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DougOLis
10/20/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Although Intel doesn't market chips according to their codenames, the individual chip gets a model number that gives you an idea of how it compares, spec-wise (clock speed, cache size, etc.), to other chips in the same group.

That's not entirely true. An Intel i7 870 (and 860 for that matter) are going to be a hell of a lot faster than an i7 920. They are different core types and that idiom holds true for each core, but the general public will see i7 920 vs. i7 870 and mistakenly think the 920 is faster.
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Edited by DougOLis at 10/20/09 6:07 PM DougOLis was starred DougOLis was unstarred

Identity (reclamation)
10/20/09

In reply to New iMacs Get Core i7 Chips, But What Does That Mean?
Thanks for the previous article, Giz. I read through it when it came out, but I was just looking for it.

i7 sounds good. Anyone have any idea of the difficulty level to transfer an Adobe CS3 license to a new computer?

Thanks #newimacs
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J2M3
10/20/09

In reply to New iMacs Get Core i7 Chips, But What Does That Mean?
Will this help the hackintosh movement at all? #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@J2M3: Neutral. Nehalem was already used in the Pros, so the support was there. I'm not big on hackintoshing, but there may be some particulars to the P55 motherboards that it helps because of the new i5/i7's being used. #newimacs
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TJ
10/20/09

In reply to New iMacs Get Core i7 Chips, But What Does That Mean?
So I'm guessing the i7s in the iMac are going to be the Clarksfield variant? #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@TJ: Actually no, they look to be desktop Lynnfield cores. The 95W TDP is helped by the 27 inch enclosure, presumably. #newimacs
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TJ
10/20/09

@anexanhume: Thanks! #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

In reply to New iMacs Get Core i7 Chips, But What Does That Mean?
One should also note that the high end 27" has the 2.8 Ghz core i7 option. What you gain from this is a virtual 8 cores, due to hyper-threading being enabled. The core i5 does not feature hyper-threading, but is still a quad-core processor. #newimacs
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
10/20/09

@anexanhume: More like pseudo 8 cores. Have people really been writing apps that take advantage of hyper-threading lately?

I mean, Intel hasn't had a ht capable CPU for over 4 years between it's Core Duo and Core 2 Duo cpus... #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: If it takes advantage of multiple cores, it takes advantage of hyper-threading. People were coding programs with independent threads even before we had dual cores. The advantage of having hyper-threading is the Turbo Boost. If you use 2 threads in one core as opposed to 1 thread in 2 cores, that 1st core can be OC'ed more than those two, yielding higher performance. #newimacs
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dave005
10/20/09

@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: All you need to take advantage of it is more threads running concurrently. Even if NONE of your apps take advantage of HyperThreading directly, you will benefit from it.

Hyperthreading wasn't absent from Intel's newer chips because it was inherently bad -- it was absent because it was first baked into the Pentium 4 architecture, which as you may recall, was a steaming pile. They have in recent years ported HT to the Atom and i7 architectures.

HT was a MUST-HAVE for the P4 because it's obscenely-long pipeline made cache misses too expensive. In a CPU with an architecture as short as a Core2Duo it's not nearly as beneficial.
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Unsolicited Advice
10/20/09

In reply to New iMacs Get Core i7 Chips, But What Does That Mean?
God damn it, where are the i7-based MacBook Pros? That's the only thing preventing me from throwing more dollars at Steve Jobs. #newimacs
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Wilson Rothman
10/20/09

@Unsolicited Advice: My guess is that they'll be i5 when they come, not i7. #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@Wilson Rothman: Arrandale was her name-o. #newimacs
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Unsolicited Advice
10/20/09

@Wilson Rothman:

So help me understand, because obviously 7 is moar better then 5, but it's not clear from your prior article what I'm missing out on:

The new Core i7 chips, launched last month, are for desktop and mobile. The desktop variant is codenamed Lynnfield, and it more closely resembles its mobile equivalent, codenamed Clarksfield, than it does the Bloomfield monster—dual-channel memory, not triple, for instance.

...

Core i5 is going to be Intel's more mainstream Nehalem-microarchitecture chip brand, and as a broader brand, the chip differentiation gets a little more confusing. Core i5 actually includes some, but not all, of the desktop Lynnfield processors. For now, the only Core i5 chip is quad-core, but you're going to start seeing dual-core Core i5 chips, and soon enough they will make up the bulk of Intel's mainstream processors. In English: Unless you're looking for a crazyfast new computer, your next machine will probably run an Intel Core i5 CPU.

Is i5 not as "crazyfast" as i7? Am I being crazy to hold out? I run an i7 on my desktop and the system screams - but I crave the design sensibility/form factor/software suite of the MB Pro. Help me understand more clearly the i5/i7 tradeoffs, wise one. #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@Unsolicited Advice: The core i7 features hyper-threading (allow a second thread to be run on each core for a total of 8), and Intel has also hamstringed the motherboards for i5 by limiting the number of PCI express channels (as well as three down to two memory channels). Turns out, game benchmarks don't give a shit. So, gamers are starting to migrate to the i5 cores now. #newimacs
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Unsolicited Advice
10/20/09

@anexanhume:

So there's a requirement for software support that's likely to be some time coming. Hyperthreading has been in and out of Intel's product lines IIRC because utilization has been low. An i5 will still scream, but processing-intensive tasks like encoding and the like have untapped potential in an i7 that might be incorporated by developers into apps like ProTools, etc. - processors where you're encoding or crunching a lot of data. Sounds safe enough to me.

So then, Steve, my business proposition is clear - shove an i5 or better into the MacBook Pro and you will receive $2K-$3K. But I'm not buying a C2D in late 2009. #newimacs
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Wilson Rothman
10/20/09

@Unsolicited Advice: Yeah, you got it right, now. I am sure that dual-core i5s will show up in MacBook Pros soon. And thanks Anexanhume—you must be related to Matt Buchanan! #newimacs
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anexanhume
10/20/09

@Unsolicited Advice: Expect MBP updates in Early 2010 (perhaps February to April) with core i5 branded parts. They will be 32 nm dual core parts with IGP and hyper-threading. #newimacs
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CaptMoose
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Just to make things more confusing, The new i7 8-series (Lynnfield) actually goes back to a P55 socket and double-channel RAM, but gets many better benchmarks scores.

[www.guru3d.com]

[gizmodo.com]
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BloggyMcBlogBlog
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Thanks for the article Matt. I'll be getting a new computer when Win7 drops and this definitely helps. #intel
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The5thElephant
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
A decent Giz-Explains, but it could definitely use a chart and a clearer visual heirarchy. Also future chip technologies we should look out for? #intel
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Monty
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Outstanding summary, Matt, but maybe you could post this sort of information a little later in the day for us West Coasters who might have head explosions reading such great material before 2 in the afternoon. Seriously - great information - thank you! #intel
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friendlynerd
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
I would agree with your take on Celeron, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Pentium Dual-Core line. They're essentially Core2 chips with less L2 cache, and they run/benchmark pretty nicely for anyone not doing heavy gaming/photo editing. In an office setting they're more than sufficient. #intel
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reddingofish
10/15/09

@friendlynerd: I use a Pentium D at work and it works great most of the time. Sure I have never tried to play Crysis on it but who has time for that. #intel
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friendlynerd
10/15/09

@reddingofish: Pentium D does not equal Pentium Dual-Core (confused yet??)

The Pentium D is essentially 2 Pentium 4 chips stuffed onto one heatsink. Therefore they're ineffecient with energy and run pretty hot.

The Pentium Dual-Core is kind of a hobbled Core2 Duo that uses little energy, runs cool, and runs rings around the Pentium D. #intel
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anexanhume
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Merom and Penryn share the same branding because they are largely the same architecture. Nehalem was a full new architecture from the alternating Israeli and Oregon design teams, hence the new naming. Now, if Intel decides to keep the Core ix naming for Sandy Bridge, the shit will hit the fan. #intel
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matt buchanan
10/15/09

@anexanhume: Yeah, tick-tock cycle, which I've explained elsewhere, but thought might make things more complicated in this instance. #intel
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anexanhume
10/15/09

@matt buchanan: Sounds like a challenge to me. One which Nvidia rises to quite well. They'd rebrand their girlfriend as their sister to get a date. #intel
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Amir Oulad
10/15/09

In reply to Giz Explains: Intel's Entire Confusing Armada of Chips
Nice explanation I understand the differences much better now.
Celeron/Pentuim: run
Core3i: One night stand
Core7i/5i: HAve sex with it

BTW I love the new layout! #intel
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Jesse in Japan
04/10/09

In reply to Intel's New Easy-for-Your-Mom-to-Understand Processor Badges
They're all so shiny!
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nutbastard
04/10/09

In reply to Intel's New Easy-for-Your-Mom-to-Understand Processor Badges
actually, if you're not the sort to do the research, likely a simple color code will suffice, and you likely wont be doing anything that will make the inferiority of your CPU evident anyways, nor will you care. People who live life according to color codes expect their computer to be messy, fucked up, and slow.
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