Intel's 65nm Processors: Overclocking Preview

NetBurst is dead, as are the days of Intel's 31+ stage pipelines, leaving us with a much more power-efficient architecture in the second half of 2006 for all of Intel's microprocessors. From servers to notebooks, Intel's next-generation micro-architecture derived from the Pentium M's architecture is supposed to mark Intel's return to being competitive with AMD in terms of performance.

Not since Intel's Northwood Pentium 4 core has Intel really been performance-competitive with AMD. These days, the majority of Pentium 4s are just not very interesting. They are too hot, more expensive and under-performing compared to their AMD counterparts. And while Intel continues to have the lowest price on an entry-level dual core processor, the rest of their desktop product line is made up of processors that we can't recommend.

Between now and the second half of 2006, Intel does have one last card up their sleeves to send NetBurst to its grave with a proper farewell - the migration to Intel's 65nm process. At 65nm, the cores get smaller, the chips get cooler, and the clocks get higher. However, with Intel's next-generation architecture around the corner, Intel won't take their new 65nm chips too far, as they want to avoid a repeat of the Pentium 4's launch, where the new architecture is outperformed by its predecessor. So, despite what Intel's 65nm process may be capable of, the first 65nm Pentium 4s won't offer any increase in clock speeds.

As we've reported before, the 65nm line still won't break 4.0GHz. Instead, we'll see a re-release of 3.8GHz and slower parts. The tables below describe Intel's current roadmaps for the Pentium 4:

Intel Extreme Edition
CPU	Core	Clock	FSB	Mass Production
EE 955	Presler	3.46GHz	1066MHz	Q1'06
EE 840	Smithfield	3.2GHz	800MHz	Now
EE 3.73	Prescott	3.73GHz	1066MHz	Now

Intel Dual Core Desktop
CPU	Core	Clock	FSB	L2 Cache
???	Conroe	???	???	4MB
???	Conroe	???	???	2MB
950	Presler	3.4GHz	800MHz	2x2MB
940	Presler	3.2GHz	800MHz	2x2MB
930	Presler	3.0GHz	800MHz	2x2MB
920	Presler	2.8GHz	800MHz	2x2MB

Intel Desktop Performance Roadmap
Processor	Core Name	Clock Speed	Socket	Launch Date
Pentium 672	Prescott 2M + VT	3.8 2MB	LGA 775	Q4'05
Pentium 671	Cedar Mill	3.8 2MB	LGA 775	2H'06
Pentium 662	Prescott 2M + VT	3.6 2MB	LGA 775	Q1'06
Pentium 661	Cedar Mill	3.6 2MB	LGA 775	Q1'06
Pentium 651	Cedar Mill	3.4 2MB	LGA 775	Q1'06
Pentium 641	Cedar Mill	3.2 2MB	LGA 775	Q1'06
Pentium 631	Cedar Mill	3.0 2MB	LGA 775	Q2'06
Pentium 670	Prescott 2M	3.8 2MB	LGA 775	Now

While AMD just celebrated the grand opening of Fab 36, they are still at a minimum of half a year behind Intel when it comes to 65nm production. Intel's 65nm CPUs have been sent to their partners in preparation for a launch early next year. Of course, whenever anything leaves Intel, whether it is information or a CPU, it's not too hard for us to get a hold of it. And thus today, we're able to bring you a quick preview of Intel's 65nm processors.

We will of course be focusing on performance and competitiveness with AMD parts when these CPUs actually launch, but today, we are focusing on two elements alone: power consumption and overclocking potential. As we said, at 65nm, everything gets cooler and faster, but how cool and how fast are what we are here to find out.