Arrandale

Anticipating Apple's 'Arrandale' MacBook

MacBooks based on Intel's new Core i5 processors are expected to appear in the not-too-distant future. Here's some guesswork--updating a previous post--based on my discussions with Intel at the Consumer Electronics Show last week just after the chipmaker announced the new mobile chips.

Simply put, Arrandale is a Core i3 or i5 (update: or Core i7) central processing unit (CPU) package that includes graphics silicon. Until Arrandale, Intel graphics was in a separate package--referred to as the chipset. Making it part of the CPU results in lower power consumption and, consequently, better battery life. Arrandale's graphics also offers a step up in performance over the prior-generation Core 2 integrated graphics.

I should add that any laptop with a new Core i series processor is going to be faster than a laptop with the previous-generation Core 2 chip.

Turbo Boost: Why faster? For one, with the mobile Core i5 Intel's Turbo Boost is now available to mainstream laptops. This feature automatically overclocks a 2.26GHz Intel Core i5-430M processor, for example, to 2.53GHz on the fly as required by the application. (This is not possible with the Core i3 chip, however.)

One possibility is Apple getting an i5 (and/or i7, i3) made to order, as it did with the specially-packaged Core 2 Duo processor in the original MacBook Air. Or Apple could simply bypass Intel's integrated graphics by attaching an ATI or Nvidia graphics processor. The latter will likely happen in some form. Silicon Valley rival Hewlett-Packard is doing this already. Last week, HP updated its Envy 15 with the Core i5-540M Processor (2.53 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache) and Core i5-520M Processor (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache) and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 graphics chip from Advanced Micro Devices.

Of course, Intel is not revealing when and how Apple will use the new Core i mobile processors, but in an interview… Read more

Intel shifts focus to laptop graphics technology

Intel will focus on next-generation laptop technology that combines graphics functions with the main processor, in the wake of the cancellation of its initial "Larrabee" graphics processor.

Despite the market-rattling news from Intel late on Friday--which pushed rival Nvidia's stock up more than 12 percent on Monday--Intel still remains the leader in the high-volume "integrated" graphics market.

And the world's largest chipmaker is about to up the ante in this market for low-cost graphics technology, which many consumers opt for instead of high-performance chips from Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices's ATI unit.

Later … Read more

Intel to introduce first mobile 'Nehalem' chip

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel is expected to roll out the first "Nehalem" processor for laptops on Wednesday.

Nehalem is Intel's new processor microarchitecture and is used currently in its high-performance Core i7 series of desktop processors and more inexpensive Core i5 series. The chipmaker is expected to move most laptop, desktop, and server processors to the Nehalem architecture in 2010.

The Core i7 "Clarksfield"--expected to be introduced Wednesday at the Intel Developer Forum--is a quad-core processor for higher-end laptop designs. Laptop models from major PC makers are also expected.

The Nehalem architecture will manifest itself later … Read more

Intel CEO looks beyond the PC

Updated on September 23 at 12:30 a.m. PDT: adding information about the Atom Developer Program.

SAN FRANCISCO--In his keynote at the Intel Developer Forum on Tuesday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini focused on moving beyond the PC while introducing a new processor technology and a new development platform for the Atom processor.

"We're moving from personal computers to personal computing," Otellini said.

He called this a transition to a continuum. "The same experience on any device. How we build this continuum out. That's the theme," he said. "Moore's Law, platform architecture, … Read more

Intel Forum preview: Moore's Law expressed as fewer chips

Intel is expressing Moore's Law anew as packing key technologies into fewer chips. New "Clarksfield," "Arrandale" and "Jasper Forest" processors, among others, will showcase this theme later this month at the Intel Developer Forum.

Intel Vice President Steve Smith discussed the highlights of the annual marquee Intel event that will kick off September 22 in San Francisco in a phone interview on Friday.

"Contrary to speculation that Moore's Law is slowing down or potentially dying, we're here to demonstrate that it's alive and well," Smith said. "Integration gives you a smaller, better, faster, more mobile compute platform," he said. Moore's Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years.

This theme will be manifested in a number of new processors including the first mobile processor based on Intel's new Nehalem microarchitecture codenamed Clarksfield and even more highly integrated processors to follow dubbed Arrandale and Clarkdale as Intel moves to its next-generation 32-nanometer manufacturing process.

True to its rich heritage of codenames, IDF can, at times, slide into little more than a series of codename-riddled Power Point slides, with some names sounding frustratingly familiar such as Clarksfield and Clarkdale. But codenames, for better or worse, are part and parcel of IDF.

Intel codename decoder:

Clarksfield: 45-nanometer Nehalem mobile processor integrating I/O Clarkdale: 32-nanometer Nehalem desktop chip integrating graphics with CPU Arrandale: 32-nanometer Nehalem mobile chip integrating graphics with CPU Moorestown: 32-nanometer system-on-chip Atom for smartphones Sodaville: 32-nanometer system-on-chip Atom for consumer Pine Trail: new Atom for Netbooks integrating graphics with CPU Jasper Forest: 45-nanometer, first Nehalem embedded chip for uses such as storage hardware Larrabee: Intel discrete graphics chip that will compete with Nvidia, AMD Westmere: 32-nanometer manufacturing process technology

Smith said that Intel's move to the next-generation "Westmere" 32-nanometer manufacturing process will drive even more integration next year. "We have completed development and certification of the 32-nanometer process, which means our factory is fully qualified to run the wafers. And we are actually running Westmere CPU wafers through the factory in support of our Q4 revenue production. Absolutely on track for that Q4 revenue production," he said, referring to commercial production of 32-nanometer processors.

In the more immediate future, Intel will roll out a new mobile processor based on its current 45-nanometer technology. "We just announced Lynnfield (the Core i5 and i7 chips for desktops), Clarksfield is the equivalent product for notebooks," Smith said. "Quad-core, 45-nanometer. Based on Nehalem technology but optimized with power management and integration of the PCI express I/O. Moving from a three-chip solution in the original Nehalem products to two chips--and that is our path going forward." I/O, or input-output, is silicon that enables a processor to talk, and shuttle data, to other parts of the system and peripheral components.

Speaking more specifically about Clarksfield integration, Smith said that "the key elements are integration of memory controller, integration of PCI Express 'gen' 2, power management." Intel will also be talking a lot about a feature called Turbo mode. "Turbo mode is extremely important. If you're not using all the cores, the cores that are not used are powered down. The cores that you are using can run at a faster clock rate with Turbo mode," Smith said.

Smith spoke about the next-generation Atom processor for Netbooks and Nettops, "Pine Trail," too. This chip will also… Read more

'Arrandale' chip will be an Intel laptop first

Updated at 1:30 p.m. PDT: adding information about Core i7, i5, and i3 branding.

Intel's upcoming "Arrandale" will be the first highly integrated chip of its kind from Intel and is expected to run the gamut of laptop designs, from ultrathin to mainstream.

Due by the fourth quarter, it will be the first Intel product to put two processor cores and a graphics function together in the same chip package. Intel covered the underlying architecture in a presentation at the Hot Chips conference in Palo Alto, Calif., this week and in a recent blog described … Read more

What would be inside an Apple tablet

Speculation about a rumored Apple tablet may be an exercise in futility, but it is an interesting exercise nonetheless. In this case, my speculation will extend to what may be inside an Apple tablet.

Will the design philosophy spring from the notion of an upsized iPhone or a downsized MacBook? I believe it will be the former since this is a more natural evolution of the hardware and software. But I will entertain both options.

Because this tablet is rumored to appear in 2010, the Intel silicon possibility--however remote--is, I believe, as follows.

First scenario: Intel's next-generation "Pine Trail" Atom processor … Read more

Intel Core i7 laptops coming--or have they already arrived?

Waiting for a Core i7 laptop? While Intel is slated to release its first mobile "Nehalem" Core i7 processor in the coming months, the desktop counterpart has already spawned a cottage industry of benchmark-busting laptops.

"It's completely revitalized the desktop replacement laptop," said Kelt Reeves, president of enthusiast PC maker Falcon Northwest, referring to designs that have shoehorned a desktop Core i7 processor into a laptop enclosure.

At the very high end of Falcon Northwest's lineup, interest has shifted to models with the Core i7 processor and away from models oriented around extreme-performance graphics … Read more

Brouhaha over Intel branding

Core i3, i5, i7. A straightforward, if not insipid, branding scheme, right? Wrong. Those alphanumeric identifiers are fighting words.

Last week, Intel announced a new branding scheme for its upcoming processors. In a blog, spokesman Bill Calder wrote that the branding will be "simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7)." Intel calls the "i" suffix an identifier.

The upcoming Lynnfield chip for desktop PCs, for example, will be available as either Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 depending upon the feature set and capability. The upshot of the new branding is to make it easier for less tech-savvy consumers to readily identify classes of Intel chips based three simple identifiers, according to Calder.

But judging by the tenor of many of the comments attached to Calder's brand structure blog, you would think the chipmaker had committed high treason.

In the minds of some, it did. The shortcomings of the current naming scheme notwithstanding, many tech-savvy consumers have gotten used to it. For example, Core 2 Quad means a chip built on the Core 2 architecture with 4 processing cores. Core 2 Duo indicates two cores.

One of the most common criticisms cited in the comments section is that i3, i5, and i7 are too vague. "Above all, I'd like to see...at a glance how many cores and what features they have (or have not)," one comment said. Another comment suggested that Intel add more identifiers. For example, Intel Core i5 4100, where 4 is the number of cores and 100 is a speed rating.

Yet another idea was this: Intel/name/number/year, where "name" is the product name, "number" is a bigger-is-better ranking, and "year" the year the architecture was released.

And another: "Either ditch the Celeron, Pentium and Xeon names completely or embrace them completely. These are fairly well known as the 'good, better, best'." … Read more

Intel spells out Core i3, i5, i7 branding

Updated at 12:15 p.m. PDT: adding Centrino and Deborah Conrad discussions.

Intel has spelled out its branding for the upcoming Core series of processors including the "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" chips. The chipmaker also said that "Centrino" will be phased out as a PC brand.

In a post Wednesday on Intel's Web site, spokesman Bill Calder wrote that the branding will be "simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7)."

Calder added that it is "important to note that these are not … Read more