The Consequence of Waking Up a Sleeping Giant: Intel Roadmaps Inside
by Kristopher Kubicki on January 25, 2005 7:44 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Single Core Desktop
Now for desktop processing; we have good news and better news. The good news is almost all desktop Prescotts (including the Celerons) will get a 64-bit makeover real soon. Unfortunately, you'll still need to buy a new processor but the roadmaps indicate there will be virtually no price premium on the 64-bit versions. With Windows XP 64-bit release less than a few months away, it makes sense that Intel's 64-bit push comes strong and hard in the 9th inning. We are particularly interested in how fully committed the roadmap details EM64T; even the puny Celerons get the instructions. You may recall that the Socket 754 Sempron processors are nearly identical to AMD's Athlon 64 processors with half the cache and the 64-bit instructions removed. It will be interesting to see how the two companies play this against each other as AMD will be the 32-bit SKU on the desktop when WinXP Pro x64 launches.
Just to detail the whole outline for 64-bit Socket 775 processors, here is a quick roadmap of what we have to look forward to:
| Intel Single Core Mid Range Desktop Lineup LGA775 | ||||
| Processor | Speed | L2 Cache | FSB | Launch |
| Pentium 4 XE 3.73GHz | 3.73GHz | 2MB | 1066MHz | Soon |
| Pentium 4 XE 3.46GHz | 3.43GHz | 512KB | 1066MHz | Nov 2004 |
| Pentium 4 571 | 3.80GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 561 | 3.60GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 551 | 3.40GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 541 | 3.20GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 531 | 3.00GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 521 | 2.80GHz | 1MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 355 | 3.33GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q4'05 |
| Celeron D 351 | 3.20GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 346 | 3.06GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 341 | 2.93GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 336 | 2.80GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 331 | 2.66GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
| Celeron D 326 | 2.53GHz | 256KB | 533MHz | Q2'05 |
As you can see, the EM64T enabled CPUs have incremented their model numbers by 1 relative to their non-EM64T counterparts. We're glad that Intel is making a clear distinction between the two variants, rather than simply adding a new suffix. Where there is no earlier part, like the 3.33GHz Celeron D, the model numbers do not have the +1.
The 3.73GHz Pentium 4 EE will show up real soon, if that's your thing, and it will become the second processor to support 1066FSB. We haven't been real impressed with the 1066FSB launch thus far, and a 300MHz bump in clock speed doesn't strike us as something that will revolutionize the performance desktop anytime soon either. However, keep in mind this new P4EE is very different from the previous 3.46GHz revision, and with a different core we may see a very different performance curve on the 1066MHz front side bus. The rest of the Intel roadmap neglects to mention any other 1066FSB processors, including the dual core behemoths, so the technology is either a little bit ahead of its time or simply a temporary dead end.
Next we have the great news. Not only will we see the launch of four Prescott 2M/Iriwindale processors next month, but soon after we will also get our first taste of Smithfield - several quarters ahead of what the previous roadmap had anticipated! Prescott 2M will launch with four SKUs listed below, along with a "670" model clocked at 3.8GHz sometime shortly after.
| Intel Single Core Performance Desktop Lineup LGA775 | ||||
| Processor | Speed | L2 Cache | FSB | Launch | Pentium 4 670 | 3.80GHz | 2MB | 800MHz | Q2'05 |
| Pentium 4 660 | 3.60GHz | 2MB | 800MHz | Q1'05 |
| Pentium 4 650 | 3.40GHz | 2MB | 800MHz | Q1'05 |
| Pentium 4 640 | 3.20GHz | 2MB | 800MHz | Q1'05 |
Like the other Prescott processors, Prescott 2M will launch with EM64T and XD, but it adds Enhanced Speed Step (EIST) as well. EIST is very similar to AMD's Cool n' Quiet as it dynamically ramps the clock speed of the processor to conserve thermals and power. However, the big difference between CnQ and EIST is maturity - EIST has existed in some form or another since the earliest days of the P6 architecture. How EIST will affect performance on everyday desktop processing - particularly on a processor with such a high clock speed - we leave for the actual launch date sometime next month.
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phantom505 - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link
Whoppee, the paper launch king launches a lot more paper.I'll believe it when I see it.
BTW, where is that 4GHz CPU? SOI anyone? They need 65nm to keep from cooking. AMD has PLENTY of headroom on frequancy, something Intel doesn't (obviously). Now how about more cache, it will fix it, right?
Any word on Intel figuring out how to make a good FPU yet? Who needs that? The rest of world minus the internet... because it takes a monster machine to crunch full screen video?
How about a bus that can handle the data? 1066FSB? Isn't there something about AMD going 1.4GHz plus with HyperTransport II?
How about that slapped together dual P4? Wasn't the K9 being considered even during the design of the K8?
How about that DDR2 junk? Rambus part deux? At least AMD is going to watch Intel sink or float before you jump on that boat. I'd bet they would prefer to go to DDR3 directly.
Folks, I see a desperate company trying to fend off from something that is 1/8th of its size. And you think that's happens by chance? It's called screwing up.
AMD fanboy am I? Sure, at least they are going somewhere, other than down. (look at the Intel stock prices for 5 years).
Peter - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link
EIST maturity? *laughs to tears*If one of the two contenders does have maturity and experience with processors capable of scaling their clock speeds and supply voltage on the fly, then it's AMD. Remember K6-2+? First one to do this on the x86 stage, even before Transmeta iirc. Mobile Athlons had it, all Athlon-64 have it, Opterons will get it soon.
Intel? They had nothing but the clunky original SpeedStep (which required a high latency sleep-wake cycle to change speed, and had only two steps, slow and fast) before the Pentium-M showed up. Now that technology is getting retrofitted to P4 core. Good move, but the innovation was invented elsewhere ...
Live - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link
As for the release date and availability I don’t know, but you could always speculate a bit :)The article mentions an NDA coming up and launch next month. So launch in February it is, which coincides with CeBIT Hanover 10-16 March. So we can expect launch in conjunction with that. Then we know Intel will release its new 64 bit ready CPUs to be ready for the launch of Windows 64 that is supposed to be in April. So at the latest by May we should have it all in retail.
So if February is launch then I guess March would be the optimistic and April the pessimistic and May if Intel or M$ stumbles and summer if they screw up.
danidentity - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link
Is there any more detail on a release time frame for the 945/955 chipsets, other than Q2?footballfan - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
I forget...how big of a gap was there between the official announcement of 915/925 chipsets and being able to actually buy a motherboard based on those chipsets?I'm putting together an Intel system and I don't know if I should get an 925XE motherboard or wait it out for a 955.
Hmmmm
JarredWalton - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
28 - The comment in regards to AMD vs. Intel is that AMD is keeping dual-core backwards compatible while Intel is not. From a performance standpoint, that means Intel can potentially improve aspects of the chipset. AMD is in a sense more limited in that they're constrained to the original S939 specifications. Neither approach is *better*, per se, although a lot of people like the AMD approach simply because it doesn't require a new motherboard. As far as we're aware, *all* S939 motherboards will be capable of running Toledo.When will we see all the new hardware? That's the big question. :) AMD and Intel both tend to be a bit better about avoiding the "paper launch syndrome", but there have been instances in the past where availability lagged far behind the official launch.
Live - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
Always a real treat to read these top insider stories, good work!This makes buying/upgrading decisions at least a little bit easier. I want more ;D
One question tough. You mention that AMD plans "to enable existing hardware (nForce4, K8T890, 8xxx) to run multiple cores."
Those this exclude earlier s939 chipsets? I was under the impression that both nForce3 and K8T800 Pro would be compatible with dual core Toledo.
If you read here (Registration required): http://www2.amd.com/us-en/protected/Weblets/1,,783...
"AMD’s dual-core processors are being designed with today’s infrastructure in mind. System integrators will have no problem incorporating AMD Opteron processors into existing platforms and any desktop motherboard supporting a 90nm AMD Athlon 64 processor will accommodate dual-core descendants of the chip as well."
Toledo is a dual-core descendant of the current crop of 90nm AMD CPUs is it not?
I’m contemplating either nForce3 or nForce4 and I believe future Toledo support would tip the scale.
RockHydra11 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
I'm quite interested in what kind of response nVIDIA will have to the barrage of new chipsets.footballfan - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
How long from launch to being able to actually buy a motherboard with one of those new chipsets will it be?JarredWalton - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
945 and 955 are scheduled to launch in Q2'05, right along with Smithfield. Smithfield will *not* work on 915 or 925 chipsets - it may also have a new socket, although that wasn't indicated on the roadmaps.As far as what the Prescott 2M will bring, I expect more than a 5% performance increase in most applications, but probably less than 15%. It's difficult to say where it will actually land relative to the P4EE Gallatin cores, since it uses L2 instead of L3 cache, but it also has the longer pipeline. Certain applications perform better on Prescott than Northwood already, so in those instances the lead will increase. Will it catch up to AMD in gaming? Not likely, but it will close the gap. 2MB of cache might also improve HyperThreading performance a bit - that will be interesting to see.