Intel hurries next-generation chips

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Speaking at Intel Corp's Spring Analyst Meeting this week, chief executive Paul Otellini said the company will launch its new microarchitecture, which will include chips for notebooks, desktops and servers, beginning in June.



Otellini said Intel would usher in its new Core microarchitecture line starting with its Woodcrest chip for servers in June, its Conroe chip for desktops in July and its Merom chip for notebooks in August, according to a report by IDG News



By the third quarter of this year, Intel will be making more chips with 65-nm geometry than 90 nm, the Intel boss explained. And by 2007, he said the company will build a 45-nm version of the Core chip family called Penryn.



The report goes on to say the chipmaker will upgrade its microarchitecture in a chip called Nehalem by 2008, and then move to 32-nm design by 2009 -- shrinking that chip line into a design called Nehalem-C.



In 2010, the company will reportedly upgrade its microarchitecture once again for a future line of chips called Gesher.



One company expected to make extensive use of all three of Intel's new Core-based chips in its own designs is Apple.



it's widely believed that the Mac maker has selected Conroe -- a chip Intel says is 40 percent faster than the Pentium D960 -- to power its first line of Intel-based PowerMacs later this year.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 175
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    ...to power its first line of Intel-based PowerMacs later this year."





    Uhhh...MacMacs.
  • Reply 2 of 175
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,439member
    Great news. Bring on Merom/Conroe/Woodcrest.



    the sooner the better.
  • Reply 3 of 175
    dgnr8dgnr8 Posts: 196member
    I guess then the woodcrest chip is for xserver



    I was hoping it would go in the powermac

  • Reply 4 of 175
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,439member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DGNR8

    I guess then the woodcrest chip is for xserver



    I was hoping it would go in the powermac




    I wouldn't rule Woodcrest out. Xeons are Workstation/Server class chips. Apple has to offer them

    if they wish to be competitive.



    In fact HP just announced their "Greencreek" workstations using the Intel 5000 series chipsets which support FBDIMM, VT and IAMT2. They also support a new feature called I/O AT(Acceleration Technology) which accelerates I/O TCP/IP functions like a TOE Host Bus Adapter.



    We're about to put the POWER into Powermac.
  • Reply 5 of 175
    Where are they getting these names? Penryn? Gesher? Nehalem? They are almost as bad as YellowSheepRiver!
  • Reply 6 of 175
    dansgildansgil Posts: 62member
    Well, some of these names are places in Israel, such as Merom. This may be because Intel develops many of its chips in Israel.



    -DG
  • Reply 7 of 175
    geo06geo06 Posts: 19member
    Do a search on all the names. Most of them are names of churches or other Christian-esque ministries.
  • Reply 8 of 175
    macnut222macnut222 Posts: 100member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by macFanDave

    Where are they getting these names? Penryn? Gesher? Nehalem? They are almost as bad as YellowSheepRiver!



    I believe Intel has an R&D plant in Israel. That may be where some of the names come from.
  • Reply 9 of 175
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by geo06

    Do a search on all the names. Most of them are names of churches or other Christian-esque ministries.



    That doesn't necessarily mean much, it is probably a coincidence. Churches tend to use those names because they had significance in Israel, the originating point of the faith. Most of the chips designed in Israel had code names that were Hebrew names, places or words. Do a search with many of those names and add "Israel" as a keyword after it and you might see what I mean.



    I would expect that if the code names were supposed to be of intermediate origin somewhere in the English world, then "Yonah" would likely have been "Jonah".
  • Reply 10 of 175
    Have 2GB laptop SODIMMs hit the market yet? Technically, with Merom, Apple need not be constrained to 2GB, assuming of course Apple migrates their "extended memory" functionality from the PPC side, or something similar. It would be a nice barrier to break, and it'd be great to have 4GB in a laptop.
  • Reply 11 of 175
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    I wouldn't rule Woodcrest out. Xeons are Workstation/Server class chips. Apple has to offer them if they wish to be competitive.



    I agree, though I personally would rule out Conroe from the PowerMac, except maybe for the very cheapest model. I don't understand why someone would speculate that Conroe would be a PowerMac chip. Based on the general intended and markted use, the PowerMac is supposed to be a workstation-type system for heavy 2D, 3D, video and other work, think equivalent systems being those with Xeon DP or Opteron 2xx chips. It looks to me that Conroe is going to be a consumer desktop chip, which would be the equivalent of what is now called Pentium, that isn't dual-socket capable. It would be bad to use consumer grade chips in a workstation.
  • Reply 12 of 175
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,362member
    Also don't forget the number of cores that Apple might put into the new powermac replacements. The top of the line powermac G5 is quad. A new intel powermac must top the quad G5 by at least 2x, or else it'd look bad.



    I just hope they bring out a powerful overall design, and then let's wait for photoshop and then let's by a new mac and get some serious work done.
  • Reply 13 of 175
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,439member
    Apple will use Conroe for a Powermac just as PC manufacturers will use a Pentium 4 for their lowend Workstation(such as the the difference between the HP XW4300 and XW6200)



    Conroe is a capable CPU for people who don't need a quad system and it benefits Apple because they save the expense of a dual socket motherboard.



    It's important to realize that other than the FSB advantage and potential L2 cache advantage Woodcrest is based off the same Core Architecture. Performance should be close with Conroe in non SMP benchmarks.
  • Reply 14 of 175
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Apple will use Conroe for a Powermac just as PC manufacturers will use a Pentium 4 for their lowend Workstation(such as the the difference between the HP XW4300 and XW6200)



    Conroe is a capable CPU for people who don't need a quad system and it benefits Apple because they save the expense of a dual socket motherboard.



    It's important to realize that other than the FSB advantage and potential L2 cache advantage Woodcrest is based off the same Core Architecture. Performance should be close with Conroe in non SMP benchmarks.




    All very good points, but I would have a hard time justifying $2000 for a Conroe-based Apple workstation when HP's equivalent starts at under $1000.
  • Reply 15 of 175
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,439member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JeffDM

    All very good points, but I would have a hard time justifying $2000 for a Conroe-based Apple workstation when HP's equivalent starts at under $1000.





    Here's hoping we have the return of the $1499 entry level Powermac. I think it's a bit ridiculous that Powermacs are starting out at $2k.
  • Reply 16 of 175
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    I thought they named them after ski runs at Whistler.



    edit: That's Microsoft.



    I really kind of like the codenames Intel and AMD use. Mysterious but pronouncible and elegant.
  • Reply 17 of 175
    I hate to sound like a bore, but I'm much more intrigued by the rumors of replacing the Mach microkernel. I believe this is more key to Apple's continued growth in the high-end markets than Intel's (impressive) roadmap.



    Regardless, will the high-end Mac Pro feature a dual quad-core system? Or are quad-cores off the table right now?
  • Reply 18 of 175
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Why is it that I get an uncomfortable feeling when I hear that things are being 'hurried'?



    It just doesn't make sense...we were expecting some of these chips in August/September and others in early 2007 and suddenly, like magic, they're going to be available in June?!



    One thing's for sure though if this pans out...Apple is now getting a shitload and variety of chippies...this is a much different situation than what we were seeing less than a year ago.
  • Reply 19 of 175
    I don't put much weight behind the Mach replacement bit; not saying it won't happen, but the logic behind the original argument didn't hold muster. If Apple can pull it off and does, however, bully for us.



    so if July/August we get Merom laptops, do the people that are buying 17s cry IIvi? I'm just wondering what Intel skimped on to buy them the extra time.
  • Reply 20 of 175
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,439member
    Intel is getting crushed in benchmarks. The Netburst core has nothing left and they've lost a lot of desktop business. They missed their target for earnings and really the best thing for them to do is to get Core Achictecture out and trim some of the company fat that has dragged them down.



    They've just announced vPro their "centrino" branding for desktop/workstation. So I expect the blitz coming up this summer to be intense as Intel seeks to win back the hearts and minds of enthusiasts who are now AMD fans.



    Good for Apple because they'll have the parts ready and will easily be able to announce product for WWDC. I'm definitely interested in seeing Leopard running on new Powermac hardware. It should set the tone for the rest of 2006 into 2007.
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