Reviews : Intel Nehalem-EX 8 core cpu

Intel has recently announced its next-generation server processor, currently code-named Nehalem-EX. As its name suggests, the Nehalem-EX is based on the Nehalem micro architecture which debuted with the Xeon 5500 and Core i7 series processors. The Nehalem-EX series however, will be decidedly more high-end in terms of specifications and performance. The processor will be at the heart of the next generation of intelligent and expandable high-end Intel server platforms, which will deliver a number of new technical advancements and boost enterprise computing performance.


Xeon 5500 is the name that identifies the first family of Intel cpu for server systems to 2 Socket-based Nehalem architecture, marketed from the end of March, at the present time was not yet specified a name for Nehalem-cpu EX, designed to take the place of the cpu Xeon 7400, but according to leaked information from the manufacturer left the U.S. should be an evolution of the brand Xeon 7x00. In production later this year, the Nehalem-EX processor will feature up to eight cores inside a single chip supporting 16 threads and 24Mb of cache. Its performance increase will be dramatic, posting the highest-ever jump from a previous generation processor.

In addition, Nehalem-EX will also sport features carried over from the Itanium line, like Machine Check Architecture (MCA) Recovery.

Features:

Following are the basic features of the Nehalem-EX cpu. see in detail how Intel has brought forward today:

* Architecture of native 8-core, is almost same as the solutions for Intel Nehalem architecture quad core;
* 24 Mbytes of cache, Intel does not specify how this cache is shared between L1, L2 and L3 on the processor, but we tend to assume that the L1 and L2 cache, which remained unchanged compared to the solutions Nehalem quad core, with a significant increase in L3 cache size;
* 2.3 billion transistors integrated in the processor, the cache 24 Mbytes total impact significantly on the amount of transistors integrated into the processor. By comparison with the Nehalem quad core cpu supplies little more than 730 million transistors;
* The other solutions would be Nehalem HyperThreading technology (for each physical core are 2 threads in parallel) and Turbo Boost (processor independently increases the clock frequency, speaking on the multiplier, if the temperature of operation will not create malfunctions);
* For each processor there are 4 link QPI, with which you can configure systems multisocket from 2 up to 8;
* Each processor can handle up to 16 memory slots for DDR3 modules through the integration of buffer memory on the motherboard;
* The integrated memory controller is DDR3-type, was not specified what the maximum clock frequency of memory supported, depending on the number of memory modules installed in each socket and if it was implemented a controller-type triple channel.


It is been clear that Intel is involved in all these processors while maintaining the architectural features of the Nehalem processors for desktop systems, which belong to the Core i7 series on the market from November 2008, and the Xeon 5500 for systems up to 2 Socket tabled last month of March.

Multisocket Architecture

Integrated innovations aim to make these processors more compatible with systems of high power processing. According to Intel, the Nehalem-EX will offer up to nine times the memory bandwidth of the previous-generation Intel Xeon 7400 platform with up to double the memory capacity through the use of 16 memory slots per processor socket. The processors will also offer four high-bandwidth QuickPath Interconnect links per CPU to provide significant scalability, from large-memory two-socket systems through eight-socket systems capable of processing 128 threads simultaneously. The overlap with the solutions Xeon 5500 in terms of number of Socket is justified by the presence of a 8 core Nehalem-EX processor, capable of 16 simultaneous threads in parallel, compared with 4 of the current versions of the Xeon processor 5500 (8 parallel threads thanks HyperThreading technology).

Another substantial difference between systems Xeon 5500 and Nehalem-EX for the same socket is provided by the maximum number of memory modules for use with processors Nehalem-EX, you can populate the system with 32 slots for DDR3 modules, a figure very high in absolute but may prove to be useful in applications demanding in terms of allocation of physical memory. Whereas current Xeon 5500 series processors feature four execution cores per CPU with support for up to eight threads through Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology, the Nehalem-EX series will be outfitted with up to eight execution cores per chip with support for up to sixteen threads, and 24MB of cache.

The memory controller of Nehalem-EX processors Intel has also implemented some specific technologies for the integrity of data in the memory controller. Advanced RAS-MCA Recovery is the name of these technologies, which identify any errors generated by the processor, memory or logic input and output so that the error once occurred, can block the sending system.

Conclusion

The debut on Intel Nehalem-EX will only start in 2010. Highlight in the new structure of the server cpu Intel, an analogy with what AMD has anticipated for the future generations of its Opteron processor. For both companies there are two families of processors server: the first, Xeon 5500 on one side and the other Opteron 4000 series, for systems with 1 or 2 Socket. And for the second, with Nehalem-EX processors on one side and the other Opteron 6000, with capacity to be used in systems by up to 2 Socket 8 Socket.