Intel recently released quad-core notebook processors based on the Nehalem architecture. The company wants to further develop its ultrathin notebook processor portfolio with three new dual-core processors based on the "Arrandale" core, carrying the Core i7 and Core i5 brand identifiers. These models are slated for launch in the first half of 2010. Included, are the Core i7 640UM, Core i7 620UM, and Core i5 520UM. While the Core i7 640UM is clocked at 1.20 GHz, the Core i7 620UM and Core i5 520UM carry the same clock speeds of 1.06 GHz. We would imagine a feature such as HyperThreading Technology to differentiate the two.

While the clock speeds may seem low, it is important to note that these ultra low voltage processors succeed similarly clocked Core 2 Duo SU9000 and SU7000 series processors. Speaking of which, in the run up to the new chips, Intel will introduce six new models within Q4 2009, namely Core 2 Duo models SU9600, SU9400, SU7300, Pentium models SU4100, SU2300, and Celeron 743. The Core i7 640UM, 620UM, and Core i5 520UM are expected to be available to manufacturers at US $305, $278, and $241, respectively. All prices are in 1000-unit tray quantities.

Transcend Information Inc., a leading global manufacturer of memory modules, today announced shipping of a new DDR3 1333MHz memory module kit designed for Intel's latest LGA-1156 Core i5 and Core i7 platforms.

The DDR3 1333 MHz dual-channel memory kit is perfectly matched for use with Intel's next-generation desktop PC platform, Core i5. The new Core i5, which is based on Intel's new Nehalem architecture, is the first Intel processor to integrate both a 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics port and a two-channel DDR3 memory controller, enabling all input/output and manageability functions to be handled by the single-chip Intel P55 core-logic.

Intel updated its socket LGA-1366 Xeon processor portfolio with the W3565. Based on the Nehalem architecture, this quad-core processor is made for single-socket servers and workstations. It has near-identical specifications to the consumer-grade Core i7 960, in having a clock speed of 3.20 GHz (24 x 133 MHz), 8 MB of L3 cache, and a QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) speed of 4.8 GT/s. The QPI speed is perhaps the only thing that differentiates it from the W3570, which has the same clock speed, albeit a QPI speed of 6.4 GT/s. This one specification makes for a large price difference. While the new W3565 is priced at $562, the W3570 is priced at $999. With the introduction of the new processor, Intel is set to retire the 2.93 GHz W3540, and 3.06 GHz W3550.

ASUS, in collaboration with NVIDIA and the National Chao Tung University of Taiwan, has introduced the ESC 1000 desktop-sized supercomputer, that harnesses the power of GPGPU, to give out 1.1 TFLOPs of computational power. Enclosed in a 445 x 217.5 x 545 mm chassis (the size of tower server/workstation chassis,) is a system powered by an Intel Xeon W3580 "Nehalem" 3.33 GHz processor, aided by 24 GB of system memory. As many as three NVIDIA Tesla c1060 GPGPU cards are installed, with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 handing graphics. These emphasize that the system is meant for highly complex visual computing, such as in the fields of highly complex modeling, and scientific research. The pricing and availability of the ESC 1000 is not known as yet.

In response to Intel's recent official release of its latest quad-core processors Core i7-800 series and Core i5-700 series, Apacer Technology Inc., the leading memory module manufacturer, unveils two DDR3 dual-channel overclocking memory modules-Golden and Aeolus series. They target desktop and overclocking users to by delivering extreme performance and fully support Core i7 and Core i5 processors that use Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture for optimum platform compatibility for mainstream desktop computers. Excellent overclocking performance thus comes realized.

To support P55 chipset-based Intel Core i7 and Core i5 platforms, Apacer's new DDR3 overclocking memory modules can be powered by 1.65V low voltage supply. When running under the dual-channel mode, Golden series can achieve bandwidth up to 1800 MHz. Aeolus series featuring unique Dual-layer Heat Spreader can reduce the temperature by as much as 20°C and also support maximum frequency of 2200 MHz. Exclusively designed for hardcore gamers and overclocking users, the overclocking memory modules allow users to experience the extreme overclocking performance.

Intel Corporation introduced its revolutionary Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor and Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor Extreme Edition today, bringing Intel's award-winning and super-fast Nehalem microarchitecture to the mobile market.

These processors in addition to the new Intel PM55 Express Chipset, provide the best laptop experience for intense gaming, digital media, photos, music, business applications and other multi-threaded software that hungers for faster processing speed. The chips also boost overall performance when using several of these applications simultaneously.

Eurocom, the world's leading developer of highly personalized, high-performance notebook PCs and LCD PCs, plans to launch its new mobile notebook line-up based on Intel Calpella in early October. The Calpella platform is based on Clarksfield processors with four cores that will be marketed by Intel under Core i7 trademark as well code-named Ibex Peak-M core logic that will be branded as Intel PM55.

There will be two notebook models available: 15.6-inch HD EUROCOM W860CU Cougar and 17.3-inch W870CU Cheetah based on Intel i7 Mobile processors, Intel PM55 chipset, DDR3-1333 Memory, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 2x0M or GTX 3x0M series upgradeable MXM 3.0 Type B VGA technology.

Intel Corporation today disclosed new information about next-generation Intel Xeon processors - codenamed "Jasper Forest" - for communications and storage applications, due in early 2010. With Jasper Forest, Intel engineers have, for the first time, integrated PCI Express (PCIe) in a dual-processing Xeon processor, which greatly facilitates dense storage and communications solutions such as IPTV, VoIP, NAS, SAN and wireless radio network controllers.

Jasper Forest maintains the outstanding performance of Intel architecture (Nehalem), while lowering system power consumption by 27 watts when compared to the Intel Xeon 5500 series processors. The dual-processing solution integrates two Jasper Forest processors with 16 PCIe Generation 2.0 lanes each and is paired with the Intel 3420 chipset platform controller hub. This integration of the I/O hub via PCIe enables significant power and space savings, resulting in one of the highest performance-per-watt Intel Xeon chips ever.

Intel has already set foot on the 32 nm lithography, with first 32 nm based prcoessors expected to arrive in Q1 2010. These processors have already been extensively sampled, and tested by sections of the media. More importantly, 32 nm marks Intel's introduction of the Westmere architecture, which is a 32 nm optical shrink of Nehalem, with a slightly expanded feature-set making use of the possibly higher transistor loads. Starting with dual-core "Clarkale" processor, Intel plans to work out high-end six-core processors codenamed "Gulftown" within the first half of 2010. In addition to this, Intel is readying Westmere's successor, codenamed "Sandy Bridge".

While a vague die-shot of a supposedly mainstream quad-core processor based on Sandy Bridge surfaced last month, more information about it is coming to light from industry sources, according to DigiTimes. Intel will introduce the Sandy Bridge architecture in the fourth quarter of 2010. Considering the first Westmere CPUs are commercially launched ten months after its formal introduction (Westmere was unveiled in February,) the commercial launch of the first Sandy Bridge processors can't be too far away from Q4 2010. This in essence shows that Intel can afford to come up with a new flavour of CPUs every year. Nehalem will have served as a 1.25 year "tock" for the 45 nm process, while Westmere may serve as a "tick" of nearly the same length. For those of you unfamiliar with Intel's "tick-tock" model of product development cycle, The company uses a "tick-tock" model of process development, where each processor architecture gets to be made in two manufacturing processes, while each process gets to build two succeeding architectures.

Intel expanded its portfolio of Xeon enterprise processors with four new models: the dual-socket W5590, L5530, and single-socket W3580 and W3550. With this batch of releases, Intel introduces 3.33 GHz Xeon models. To begin with, W5590 comes with a clock speed of 3.33 GHz, and Quickpath Interconnect speed of 6.4 GT/s. It features 8 MB of L3 cache to aid its four HyperThreading-enabled cores. This model is trailed by the single-socket W3580 that carries the same specs of 3.33 GHz core speed, 8 MB L3 cache, and HyperThreading enabled. Another single-socket model, W3550, is clocked at 3.06 GHz. It has a narrower 4.8 GT/s QPI speed, 8 MB L3 cache, HyperThreading enabled. All these chips have their TDP rated at 130W. Finally, there's the low-wattage L5530. This dual-socket chip is clocked at 2.40 GHz, QPI speed of 5.83 GT/s, 8 MB L3 cache, and TDP rating of a mere 60W.

Intel issued a confidential roadmap for CPU product releases that looks as far as Q3 2010, leaked to sections of the Chinese media. The roadmap covers prominent Intel processors in their designated market segments drawn out by Intel, covering three grades of mainstream, one each of performance and extreme. The roadmap marks a definite transition of architectures from Intel's Core (penryn) to next-generation Nehalem, and the advent of Intel's first 32 nm based Westmere CPUs.

To begin with, there three models of Intel's first LGA-1156 processors scheduled for Q3 2009, the quad-core "Lynnfield" based Core i7 870 (2.93 GHz, HTT) in Performance, Core i7 860 (2.80 GHz, HTT) in MS3/upper-mainstream, and Core i5 750 (2.66 GHz, no HTT) in MS2/middle-mainstream. The HTT-enabled Core i7 800 processors were earlier believed to have been scheduled for Q1 2010, but are combined with the Core i5 750 for a grand platform launch. The Core i7 800 models will remain seated in their segments for the better part of 2010.

"Clarkdale" is the codename for Intel's upcoming dual-core processors derived from the Nehalem/Westmere architecture. The move marks a leap for Intel in two ways: introducting the first commercial-grade 32 nm microprocessor, and implementing a radical new design that involved relocating the platform's northbridge component entirely to the CPU package. Slated for Q1 2010, Clarkdale will go by three brand indentifiers to grade it according to a performance and feature scale. You have the Core i5 class that enables the entire feature-set of processor, there's the Core i3 class that offers some features, excluding Intel Turbo Boost technology for example, finally there's the sub-$100 Pentium part (yes, Pentium lives on), which offers a smaller feature-set. HyperThreading technology is disabled on this one.

Chinese tech-site IT168 published a comprehensive performance (p)review of the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale part. In the article, the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale was pitted against the 3.00 GHz "Wolfdale" Core 2 Duo processor. The memory (Dual-channel DDR3-1333, 4 GB) and graphics hardware (ATI Radeon HD 4870, 1 GB) were kept common between the two test-beds. Tests ranged from memory and CPU internal bandwidth tests, math-intensive tests, synthetic multimedia and 3D tests, and finally, modern 3D games.

Intel's upcoming dual-core derivatives of the Nehalem/Westmere architecture, codenamed "Clarkdale" seems to have some interesting electrical characteristics. The CPU component of the chip is built on Intel's brand new 32 nanometre process that facilitates higher transistor densities, and in the process, intends to bring down TDP. An overclocking feat by Coolaler.com seems to suggest one of two things: either these chips have naturally low vCore voltages, or that the overlocking headroom at low-voltages is exceptional. Coolaler used a pre-release engineering sample of the Core i3 Clarkdale processor on a compatible platform, and achieved 4 GHz of clock speed with the vCore at 0.832 V. The frequency multiplier of the CPU was set at 25.0x, and a bus speed of 160 MHz used. Intel will be ready with these processors by the end of this year.

While the bulk of Intel's upcoming Nehalem and Westmere derived products include quad-core processors, the company hasn't left out dual-core processors just as yet. The dual-core Core i5 desktop processor will be based on the new Clarkdale core, built on the 32 nm Westmere architecture. Originally slated for a Q1 2010 launch, the new chip seems to have been pulled into the Q4 2009 launch schedule, deep enough to make for a significant amount of projected sales, according to sources in the Taiwanese motherboard industry.

The sales projections for Q4 look particularly interesting. Core i5 "Clarkdale" dual-core is projected to amount for 10% of Intel's sales, while Core i7 "Bloomfield" at 1%, Core i5 "Lynnfield" at 2% (Core i7 "Lynnfield" is slated for Q1 2010), Core 2 Quad at 9%, Core 2 Duo E7000/E8000 at 35%, Pentium E5000/E6000 at 31%, Celeron E3000 and Atom together at 9%, Pentium E2000 and Celeron 400 together at 4%. In the following quarter, Clarkdale's sales share is expected to rise to 20%. The numbers prove just how large the market for dual-core processors is, even four years into the introduction of quad-core chips.

Last week, Intel sketched out its strategy in dealing with its client processor brand Core, and placing its different kinds of processors in series of markers (such as "i3", "i5", and "i7"), on the merit of performance and features they offer, and not necessarily a segregation based on core type and socket type. This raised a big debate in our forums, on who is really going to benefit from this kind of branding.

Chinese website INPAI.com.cn sourced information which explains what factors go into determining which brand marker a processor gets. The table elaborates on how different kinds of Intel processors (determined by core and socket types) cross different lines, with a few features toggled or enhanced. It is sure to throw up some surprises.

ASUS, a leading producer of innovative server and workstation solutions, today announced three cutting-edge solutions designed to address the specific needs of SOHO and Business Enterprises. First in the line-up is the ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard, which provides users with sublime graphics capabilities and flexible high speed data input/output. Next is the ASUS RS700D-E6 Duo Nodes 1U Server, which features independent power supplies for superb reliability-giving business owners complete peace of mind-while offering exceptional space savings in the form of 4 + 4 hot-swappable 2.5-inch SATA/SAS hard disk drives. Finally, the ASUS Z8NA-D6 is the world's first slim dual processor server and workstation motherboard, making it the best workstation foundation for all forms of businesses.

Intel Corporation today previewed a new Intel Xeon processor codenamed "Nehalem-EX." The processor will be at the heart of the next generation of intelligent and expandable high-end Intel server platforms, which will deliver a number of new technical advancements and boost enterprise computing performance.

In production later this year, the Nehalem-EX processor will feature up to eight cores inside a single chip supporting 16 threads and 24MB of cache. Its performance increase will be dramatic, posting the highest-ever jump from a previous generation processor.

Intel's Core i5 series marks the consumer mainstream entry of the Nehalem architecture, in a bid to propagate quad-core processors, at the same time letting the market digest existing inventories of dual-core processors, and making sure its foundries are well-oiled to cater to the 32 nm process, Intel is giving its "Lynnfield" quad-core processor a quarter's head-start. Taiwanese industry observer DigiTimes notes that the platform' debut may have been delayed by a little over a month.

Originally slated for July, the industry debut of Lynnfield and its launch companion, Intel P55 chipset, have been pushed to early September. Stocks of the processors and compatible motherboards however, will be in time for the launch. The processors may be available to retailers about a week ahead, in late August itself, while compatible motherboards even earlier, in mid-August.

Intel plans to start the lineup with three models (yet to be named), clocked at 2.66 GHz, 2.80 GHz, and 2.93 GHz, and priced at US $194, $284, and $562 respectively (in 1000-unit tray quantities). Major motherboard vendors such as ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI have already displayed some of their first compatible motherboards. The P55 chipset itself is expected to be priced at $40.

Although Intel X58 chipset based mother board is sold at a relatively higher price in the market, BIOSTAR still has an excellent reputation for TPOWER series, in which TPOWER X58 and TPOWER I45 are very popular with a lot of power users. TPOWER X58A, one of BIOSTAR's top X58 motherboards, is on sale now. It is coincident that the price of Core i7 processors are recently falling, so TPOWER X58A is also a top choice for power users to pursue ultimate performance.

With adoption of ATX-size board, TPOWER X58A, based on Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset, supports Socket 1366 interface and newest Core i7, the CPU that is brand new Nehalem architecture. The motherboard supports Triple Channel Mode 2000 / 1600 / 1333 memory module, with Max Memory Capacity 24GB. It provides three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, supporting ATI Hybrid CrossFireX and nVIDIA SLI technology; one PCI-Express x1 slot and two PCI slots for expansion; Gigabit Ethernet and 7.1 Channels HD audio for high quality of networking and multimedia.

Having successfully established the Nehalem architecture-derived Core i7 series as the industry's fastest consumer processors available, and recently propagating the architecture to two-socket Xeon series for servers and high-end workstations, Intel is set to push up parallelism two-fold with the Nehalem-EX 8-core enterprise processor. The company will detail this new line of chips next week, although a commercial-launch can be expected only in late 2009 or early 2010.

The new chip will succeed the company's own Xeon E7000 "Dunnington" series 6-core processors, for having the highest available parallelism per socket. The 8 physical x86-64 processing cores will further feature HyperThreading technology, sending the logical-processor count to 16 threads per socket. Each processor packs 2.3 billion transistors. The processor will further be designed for systems with more than two sockets per board. Currently although server-builders sell 1U and 2U servers with more than two Nehalem quad-core processors, the system is designed by using two (or more) two-socket mainboards interconnected using Infiniband. The announcement will be made on May 26, in an address headed by Boyd Davis, Intel's general manager of Server Platforms Marketing Group.

Intel has everything going its way when it comes to mobile computing, and the processors it sells that power notebooks and netbooks across every segment of the market. Intel uses the common classification of portable computers (consumer segment), using sizes and form-factors to differentiate mainstream notebooks, performance notebooks, ultra-thin notebooks, "larger" sub-notebooks (netbooks), and common entry-level netbooks. To cater to each of these, Intel made things easier by coming up with platforms (sets of processor and chipset combinations), a market approach both Intel and AMD have been using recently.

Starting with mainstream, and performance notebooks (traditionally above 14-inches in size, above US $1200 in price), Intel has the Calpella platform, that marks the entry of Nehalem architecture to the mobile scene. This is slated for 3Q 2009. Intel will simultaneously lower the prices of its current Montevina platform, to let inventories digest. Major hardware manufacturers are preparing their "launch-vehicles" for the Calpella platform, which will make it in time for Q3 2009.

GeIL wants to be the first manufacturer touting the term "hexa-channel" (6-channel) DDR3 memory. While machine architectures using 6-channels (384-bit wide) memory interfaces don't exist, dual-Nehalem Xeon machines use two triple-channel memory arrays. It's a play of the word "6-channels" there. In any case, GeIL is now selling DDR3 memory in kits of six modules. Its lineup spans across three of its main memory product-lines: Value, Ultra, and Gaming series. The kits are available in a variety of configurations that include specified DRAM speeds, and timings, as listed by the table below. The kits come backed by the company's lifetime warranty.

AMD finally stepped out of its shell after Intel's launch of its newest line of Xeon processors based on the Nehalem architecture. In an interview with TechPulse 360, AMD's Pat Patla and John Fruehe took on Intel's recent marketing drive for Nehalem Xeon products. The conversation revolved mainly around the issues of platform costs, and the features the new Xeon processors introduce (or reintroduce) to the server/enterprise computing industry, namely the company's proprietary FSB-replacement, QuickPath Interconnect, and HyperThreading.

The two first took on Intel's marketing, particularly on its material that said that the slowest Nehalem Xeon chip was faster than the fastest Opteron chip, saying that Intel's statements weren't backed by real figures. The two also alleged that Intel's server platform was too expensive and delivered lesser value in an ailing state of the economy. Perhaps the most audacious statement from AMD since the somewhat famous "only real men have fabs" statement by Jerry Sanders III, came from this interview, where AMD responded to a question on HyperThreading saying that "real men use real cores". "We've got real cores across our products. HyperThreading is basically designed to act like a core except that it only gives 10 to 15 percent performance bump for real applications workload." they said. Is AMD making a real point, or fighting fire...erm marketing with marketing? Find out in this interview.

Not long after Intel was said to have sent out samples of its new 32 nm mainstream processor based on Nehalem micro-architecture, someone over at XS forums, has posted photos of an as yet unnamed Clarkdale processor, running at 2.4 GHz, with 4 MB L3 Cache. The only official information from Intel we have about these processors is what we covered two months ago, when Intel spread open its plans to deal with the mainstream and value markets using its Nehalem micro-architecture.

Super Micro Computer, Inc., a leader in application-optimized, high-performance server solutions, today launched a comprehensive new line of server and workstation solutions specially designed to support the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 series (formerly codenamed Nehalem). Supermicro has started shipping its new 2U Twin2 ("Twin Squared" with four hot-pluggable DP nodes), newly invented Twin GPU 1U server/workstation, the award-winning 1U Twin, SuperBlade, flexible Universal I/O (UIO) server, SAS2 storage systems, as well as its strong line of traditional application-optimized server solutions. Featuring the highest efficiency in the industry power supplies (93%+), cooling subsystems and motherboard designs, Supermicro solutions set a new record for the best performance-per-watt (375 GFLOPS/kW) and also deliver the best performance-per-dollar and performance-per-square-foot.

Based on the company's latest application-optimized Server Building Block architectures, Supermicro maximizes the new Nehalem technology, which includes QPI (Intel QuickPath Interconnect) for up to 6.4GT/s, Integrated DDR3 Memory Controller, multiple power envelops, and Intel Turbo Boost Technology, to provide the industry's highest performing and most optimized new generation server solutions.