkdale. The chips will feature two processing cores and the Graphics Memory Controller Hub (GMCH).
The GMCH integrates the GPU core, and legacy north bridge functions – a dual channel DDR3 memory controller and a 16 channel PCI-Express 2.0 controller – on a single die. The GPUs range in clock speed from 900MHz on the i5, through 733MHz on the i3, and 533MHz on the Pentium. A QuickPath Interface (QPI) provides a 25GB/s point-to-point connection between the CPU die and GMCH die.
All Clarkdale chips, except for the Pentium version, will feature Hyper-Threading, allowing for two processing threads per core. Only the Core i5 versions will have Turbo Boost implemented, which allows the cores to dynamically increase their clock speed under load.
As with the currently available Lynnfield and Bloomfield processors, the DDR3 memory controller is officially clocked at 1333MHz, except for the Clarkdale Pentium, which comes in at 1066MHz. The Core i3 and Core i5 versions will receive 512KB+4MB of cache, whilst the Pentium receives 512KB+3MB.
The CPU combined with the GMCH will consume between 87W and 73W of power depending on the GPU core clock.
Pricing models
The pricing roadmap indicates that the i5-670 at 3.46GHz to 3.73GHz is anticipated to come in at the US$280 mark (±R2,070). The i5-660/661 at 3.33GHz to 3.6GHz is priced at just over US$190 (±R1,400), and the i5-650 at 3.2GHz to 3.46GHz at US$180 (±R1,330). The i5-750S at 2.4GHz to 3.2GHz – the ‘S’ indicating a low power consumption version – is priced at US$250 (±R1,850).
The i3-540 at 3.06GHz hits the US$130 (±R960) mark and the i3-530 at 2.93GHz is at US$110 (±R810). Finally, the Pentium G6950 at 2.8GHz comes in just under $90 (±R660).
Finally, there is a Lynnfield based addition to the i7 range, the i7-860S at 2.53GHz to 3.46GHz, which is priced at the US$350 mark (±R2 600).
These prices will likely not reflect the final South African market pricing, but they do provide insight into Intel’s pricing and market segment strategy. These processors will replace the Wolfdale based Core 2, Celeron and Pentium range, which should be phased out by Q3 2010.
For Q1 2010, there was no mention of the Nehalem based Gulftown, also fabricated using the 32nm Westmere process. The Gulftown – a 6 core processor using the LGA1366 socket – is rumoured to be branded as Core i9 and Xeon 5600. The Gulftown is poised to make an appearance in Q2 2010.
Intel roadmap – discussion
Loading ...