NEHALEM IS NEXT GENERATION MICRO-PROCESSOR TECHNOLOGY.
the 45nm Intel® Core™ i7 processor based on Intel microarchitecture codename Nehalem, represents a big step forward in faster, multi-core technology that intelligently maximizes performance to match workload. Designed to take advantage of advances in 45nm hafnium-based hi-k metal gate transistors and related manufacturing technology, Nehalem-based products unleash energy-efficient parallel processing performance using an integrated memory controller. Intel® 32nm process technology features second generation high-k + metal gate transistors for improved performance and reduced power leakage.
The next level of scalable multi-core performance
- Dynamic scalability, managed cores, threads, cache, interfaces, and power for energy-efficient performance on-demand.
- Design and performance scalability to address servers, workstations, notebooks, and desktop segments with support for two to eight or more cores and up to sixteen or more threads with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology), and scalable cache sizes, system interconnects, and integrated memory controllers.
- Intelligent performance on-demand with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology taking advantage of the processor's power and thermal headroom. This enables increased performance of both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.
- Increased performance on highly-threaded applications with Intel® HT Technology, bringing high-performance applications into mainstream computing with 1-16+ threads optimized for this new multi-core processor architecture.
- Scalable shared memory for specific servers and workstations features memory distributed to each processor with integrated memory controllers and Intel QuickPath Technology high-speed point-to-point interconnects to unleash the performance of configurations of multiple multi-core processors based on Intel® microarchitecture codename Nehalem.
- Multi-level shared cache improves performance and efficiency by reducing latency to frequently used data.
Since the introduction of Intel® Core™ microarchitecture in 2006 and its 2007 45nm enhancements—the Intel Core microarchitecture (Penryn) family of processors—the blistering performance and energy efficiency of Intel® microprocessors have delivered unprecedented
capabilities to computer users. Now a new microarchitecture named Nehalem (the foundation of the Intel® Xeon® processor 3500 and 5500 series) builds on these earlier microarchitectural marvels, rewriting earlier microarchitectural marvels, rewriting the book on processor scalability, performance, and energy efficiency.
Intel® microarchitecture (Nehalem) is a dynamically scalable and design-scalable microarchitecture. At runtime, it dynamically manages cores, threads, cache, interfaces,and power to deliver outstanding energy efficiency and performance on demand. At design time, it scales easily, enabling Intel to provide versions optimized for each server, desktop, and notebook market. Intel will deliver versions differing in the number of cores, caches, interconnect capability, and memory controller capability, as well as in the inclusion of an integrated graphics controller. This allows Intel to deliver a wide range of price, performance, and energy efficiency targets for servers, workstations, desktops, and laptops
Intel microarchitecture’s (Nehalem’s) energy efficiency and performance comes at a critical crossroads in computing. In the past, when a computer’s energy efficiency wasn’t a concern, nearly every architecture feature that could improve processor performance would be included without worrying about the power cost. But in an age of increasing concern for limited resources and increased energy costs, every segment (server, workstation,desktop, and mobile) is power-constrained and designing a microarchitecture requires a different approach. Processor manufacturers must consider the power cost for whether the processor is intended for the home, data center, or ultra-light laptop.
Intel weighed every architectural feature added to Intel microarchitecture
(Nehalem) against a strict power/performance efficiency threshold. If the feature
couldn’t add more than a one percent performance gain for a less than three
percent power cost, Intel wouldn’t add it. By measuring the benefit of the performance
gain against the power cost, Intel was able to design Intel microarchitecture
(Nehalem) to deliver greater power efficiency at any power envelope.
A good example of how Intel microarchitecture (Nehalem) enables the scaling of
energy efficiency and performance can be seen in the Intel Xeon processor 3500 and
5500 series. These two server/workstation processor series incorporate a number of
Intel’s innovative technologies to deliver intelligent performanceLabels: Intel Micro-Processors