Intel is charging ahead in the CPU wars at quite an impressive rate, releasing details of their next Quad Core CPU, the Yorkfield QX9650, which is to feature four 45nm cores.
Intel’s working to a schedule they have titled "Tick-Tock", whereby they shrink their current microprocessor design on the "tick" and then release a new microprocessor architecture on the "tock." The new processor, code-named "Penryn" will be launched on Novemeber 12th, 2007. While the Penryn doesn’t represent a huge jump in performance or much of a change in design from the current Core 2 processor line, it looks to hold the ability to in the future.
The Yorkfield QX9650 continues the LGA775 socket form factor and can be used on both P35 and X38 chipset motherboards. It runs at a stock 3GHz clock speed and has a 1333MHz FSBm utilizing the new SSE4 instruction sets. The Yorkfield also uses a lot less power in idle and a little less under load. The move from 65nm to 45nm has definitely paid off, with a lot more transistors fitting onto a much smaller amount of space. The original Kentsfield Core 2 Quad had a total of 582 million transistors on a surface area of 284mm squared, while the Penryn "Yorkfield" has 820 million transistors on a 214mm squared die size. A lot of these transistors are being used for cache, with the L2 cache increasing from 8MB on previous models, to 12MB on the new Yorkfield.
For overclockers, the Yorkfield QX9650 is child’s play, being easily overclockable without even having to change the voltage. When the voltage is kicked up a few notches the processor is able to run extremely stable all the way past 4GHz! With some of the lengths that enthusiasts go to to overclock there will definitley be a lot higher clocks than that.
All in all the new 45nm Quad Core from Intel looks to be a winner, both for simple gamers and enthusiasts alike.
[via [H]ard|OCP]
