Intel i7 Launched Worldwide

Based on a completely new architecture, the Core i7 processors are markedly different from their predecessors and have many advantages over them. There is the increased parallelism with the processor being capable of executing 33% more concurrent micro-ops simultaneously.

There is also the faster unaligned cache access and faster synchronization primitives. Intel has also implemented a new 2nd level branch predictor to avoid situations when execution units stand idle. Yet another improvement is the cache sub-system that has been redesigned from scratch.

There is a 2nd level 512 entry translation look-aside buffer (TLB) in addition to the 1st level TLB to reduce the TLB miss rate. In addition to this, there is also three-level cache hierarchy: 64KB L1 (32KB for data and 32KB for instructions), 256 KB L2 cache per core, 8 MB L3 cache (2 MP per core) shared by all cores. This is different from what Intel used to do until now – all cache on the processor.

The Core i7 processor also marks an end of the legendary FSB (Front Side Bus). These processors feature the new Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) bus, which is Intel’s answer to AMD’s Hypertransport 3.0 and a three channel memory controller supporting 1066 MHz DDR3 memory is present on-chip.

Multi-threading technology (similar to hyper-threading of the NetBurst architecture processors) is also featured on these CPUs with SSE 4.2 instructions. These are capable of handling up to eight software threads on four processor cores. With a TDP rated at 130 W, these also have energy-saving features and you can shut down unwanted cores to reduce power consumption.

Turbo Boost technology allows the cores to bump up the clock speeds when deemed necessary. This quad-core chip is manufactured using the 45nm process, sporting 731 million transistors.

Combined with the Intel X58 chipset-based motherboards with LGA1366 socket, these are incompatible with older motherboards. Currently, these can only be used with motherboards based on the Intel X58 chipset.

Intel has released three different models of the Core i7 – all quad core variants with hyper-threading :

* Core i7 920 clocked at 2.66 GHz priced at $284 (approximately Rs.14,063),

* Core i7 940 clocked at 2.93 GHz priced at $562 (approximately Rs.27,830),

* Core i7 965 XE (Extreme Edition) clocked at 3.2 GHz priced at $999 (approximately Rs.49,470)

(Prices are per unit in lots of 1000)