Related articles

• What’s been somewhat absent is any in-depth discussion of Larrabee, Intel’s much-anticipated graphics processor. Intel did offer a brief update: software development kits (SDKs) are out in the wild now. During the afternoon keynote, there was a very brief public demo of Larrabee. The demo was running on Larrabee hardware using Intel’s own SDK, not on DirectX or OpenGL. The platform was a 32nm Gulftown (six-core) CPU. The demo was an almost real-time ray tracing demo based on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The demo has been shown in the past, although this particular iteration was (supposedly) running on actual Larrabee hardware. It looked to be running at maybe ten frames per second. Drawing any conclusions would be premature, though. We really need to see performance on DirectX or OpenGL games. But it’s certainly an inauspicious demo, and if anything was clear from the demo, Larrabee still has a long ways to go. That demo actually raises more questions than it answers. If this is all Intel has to show for Larrabee, then you have to question whether or not Larrabee is in some trouble. With AMD about to ship its first DirectX 11 processor (Ed.: keep an eye out tonight), Intel’s anemic Larrabee demo leaves us wondering whether Intel can really deliver enough performance to make Larrabee a success. A Pothole in the Roadmap? By day’s end, Intel gave its annual CPU roadmap presentation. What’s really interesting from the mainstream processor perspective is how Intel is partitioning the desktop CPU market. Let’s look at what Intel is planning for 32nm: High-end CPU: Six-core, 12-thread Gulftown CPU. These CPUs should drop into existing X58 (LGA 1366) boards with a BIOS update.Clarkdale: Dual-core, four-thread CPU with an updated version of Intel graphics on the CPU package (not yet on the actual CPU die). There are two holes in this desktop roadmap. First, there’s no quad-core 32nm CPU. That means no Lynnfield successor on 32nm; or at least, nothing Intel was willing to disclose. The flip-side of this is the lack of integrated graphics for Lynnfield. While the Lynnfield CPU can drop into any LGA 1156 interface, any motherboard with graphics output will still require a discrete graphics card, since the integrated graphics no longer live in the chipset. If that sounds confusing, it is confusing. You could guess at the possible existence of a de-featured Gulftown in an LGA 1156 package, but it’s unlikely you’ll see integrated graphics on a quad- core, eight-thread CPU. When  you combine the lack of a quad-core successor to Lynnfield and no integrated graphics for Lynnfield, you get what seems like a large hole in Intel’s desktop product line. Intel Tries to Intimidate Less In some ways, it’s almost as if Intel focusing on making things smaller, and making small things makes the company seem smaller. That's smaller in the sense of being less threatening. Between AMD’s increasing marginalization as it gets pushed into the low-cost segment of the desktop and mobile processor market and Nvidia’s woes on the graphics side, Intel really needs to seem less threatening. After waking up on the first day of IDF to headlines in the San Jose Mercury News reading “Notes Paint Intel as Industry Bully,” seeming smaller may be Intel’s design. For more on our trip around the show floor, check out Uwe Scheffel's picture gallery of IDF 2009!

• IDF 2000: Intel Pentium 4 (Willamette)

  Andy Grove, Albert Yu and Pat Gelsinger. Shortly before arrival on your flight to Palm Springs, California, one has the uneasy feeling that Intel has transported you into the desert. It's only when you've actually touched down that you realize what Palm Springs really is. The town, located on an oasis and originally Cahuilla Indian territory, is surrounded by 3,000 meter high mountains - some of which even have ski resorts. This was the last time that Palm Springs was the scene of the Intel developer Forum (IDF) which will move back to the Silicon Valley homelands (to be more precise: San Jose) in the future. The event began with the keynote of ex-CEO Andy Grove who has obviously still not fully recovered from his long bout of illness. After a long speech concerning the re-orientation of the company in the direction of the Internet and networking (financial analysts love this patter because it's still in fashion), good old Andy reverted to the 'original' core business: processors. And then things speeded up dramatically. Together with Dr. Albert Yu, he presented not only a 1 GHz Pentium III, but Yu also went to demonstrate a Willamette processor apparently running at 1.5 GHz on a separate machine. Let's take a look at the facts. The gigahertz Pentium III was compared with its 533 MHz predecessor using a benchmark. A secondary tool invoked a calculation-intensive process, namely the conversion of a video into MPEG-2 format. And then came the big 'aha!' effect: the gigahertz processor was about twice as fast as the 533 MHz processor. At least this presentation had one convincing argument in its favor: the comparison was made with the help of the well-established application Ligos LSX. In their chase for impressive headlines, Intel didn't take a backseat. In their first presentation of the Willamette processor (alias Pentium IV), Intel apparently preferred to flex its muscles rather than convince Tom's Hardware. The air-cooled Willamette chip, hidden from the eyes of the public in its sealed PC case was apparently clocked at 1.5 GHz. At least that's what the Intel Frequency ID utility displayed. Note that the utility is a proprietary product of Intel and not a frequency checker that we use and respect as such. Albert Yu, who admitted that the test object was 'first silicon', started a 3D graphics demo and whispers flew through the rows of reporters and analysts who were less familiar with the technical possibilities. At least Intel was successful in one respect: they out-maneuvered AMD again. The Willamette (Pentium IV) Named after a river in Oregon, Intel presents the Willamette, successor to the Pentium III. It fits in the new 423 socket. Source: Thanks to Daniel "Mr. Big Guy" Wolff of Chip Magazine who pushed CNN and ZDTV crews away and who shoot this picture before being lynched. 'Back to the sockets' is Intel's strategy to produce low-cost high-frequency processors such as the Willamette Pentium IV. Let's think back to Spring 1997. AMD's K6 and Intel's Pentium MMX processors used the same chipsets and sockets. With the appearance of the Pentium II Klamath, Intel deemed it necessary to move away from sockets and into Slot 1 technology. Since then, all the ensuing CPU's of both manufacturers have required their own chipsets and connectors. Intel's objective to escape from the common platform had been reached. Sunlin Chou, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group, sees the future of new desktop processors in sockets again. The Pentium III (Coppermine), Pentium IV (Willamette) and Timna are to be implemented as socketed FC-PGA versions. Two important differences exist. The base material of the packaging of the silicon chip is no longer ceramic, instead it is an organic substrate. This improves the dielectrical and thermal properties. In addition, flip-chip technology will be used rather than wire bonding.

• The previous section proves that Intel is capable of making politically debatable decisions. It appears that the move to RDRAM is a fixed issue in the minds of the chipset manufacturers of consumer PC's. The i820/i840 transitional solutions on offer that use Memory Translator Hubs (MTH) are - to say the least - useless. Dell, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard all reported problems when SDRAM memories were used with Error Correction Coding (ECC). MTH was actually supposed to conduct an error-free translation of the RDRAM transmission protocol into SDRAM language in order to offer an inexpensive alternative to the expensive RDRAM solution. The entire dilemma wouldn't have been half as bad if RDRAM was at the same price level as SDRAM, but no-one is prepared to pay six times the price for a negligible performance advantage. I am personally open to new memory technologies such as DDR-SDRAM or RDRAM - just as long as the price-to-performance ratio fits, but that just isn't the case at this time. Foster With Colusa Chipset Let's switch gear and go back to the 32 bit architecture (IA-32) again. The direct Pentium III Xeon successor is currently code-named 'Foster'. At this point in time, we have very little information about this CPU. It can be assumed that the Foster will be positioned in the Xeon price range. As it is intended to introduce the Foster to the market in a 1.4 GHz version (like the Willamette Pentium IV), it is obvious that this server processor will use the core of the Willamette. It is theoretically possible to use up to four of these processors in a multi-processor configuration, however, at kickoff time it will only be possible to use two processors simultaneously because Intel's Colusa chipset can't handle more than two Foster CPU's. Quad processor configurations can however be expected from third party manufacturers. Intel intends to supply the Forster in a PGA603 package (apparently 603 pins). Perhaps this processor will be named Pentium IV Xeon in the future. :-) The Low-Cost Timna CPU PC users who are satisfied with average performance can go for the Timna processor from the end of this year. This low-cost chip unifies the CPU, graphics and the complete Northbridge unit of a standard chipset. From the outside, the Timna looks just like the socketed Pentium III or the Willamette. All three CPU's are delivered in a green FC-PGA package. The picture above shows the Intel design research project "Cape Arago". The Timna could be used with this mini PC which will cost under $600. The Timna will be released onto the market with a clock speed of 600 MHz. However, don't expect great gaming performance from a Timna PC. It can however, serve well as an inexpensive typewriter with Internet access. My personal opinion: it's not for the power freaks who dominate at Tom's Hardware. AMD's 1.1 GHz Counter Offensive From Dresden AMD, the archrival was not officially represented at the IDF. Despite this, the manufacturer defiantly used the opportunity to present its new Athlon at 1.1 GHz and standard air cooling technology - naturally in a different hotel. In comparison to the 'old' Athlon with a K7 core, the new Athlon uses the Thunderbird core (K75) with integrated full-speed cache. Just as Intel, AMD has reverted to socket technology again. The Thunderbird Athlon will be available from the second half of the year in Slot A and Socket A versions. The current pendant to the Celeron, the K6-2+ will be superseded by the Spitfire in late Summer. The Spitfire is also based on the K75 core, but will only be available as a Socket A version on the market. AMD's chipset front also has news to be reported. AMD is currently developing the AMD760, the follow-up to the AMD750/Irongate. This chipset should appear simultaneously with the Thunderbird. Its functionality is exemplary: the EV6 system bus speed will be increased from 200 to 266 MHz. The 760's will support AGP 4x and DDR-SDRAM (Double Data Rate) up to 266 MHz. From a strategic perspective, the development of proprietary chipsets is a decisive factor for the marketing of a new CPU. Until now, AMD preferred to outsource the production of chipsets to third party manufacturers such as VIA Technologies. However, the said manufacturer didn't always excel with good timing. For example, the delivery of the KX133 chipset for the Athlon only started this month - six months too late. Also, the development work for the Thunderbird has been pushed aside at VIA because it would seem that Intel is more important to the Taiwanese. Unfortunately, the Athlon Thunderbird chipset KZ133 only supports PC-133 memory. Serial ATA When this year is over the old ATA100 standard (also known as UDMA/100) for the parallel transmission of data for hard disks and CD-ROM's can be buried. The successor will be the Serial ATA standard. As the name implies, data transmission is serial. The individual hard disks using Serial ATA are connected using a four-wire cable. A standardized connector will be used for all drive types, i.e. 5.25", 3.5" and the 2.5" notebook versions. Two wires transmit the data for writes and the other two are used for reads. As Serial ATA is a direct connection (point-to-point connection) type, jumper settings such as Master and Slave will no longer be needed in the future. For compatibility reasons, adapters are intended to be made available for a transition period so that old hard disks can still be used. The serial ATA 1x standard (from 2001) permits a maximum data transmission rate of 1.5 GBits/s (approx. 150 MByte/s). USB 2.0 It somehow seems a little strange; next to Rambus memory and Serial ATA, USB 2.0 is the third standard that uses a serial transmission protocol and is being pushed by Intel. There was nothing to hear about IEEE1394/Firewire. Intel's new favorite for external peripheral devices is USB 2.0. Compared with the old standard USB 1.1, the new USB 2.0 standard offers a bandwidth that is 40 times higher, a maximum of 480 MBits per second. The new standard should be downwards-compatible to USB 1.1 with its 12 MBits per second. For this reason, the connectors for both standards look the same. At the IDF, a scanner was demonstrated that used USB 2.0 and a printer that used the old USB 1.1 standard. Both peripheral devices were connected to the same bus and worked perfectly well. The first chipset that is expected to be USB 2.0 compatible is the Solano (i815).