Intel Core microarchitecture

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This article is about the Intel microarchitecture. For Intel processors branded as "Intel Core", such as the 65-nanometre processor codenamed Yonah and its variants, see Intel Core. For the line of "Intel Core 2" processors using the Intel Core microarchitecture, see Intel Core 2.

The Intel Core microarchitecture is a multi-core processor microarchitecture unveiled by Intel in Q1 2006. It is based around an updated version of the Yonah core and could be considered the latest iteration of the Intel P6 microarchitecture, which traces its history back to the 1995 Pentium Pro. The extreme heat output of NetBurst-based products and the resulting inability to effectively increase clock speed was the primary reason Intel abandoned the NetBurst architecture. The Intel Core Microarchitecture was designed by the team in Haifa, Israel that previously designed the highly successful Pentium M mobile processor.

The architecture features lower power usage than before and is finally competitive with AMD in heat production. It has multiple cores and hardware virtualisation support (marketed as Virtualization Technology), as well as EM64T and SSSE3.

The first processors that used this architecture were code-named Merom, Conroe, and Woodcrest; Merom is for mobile computing, Conroe is for desktop systems, and Woodcrest is for servers and workstations. While architecturally identical, the three product lines differ in the socket used, bus speed, and power consumption. Core-based products are not branded Pentium; Woodcrest-based products form the Xeon 5100 series, while Conroe and Merom-based processors are labeled as Core 2.

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[edit] Technology

The Intel Core Microarchitecture is designed from the ground up, but similar to the Pentium M microarchitecture in design philosophy. The pipeline is 14 stages long — less than half of Prescott's, a signature feature of wide order execution cores. Core's execution unit is 4-issues wide, compared to the 3-issue cores of P6, P-M (Banias, Dothan, and Yonah), and NetBurst microarchitectures. The new architecture is a dual core design with linked L1 cache and shared L2 cache engineered for maximum performance per watt and improved scalability.

One new technology included in the design is Macro-Ops Fusion, which combines two x86 instructions into a single micro-operation. For example, a common code sequence like a compare followed by a conditional jump would become a single micro-op.

Other new technologies include 1 cycle throughput (2 cycles previously) of all 128-bit SSE instructions and a new power saving design. All components will run at minimum speed, ramping up speed dynamically as and when needed (similar to AMD's Cool'n'Quiet power-saving technology, as well as Intel's own SpeedStep technology from earlier mobile processors). This allows the chip to produce less heat, and consume as little power as possible.

For Woodcrest, the server and workstation variant, the front side bus (FSB) runs at 1333 MHz for most Woodcrest CPUs and 1066 MHz for the 1.60 and 1.86 GHz Woodcrest processors[1][2]. It is targeted to run at 667 MHz for Merom, the mobile variant. However the second wave of Meroms, supporting 800 MHz FSB, will be released on a different socket in early 2007. The desktop version is officially slated to use the 1066 MHz bus, with a later possibility of an Extreme Edition CPU with a 1333 MHz bus, and a future budget version with an 800 MHz FSB, but that would be slightly more limited due to its more restrictive bus.

Some believe that the FSB will prove to be the weak link for Intel, as the Core microarchitecture uses a shared bus, unlike AMD's HyperTransport. While not so critical in the mobile and desktop segments, this might be the handicap which will prevent Woodcrest-MP from taking performance leadership from AMD Opteron on systems with more than 2 cores per socket. Intel attempted to alleviate this problem by the use of advanced prefetchers and memory disambiguation which try to hide main-memory-access latency. However, this is mitigated to some degree by the use of a separate front-side bus for each physical CPU package.

Intel claims that the power consumption of these new processors to be extremely low — average use energy consumption is to be in the 1-2 watt range in ultra low voltage variants, with Thermal Design Powers (TDPs) of 65 watts for Conroe and most Woodcrests, 80 watts for the 3.0 GHz Woodcrest, and 40 watts for the low-voltage Woodcrest. However, this is subject to change. In comparison, an AMD Opteron 875HE processor consumes 55 watts, while the new Energy Efficient Socket AM2 line fits in the 35 watt thermal envelope (specified a different way so not directly comparable). Merom, the mobile variant, is listed at 35 watts Thermal Design Power (TDP) for standard versions and 5 watts TDP for Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) versions.

Previously, Intel warned that it would now focus on power efficiency, rather than raw performance. However, at IDF in the spring of 2006, Intel advertised both. Some of the promised numbers are:

  • 20% more performance for Merom at the same power level (compared to Core Duo)
  • 40% more performance for Conroe at 40% less power (compared to Pentium D)
  • 80% more performance for Woodcrest at 35% less power (compared to the original dual-core Xeon)

[edit] Current products

[edit] Laptops

  • Merom, first Intel eighth-generation notebook chip, 65 nm, dual-core, 2–4 MiB L2 cache (Released on July 27, 2006, shipping now)

[edit] Desktops

  • Conroe, first Intel eighth-generation desktop chip, 65 nm, dual-core, 4 MiB L2 cache (Released on July 27, 2006, shipping now)

[edit] Servers and workstations

  • Woodcrest, first Intel eighth-generation server and workstation chip, 65 nm, dual-core, 4 MiB L2 cache (Released on June 26, 2006)
  • Clovertown, quad-core MCM, consists of two Woodcrests, with 2 × 4 MiB L2; released as the Quad-Core Xeon 5300-series [3]

[edit] Future products

Current event marker This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product.
It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final version of the product.

[edit] Laptops

  • Penryn, dual-core, 45 nm shrink of Merom (Core 2), 3–6 MiB L2 [4]. Penryn will feature four processing cores and will offer an expanded instruction set to process audio and video more efficiently. Intel completed design work on the Penryn in November 2006 and has plans to release the chip in the second half of 2007. [5]
  • Perryville, single-core, 45 nm mobile and desktop processor, 2 MiB L2 [6]
  • Nehalem, 45 nm-specific, the successor architecture to Core 2. Due in the second half of 2008 [7]

[edit] Desktops

  • Allendale, 65 nm, dual-core, cut-down Conroe. (Some consider the E6300 and E6400 to be Allendales; however, the E6300 and E6400 actually have 4 MB L2 cache but 2 MB have been disabled. The Allendale E4300 is expected to be released in Q1 2007.)
  • Conroe-L, single-core, cut-down Allendale with 1 MiB L2 (previously identified by the codename "Millville" [8]); to be released as Pentium E1000-series and Celeron 400-series
  • Wolfdale, dual-core, 45 nm shrink of Allendale, with 3 MiB L2 [9]
  • Kentsfield, quad-core MCM, consists of two Conroes, with 2 × 4 MiB L2 (8 MiB L2); to be released as Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme QX-series, and Quad-Core Xeon 3200-series [10] [11]
  • Bloomsfield, quad-core, single die, successor to Kentsfield
  • Yorkfield, eight-core MCM, 45 nm, 12 MiB L2, successor to Bloomsfield [12]
  • Ridgefield, dual-core, 45 nm shrink of Conroe, with 6 MiB L2 [13]
  • Perryville, single-core, 45 nm mobile and desktop processor, 2 MiB L2 [14]

[edit] Servers and workstations

  • Clovertown-MP, MP-capable version of Clovertown [15]
  • Tigerton, quad-core successor to Clovertown-MP (to be released in place of the cancelled "Whitefield" [16]) [17]
  • Harpertown, either a dual-core, 45 nm shrink of Woodcrest [18], or an eight-core, 45 nm MCM with 12 MiB L2 [19]
  • Dunnington, four-to-eight cores, successor to Tigerton [20] [21]
  • Aliceton, also a successor to Tigerton [22]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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