UPDATE: Core i7: Blazing Fast, O/C Changes

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SSE 4.2 And The Technical Nitty-Gritty

SSE 4—Complete at Last

With the switch to its 45 nm production process, Intel introduced SSE4.1 into the Core 2 processors. As the ".1" implies, this was only the first iteration of the SSE4 instruction set, and was not yet fully complete. Now, Nehalem comes with the full complement of instructions enabled. Specifically, SSE4.2 adds seven new commands: CRC32, PCMPESTRI, PCMPESTRM, PCMPISTRI, PCMPISTRM, PCMPGTQ, and POPCNT.

The following table compares the technical specifications of the Core i7, Core 2 and AMD Phenom processor families.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
FeatureAMDPhenomIntelCore i7IntelCore 2
CoreAgenaTolimanBloomfieldYorkfield / XEWolfdaleKentsfield / XEConroe / XE / 2048Allendale
Production Process65 nm45 nm65 nm45 nm
Max. Frequency2.80 GHz3.20 GHz3.20 GHz
L1 Cache64 + 64 KB32 + 32 KB32 + 32 KB
L2 Cache512 KB256 KB4 MB
L3 Cache2 MB8 MB-
Max. Thermal Loss (TDP)140 W130 W136 W
CPU<->NorthbridgeHyperTransportQuickPath InterconnectFront Side Bus
CPU<->CPUHyperTransportQuickPath InterconnectNorthbridge internal
Max. Core Speed3.20 GHz (25.6 GB/s)6.4 GT/s (12.8 GB/s)400 MHz (12.8 GB/s)
Min. Core Speed800 MHz (6.4 GB/s)4.8 GT/s (9.0 GB/s)200 MHz (6.4 GB/s)
FSB (internal)200 MHz133 MHz400 MHz333 MHz266 MHz200 MHz
64-Bitx86-64EM64TEM64T
Hyper-Threading-yes-
MultimediaExtensionsMMX3DNow!SSESSE2SSE3SSE4.1MMXSSESSE2SSE3SSSE3SSE4.1SSE4.2MMXSSESSE2SSE3SSSE3SSE4.1
VirtualizationPacificaVTVT
Power SavingCool‘n’Quiet 2Enhanced Halt State (C1E)SpeedStepEnhanced Halt State (C1E)SpeedStep
Thermal ProtectionThermal DiodeThermal Monitor 2Thermal Monitor 2
SpeedStepnoyesyes
Execution ProtectionXD bitXD bitXD bit
TrustedExecutionPresidioLaGrande TechnologyLaGrande Technology
Active ManagementnoiAMT2 (V-Pro)iAMT2 (V-Pro)
Bert Toepelt
156 Comments Comment from the forums
  • joseph85
    Good article, and may I say Keep up the good work.
    Reply
  • pullmyfoot
    AMD’s HyperTransport protocol can transmit up to 25.6 GB/s at 3.20 GHz.
    You mean Intel don't you? Other than that little mistake, good article
    Reply
  • wh3resmycar
    hmm, question. once this nehalems come out. will we ever see a dieshrunk c2q again after the penryns? im expecting the price of this procs along with the mobo and ram to be too far off from my budget. or
    Reply
  • skywalker9952
    One of the first side effects of Intel's domination of the CPU market is beginning to show. Since they don't have to compete with AMD in any market segment the i7 occupies, they have limited (significant) overclocking to only extreme models.

    RIP AMD.
    May Abu Dhabi restore you to life soon so we don't have to suffer through more Intel ripoffs.
    Reply
  • sonar610
    "The fastest Core i7, the 965 Extreme, is more than 2.6 times as fast as AMD’s current flagship CPU, the Phenom X4 9550 BE."
    This seems like an editing mistake maybe it should be 9950BE.
    Reply
  • cryogenic
    Core i7 is a great CPU, the article is not. I can't believe after all this time you still stack overclocked CPUs with unoverclocked ones. It's great to find out the overclocking potential of Nehalem but, at least include some overclocked Penryns in there too, to see how overclocked Nehalem stacks agains OTHER overclocked CPUs, because it's fairly evident that and overclocked new gen CPU will stack well with older non overclocked ones.

    Reply
  • joseph85
    CryogenicCore i7 is a great CPU, the article is not. I can't believe after all this time you still stack overclocked CPUs with unoverclocked ones. It's great to find out the overclocking potential of Nehalem but, at least include some overclocked Penryns in there too, to see how overclocked Nehalem stacks agains OTHER overclocked CPUs, because it's fairly evident that and overclocked new gen CPU will stack well with older non overclocked ones.If it's evident then who cares?
    Reply
  • fender22
    skywalker9952One of the first side effects of Intel's domination of the CPU market is beginning to show. Since they don't have to compete with AMD in any market segment the i7 occupies, they have limited (significant) overclocking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclocking to only extreme models.RIP AMD. May Abu Dhabi restore you to life soon so we don't have to suffer through more Intel ripoffs.
    My thoughts exactly... I wonder if there will be some sort of resistance to this sort of thing... It's like buying a car, you can do whatever you want to it (within the limits of the law) to make it as fast as you want. Sure, you may void your factory warranty, but it's your deal. You don't see car companies making it impossible for you to do what you want to their cars so you have to buy their expensive high end just to get your kicks... (not a perfect comparison, but it works)

    I dunno, it's just pretty weak. And they are just taking advantage of the situation...
    Reply
  • cangelini
    sonar610"The fastest Core i7, the 965 Extreme, is more than 2.6 times as fast as AMD’s current flagship CPU, the Phenom X4 9550 BE." This seems like an editing mistake maybe it should be 9950BE.
    Fixed, thanks!
    Reply
  • onearmedscissorb
    Aside from the all too prevalent and potentially misleading typos, which someone needed to get a handle on as of months ago, I must say that the overall quality of this article is MUCH better than pretty much anything I can remember of the last few months. It's actually informative and thought out, rather than being a mess of assumptions that many people reading already know better than.

    Keep it up, and maybe I'll pay attention to this site like I used to.

    But just for the record, I don't believe that it's particularly appropriate to use the overall average performance percentages as a basis for comparison between the "speed" of Core 2 vs. Core i7. Obviously, most people are going to be interested in the difference with games, where it's likely to be pretty minimal. But here and there, you have something like the 55% WinRAR difference pretty much skewing what otherwise would have been an accurate depiction of average expectations across the board.
    Reply