Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping both 1333- and 1066MHz DDR3 server memory modules validated by Intel for use on its Xeon processor-based motherboards. Kingston's registered ECC server DIMMs and unbuffered ECC DIMMs are optimized to take advantage of the triple-channel architecture for Intel's newest server platforms using the new Nehalem-based Xeon processors.

The 1333- and 1066MHz DDR3 server modules are available immediately. Kingston server memory is backed by a lifetime warranty and free, 24/7 technical support. For more detailed information visit www.kingston.com. For Intel validation information visit this page.

NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it has filed a countersuit in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware against Intel Corporation for breach of contract. The action also seeks to terminate Intel's license to NVIDIA's valuable patent portfolio.
NVIDIA's countersuit was brought in response to a filing by Intel last month in the Delaware court, alleging that the four-year-old chipset license agreement does not extend to Intel's future generation CPUs with "integrated" memory controllers, such as its Nehalem processor.
"NVIDIA did not initiate this legal dispute," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. "But we must defend ourselves and the rights we negotiated for when we provided Intel access to our valuable patents. Intel's actions are intended to block us from making use of the very license rights that they agreed to provide."

PC component cooling major Arctic Cooling is readying a revision for the Freezer XTREME CPU cooler. The new cooler, simply called Freezer XTREME Rev. 2, retains the basic design, while having a reworked retention module. Due to the size and cooling efficiency of the cooler, it was found of it to be capable of supporting the entire range of desktop processors based on Intel's Nehalem architecture.

The new, reworked retention module provides support for Intel sockets LGA-1366 and LGA-1156. That aside, standard features and design of the cooler remain: copper CPU contact block, four copper heatpipes, large aluminum fin array, and a central 120 mm fan to circulate air. Arctic Cooling is expected to announce this cooler soon. Whether it comes up as a separate SKU or it replaces the existing Freezer Xtreme model from the lineup remains to be seen.

A notable inclusion of perhaps every processor-in-box product, apart from the processor, cooler and documentation, is the case-badge for the processor. The case-badge is a small sticker that shows the company logo for the processor installed in the PC. Intel is reportedly designing new logos (in effect case-badges) for at least 14 of its products. The logos, most of which are rounded-rectangle shaped seem to have been designed to give the processor box a new look, also indicating perhaps that the company is designing new packaging material as well, that use the new logos.

Intel has large volumes of Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Xeon processors in the making, that Intel feels need new clothing. Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, get the distinct chrome-blue colour that one can find in the Core i7 (non-XE) logo. Core 2 and Core i7 logos look similar at the first glance. Core 2 Extreme gets the chrome-black colour the Core i7 XE logo has. All Centrino series badges stick to the silver-white colour scheme. The logo designs have small inlets on the top-right corner that have small portions of the die-shot. Core 2 and Centrino logos have die-shots of a portion of the Penryn core, while the Core i7 logos use those of the Bloomfield core. Interestingly, Xeon keeps its current logo, as well as a new one with chrome-slate colour, and design of the current Core i7 logo, perhaps making it clear the Xeon processor is based on the Nehalem architecture. The new logos will be effective from Q2 2009.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced immediate availability of DDR3 Registered DIMMs (RDIMMs) and DDR3 ECC Unbuffered DIMMs (ECC UDIMMs).

Super Talent's 1GB and 2GB ECC UDIMMs are immediately available in production volumes and support speeds up to 1333MT/s for single DIMM per channel operation and 1066MT/s for two DIMM per channel operation. Super Talent's 1GB x8 RDIMM is also immediately available in production volumes and supports speeds up to 1333MT/s for single DIMM per channel operation, 1066MT/s for two DIMM per channel operation, and 800MT/s for three DIMM per channel operation. All these products are designed to be compatible with Intel's upcoming Nehalem EP Server Platform.

Intel today spread opens its plans to deal with the mainstream and value markets using its Nehalem micro-architecture. The company introduced to the media and analysts, its plans concerning the upcoming Westmere family of processors, a term used to describe Intel processors built using the company's 32 nm second-generation high-K silicon fabrication technology, while being based on the Nehalem micro-architecture. The presentation demystifies all confusion surrounding the company canning plans of dual-core 45 nm Nehalem-derivatives. The presentation also sheds light on what approach Intel plans to adopt with bringing the new architecture to the enterprise segment.

Earlier this month, news surfaced of Intel working on a new Extreme Edition (XE) Core i7 chip, model 975, that displaces the existing Core i7 965 XE from its existing price-point to grab the $999 in 1,000 unit tray quantities price-point. The 975 XE is to be accompanied by another new SKU in the making: the Core i7 950.

The new chip is bound to displace the Core i7 940 from its existing price point of $562. It features higher clock speed, bus multiplier value and is built on the newer D0 revision of the Bloomfield core. The chip will feature a clock speed of 3.06 GHz. It achieves this speed using a multiplier value of 23X. The new chip is expected to be introduced sometime in Q2, 2009.

On the course of coming up with mainstream derivatives of the Nehalem architecture, for Intel, there seems to be a big deal of uncertainty surrounding the dual-core parts. Havendale (desktop) and Auburndale (notebook) were stated by initial company road-maps as the company's dual-core chips. Later, news emerged of Intel reportedly scrapping both chips to find a 32 nm replacement in another chip codenamed Arrandale. In the latest company-slide exposé by VR-Zone, details emerge of yet another iteration to Intel's plans: Clarkdale. Correct spelling is Clarkdale and Arrandale by the way (not Clarksdale or Arandale).

While it is unclear at this point, if this chip, like the Arrandale (32 nm CPU + 32 nm IGP), is built to be deployed on both desktop and mobile platforms, the reason behind its development gains clarity. The Ibex-Peak platform design by Intel, be it dual-core or quad-core, consists of a standard multi-chip module (MCM)-based design, where two dice populate a package: the central processor, and the northbridge. The design gives the company flexibility by introducing a degree of modularity. After scrapping plans of a full-on processor built on the 45 nm high-K manufacturing process, Intel seems to have realised that its foundries won't be able to cater to many designs based on the 32 nm process initially, at once. Taking advantage of the MCM design, Intel is working on this new chip: Clarkdale, which consists of the processor die built on the 32 nm second-generation high-K process, with the northbridge being built on the existing 45 nm process. This design helps evade the manufacturing constraints Intel might have initially. The northbridge die will feature an integrated graphics processor that connects to its output using the flexible-display interface. With this, Intel is looking to bring in immediate and cost-cutting to the extant feasible.

Intel's mainstream market implementation of the Nehalem architecture will come in the form of monolithic quad-core a dual-core chips that have northbridge machinery integrated. Based on the Lynnfield (quad-core) and Arandale (dual-core) designs, Intel will place the processors on a common system design dubbed the "Ibex-Peak". The processors are likely to be branded as Core i5, Core i4 or even Core i3 depending on a lot of factors. Additionally, Intel plans enterprise variants of the said chips.

To seat these chips, Intel is designing new sockets: LGA-1155, LGA-1156 the two can be classified into the sockets for the desktop variants, with another LGA-1167 socket most likely to be exclusive for the Xeon variants. PCGH sourced some images from Intel's Design Development Tools (DDT) portal (found here), which tell that Intel names its new series of sockets as "socket H". Pictured below is a processor package viewed from its business-end. The other three you can see, are interposer-boards. These are devices that resemble the actual product packages that sit on the sockets. You can see a grid of leads over the "IHS" of the package. The leads serve to help in the technical development of products based on the package design, hence it is found on the DDT portal. It should give you an idea of what an LGA-1155, LGA-1156 and LGA-1167 processor should look like, sans the leads on the IHS. The images below in the same order. Finally, pictured much earlier, is the Ibex-Peak platform motherboard that demonstrates the design.

Intel pushed its performance supremacy lead further up with the introduction of the Nehalem micro-architecture. The introduction served as a milestone event in the company's history, where it sought to rearrange various components of the PC, by moving certain parts of the chipset to the processor package. In the months to come, with the introduction of the Ibex-Peak platform, the company hopes to migrate even more components from the system core-logic to the CPU package. A lot of engineering potential is unlocked due to the modularity of the various components of a Nehalem-derived CPU.

At the upcoming International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) event, Intel plans a decent set of technology demonstrations and papers. The advance program information document shed some light on Intel's itinerary. In session 3 held on February 9, Intel will present papers on its 8-core Xeon processor, following which is a session on 45nm IA processors. The session is on processors built with features characteristic of the Nehalem micro-architecture, in having integrated memory controllers, a coherent point-to-point interconnect, and up to 8 processing cores. Interestingly, the description included a note on the power consumptions, ranging from "sub-10W to 130W", which leads us to believe Intel to have plans on making derivatives of the Nehalem micro-architecture with some very low energy footprints. Another interpretation would be that a new breed of processors could have idle power consumptions as low as <10W. Currently the most energy-efficient Nehalem-based processor known to be in the works is the Xeon L5520 that has identical features to those of the Core i7 series while having a clock speed of 2.23 GHz and a rated TDP of a mere 60W.

Following the news which we covered here, Hexus.net has got hold of a slide which officially details Intel's new 8-core Enterprise Xeon processor. Codenamed Nehalem EX, it will feature 8 processing cores, with 2 threads per core, totaling 16 threads and as had been previously said, a transistor count of 2.3 Billion. This information was obtained as part of a pre-ISSCC conference call, but more information is expected to be officially announced at the start of the ISSCC on 8th February.

Grappling with a deteriorating world economy, and overstocked inventories with current-generation Core 2 platforms, Intel seems to have had a change of plans with regards to its dual-core Nehalem-derivatives. Company roadmaps originally pointed at two chips, codenamed Havendale and Auburndale to be the dual-core MCM implementations of the Nehalem architecture, for desktops and notebooks respectively. The "MCM" (multi-chip module) part comes to light in the way the chips were originally conceived: two dice on a package, one holding the CPU complex and the other holding the northbridge, consisting of a memory controller, PCI-Express root complex, and a graphics controller.

Theo Valich, noted industry commentator, in his latest blog post in Theo's Bright Side of IT, mentions that Intel scrapped Havendale and Auburndale in its conceived form. The two were set to make possible Intel Core i4 and i3 SKUs. Instead, Intel is working to push forward the launch of their common successor by six months: the Arandale core. Arandale features in the future series of Nehalem-derived processors to be built on the 32nm high-K silicon process, slated for 2010. Arandale from all that is known thus far is the dual-core Nehalem implementation on 32nm lithography, apart from speculation of it holding a higher amount of L3 cache: possibly 6 MB against 4 MB on the Havendale/Auburndale. The Arandale core was originally slated for "back to school" season, 2010 (around September~October). After rescheduling the launch, it could arrive by March.

Sitting tight on the desktop and server performance thrones with the Core i7 and Xeon Dunnington series procesors, Intel is looking to carry on with its product launch-cycle with the introduction of octo-core (8 cores) enterprise processors later this year. The company is expected to detail the industry about this upcoming processor series as early as next month at the Solid State Circuits conference in San Fransisco between February 8 and 12.

The processor in question will be based on the Intel Nehalem architecture and will consist of eight x86 processing cores, a massive transistor-count of 2.3 billion, and will be built on the company's current 45nm manufacturing process. It will hold 24 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel memory interface and QuickPath Interconnect system interface. Furthermore, it is aimed at quad-socket server platforms. Intel will keep this only upto a presentation level at the conference and not a launch. It is expected to start off with quad-core Xeon processors based on the new architecture later in this quarter.

I'm afraid that what's to be told here, is hard to be categorized as good news. Industry observer DigiTimes reports that Intel is about to postpone the initiation of Lynnfield processors and P55 chipset. Chips based on the quad-core Lynnfield design, are supposed to bring Nehalem to more people, because they'll represent the budget line of Core i7 processors.

Intel has recently decided to postpone its next-generation mainstream CPU Lynnfield along with the P55 chipset to the end of August or the beginning of September this year, and may postpone them to an even later time depending on the market situation, according to sources at motherboard makers. Both Lynnfield and P55 were originally scheduled to launch by the end of July. The economic decline which has caused motherboard makers to suffer overstocked chipset inventory is the major reason for the pull back, according to the sources. After the P55 launches, Intel plans to phase out non-IGP P45 and P43 chipsets and will transition its 4-series IGP chipsets to the entry-level.

Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel Core i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.
Broadly heralded by the computing industry as a technical marvel, the Intel Core i7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006 benchmark test that measures the performance of a processor. This is the first time ever for any single processor to exceed a score of 100 points.

Intel's eagerly anticipated Core i7 series of processors have hit retail channels today, with top online and ground stores in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe listing the processors. This, a day in advance, with the company slating the launch for November 17 originally. The Core i7 is the poster-boy for Intel's Nehalem microprocessor architecture. It is a quad-core 8-threaded processor featuring 256 KB L2 caches per core, with shared 8 MB L3 cache. Some of the listings for the processors are as follows:

Overclockers UK (₤276 ~ ₤904) | Scan UK (₤259.87 ~ ₤892.02) | Newegg US (US $319.99 ~ $1069) | Micro Center US ($299.99 ~ $999.99) | HOH Deutschland (€283,90 ~ €989,90) | NCIX Canada (CA $388.99 ~ $1443.99) | TechBuy Australia (AU $676.35 ~ $2364.20)

For the motherboards:

Newegg US ($220.99 ~ $398.99) | Overclockers UK (₤223.24 ~ ₤340.74) | HOH Deutschland (€244,90 ~ €339,90) | NCIX Canada (CA $366.18 ~ $374.99) | TechBuy Australia (AU $503.90 ~ $635.70)

Industry observer DigiTimes reports today that chip maker Intel is planning on launching new server Nehalem-EP and Nehalem-WS processors within the first quarter of 2009.

Intel is planning to launch Xeon 5500 (Nehalem-EP) and Xeon 3500 series (Nehalem-WS) server CPUs in the first quarter of 2009, according to sources at server makers. Intel will launch ten CPUs for the Xeon 5500 series: quad-core W5580 (3.2GHz), X5570 (2.93GHz), X5560 (2.8GHz), X5550 (2.66GHz), E5540 (2.53GHz), E5530 (2.4GHz), E5520 (2.26GHz), E5506 (2.13GHz), E5504 (2GHz) and dual-core E5502 with prices at US$1,600, US$1,386, US$1,172, US$958, US$744, US$530, US$373, US$266, US$224 and US$188 in thousand-unit tray quantities. For the Xeon 3500 series, Intel will launch three CPUs: quad-core W3570, W3540 and W3520 priced at US$999, US$562 and US$284.
In additional news, Intel is planning to phase out seven notebook CPUs including the Core 2 Extreme X7900 and X7800, and Core 2 Duo T7800 and L7700 in January next year.

Intel will be releasing its newest processor: the Core i7, in the days to come. The first releases of the i7 are based on the Bloomfield core, which happens to be the poster-boy for the Intel Nehalem CPU architecture. The processor uses Intel's new LGA-1366 socket, it is a quad-core processor with HyperThreading enabled.

Expreview pictured the Core i7 (non Extreme) package, which reveals a largely standard pack that's seen on Intel's processors these days. Also pictured is Intel's stock cooler for the non-Extreme i7 processors, which largely resembles the stock-coolers of most Intel processors. It consists of a central block made of copper, which makes contact with the CPU. The thermal interface material is pre-applied to it. Aluminum fins project radially from the block, which fork into thinner fins, to increase surface-area. Also included in the package is the related documentation, warranty declaration and bezel sticker. The CPU pictured by Expreview is the i7 920, clocked at 2.66 GHz, with 8 MB L3 cache. The processor has a QuickPath Interconnect speed of 4800 MT/s.

Previews, reviews and all kind of write-ups about the new Intel Core i7/X58 platform flooded the network this morning. I'll use this post to add all the links I can find, you can also post your comments here until the official press release statement.

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Intel has set concrete plans for the rest of 2008 and 2009, with its lineup of mobile processors, as in notebook, netbook, portable PC, and MID processors. Roadmaps available with TechARP also reveal Intel's plans for supportive chipsets. The roadmap, for now, shows that the laptop won't be running a Nehalem processor until Q3, 2009. The company still has several SKUs to pull off its hat till there's a need to bring in Nehalem architecture based processors.

According to industry observer DigiTimes, Intel would be giving its Montevina mobile computing platform an update, with the introduction of new processors and core logic (chipsets). The update, for the most part, revolves around the mid/high range products. Intel would be introducing Core 2 Duo models T9900 and P8800. The T9900 would be Intel's flagship mobile dual-core chip, with the P8800 leading the performance mainstream range.

Intel also plans new chipsets. The Intel GM47 Express would be the company's next high-end mobile chipset, and is slated for Q1, 2009. Intel will also launch GM43 and GS43 Express chipsets for entry-level notebook and small form-factor (SFF) PCs. In other news, it is also expected that the company gets ready to launch the GM55 (Mobile Ibex-Peak) chipset between July and August, 2009. GM55 would be Intel's Nehalem processor supportive chipset for the Auburndale dual-core and Clarksfield quad-core processors, with the platform itself being codenamed Calpella.

What with the likes of the Apple MacBook Air and similar ultrathin laptops in production, Intel is recognising that there will be an increasing problem with heat, especially with its new chips around the corner. Mooly Eden, general manager of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group was speaking at a keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in Taipei.

When you design a very thin system, cooling the skin is a very big challenge... If you put [a laptop] on your lap, it can feel very uncomfortable. Very hot.

Eden went on to say that if this problem is not addressed there will be a limit as to how thin a laptop can me made. They used the example of a jet engine explaining that the high temperatures inside the engine (up to 1000 degrees centigrade) must not be transfered to the plane's wing, as that is where the fuel is stored. The technology used on aircraft to accomplish this is called laminar airflow cooling, which is what Intel plans license to manufacturers for use in cooling its products, it is a system in which a fluid flows in layers.
Fortunately this is not the only trick up Intel's sleeve, Eden also explained that laptop platform for Intel's Nehalem architecture will have the memory controller, IGP and CPU all on one die and that the native power saving features will allow processor cores to turn on and off without the use of software.

[It is done] automatically on the fly. It is transparent to the operating system

Patriot Memory, a global provider of premium quality memory module and flash memory solutions, today announced the release of their Viper series Tri-Channel memory kits designed for the forthcoming Intel Core i7/Intel X58 Express Chipset. Available in both 3GB and 6GB kits, these newly engineered memory kits come with the award winning Viper series heat shields and are the perfect balance of speed and latency while achieving lower voltage requirements.

"Intel's Nehalem architecture shows significant improvements over previous platforms," says Les Henry, Technical Director for Patriot Memory.

"High performance DDR3 DIMMs from Patriot Memory, combined with the phenomenal memory bandwidth & processing capability of Intel's upcoming Core i7 microprocessors, will deliver exciting levels of performance to PC enthusiasts worldwide," said, Steve R. Peterson, Intel's Director of Chipset & Graphics Marketing.

Intel Clarksfield, the company's Nehalem based mobile platform, was reported on Monday to begin production in the second half of 2009. Although mass production of the first Core i7 processors is scheduled for next month, on the mobile front Intel users will have to wait until late next year. Clarksfield will be produced using the same 45-nanometer production process that's used to make Intel's current chip lineup. The upcoming chip will be the heart of a new Intel Centrino platform, codenamed Calpella. As its desktop variant, Clarksfield CPUs will have all the enhancements Nehalem offers, as well as the brand new integrated memory controller all in one package. Clarksfield is also expected to include more advanced power-management features than Intel's current mobile chips.

As the computer enthusiast community gears up for Nehalem November, with reports suggesting a series of product launches for both Intel's Core i7 processors and compatible motherboards, Industry observer PC Online.cn have already published an in-depth review of the Core i7 940 2.93 GHz processor. The processor is based on the Bloomfield core, and essentially the Nehalem architecture that has been making news for over an year now. PC Online went right to the heart of the matter, evaluating the 192-bit wide (tri-channel) memory interface, and the advantage of HyperThreading on four physical cores. In the tests, the 2.93 GHz Bloomfield chip was pitted against a Core 2 Extreme QX9770 operating at both its reference speed of 3.20 GHz, and underclocked to 2.93 GHz, so a clock to clock comparison could be brought about.

The evaluation found that the performance increments tri-channel offers over dual-channel memory, in real world applications and games, are just about insignificant. Super Pi Mod 1.4 shows only a fractional lead for tri-channel over dual-channel, and the trend continued with Everest Memory Benchmark. On the brighter side, the integrated memory controller does offer improvements over the previous generation setup, with the northbridge handling memory. Even in games such as Call of Duty 4 and Crysis, tri-channel memory did not shine.