Intel Intros 45-nm Core 2 Duo Processor

Intel Corporation recently announced the 45-nanometer (nm) Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 with 7-year lifecycle support for embedded applications. To enhance security in embedded solutions, the processor also supports Intel Trusted Execution Technology. Based on Intel's high-k metal gate transistor formula and manufactured on the company's 45nm process, the E8400 processor offers increased performance by doubling transistor density and increasing cache size up to 6 MB, which is a threefold enhancement over the previous-generation Intel Core 2 Duo E6400. The E8400 processor is available to customers today and costs US $183 in quantities of 1,000. A hardware extension to the E8400 processor, Intel Trusted Execution Technology brings hardware data security to the embedded market, making the dual-core processor ideal for military and government, mid-range network security appliances, and retail applications.This security technology is designed to guard data within tamper-resistant virtualized computing environments and to protect against software attacks, viruses and other threats. The 45nm processor includes a Super Shuffle Engine that enhances Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) algorithms optimized for graphics and multimedia processing. The Super Shuffle Engine reduces latency and improves the speed of existing SSE instructions while enabling significant gains on the latest Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 (SSE4) instruction set.

Intel Pentium 820 D 2.8GHz 90nm Dual Core

It wasn't too long ago that we were all asking the question, "Should I go dual core?" Times have proven that dual core is the future and has clear benefits, which turned that question into, "Which dual core should I get?" Even if you are buying the lowest dual core on the scale, you are essentially getting twice the computing power than from a single chip. As more and more applications take advantage of dual cores, it makes the buying decision easier. Of course, the ability to multi-task without slowing your OS down is another huge benefit. Intel and AMD both have a great selection of dual core chips, for all wallet sizes. Intel dual cores almost always cost less than AMD's, which makes them look more attractive. Generally speaking though, tests have proven AMD dual cores better for gaming on high-end systems. But, if you are looking for a cheap solution to get yourself a dual core rig built, then Intels offerings are worth looking at. Today's processor in question is the 820 D. It was the bottom of the barrel when it came to Intel DC's, until the lower clocked 805 D came out. But before we get into specifics and feature comparisons, let's delve a bit deeper into why dual cores are beneficial to you.

Features

PCs that have two CPU cores are not necessarily new, although it is for the consumer market. A few years ago, you would need two separate CPU's in the same machine. You can now have the same benefit but with only one CPU. There was a lot of speculation when dual cores came to be, but there's no denying just how beneficial they can be. Because you essentially have two CPU cores under the same IHS, multitasking proves less groggy with larger applications. As you open new instances of applications, the CPU will decide which core to use. The goal is to allow you to do more on your PC than with a single core, without having a sluggish experience. Even though you have a dual core, things can still slow down your PC, but that primarily only happens with multiple intensive applications that are stressing the same components at once, such as ram or your hard drive. As a great example though, you could play a game and convert a video file at the same time and feel virtually no lag or slowdown. Try doing that on a single core and it will not be a fun experience. Because of these possibilities, it's no wonder why dual cores are growing in popularity.

Intel® Q965 Express Chipset

Desktop PC platforms based on the Intel® Q965 or Q963 Express Chipsets, combined with either the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)◊ or Intel® Pentium® D processor 900Δ sequence with Intel® VT deliver innovative capabilities and usages for both Small and Medium/Large businesses. The Intel Q965 and Q963 Express Chipsets continue the Intel chipset legacy and extend it to new levels with purpose-built capabilities designed specifically to address the key needs of the office computing environment. With advancements in manageability, graphics, stability, data protection and, optimizations to support the most advanced business operating systems, the Intel Q965 and Q963 Express Chipsets are designed to help businesses better manage costs, provide a safer computing environment and deploy more responsive PCs. The Intel® Q965 Express Chipset supports Intel® Core™2 processor with vPro™ technology.

Advanced Technology and DVI Cables

As technology becomes more advanced, Digital-Visual-Interface or in short DVI is the greatest digital interface that manufacturers have created; particularly to be used on your AV products, it is designed to be used with video so as to maximize the visual quality of your digital display devices. These digital display devices can be your flat panel LCD computer display or even digital projectors. The DVI cable are made to be compatible with High-Definition-Multimedia-Interface, aka HDMI
Since High-Definition is becoming more popular among consumers, it is crucial for you to choose the right or most suitable DVI cable for your product to maximize its capability, as DVI can also be used on video cards that include both a VGA and DVI output port. There are currently three types of DVI formats or connections on the market. They include DVI Digital, DVI analogue and lastly DVI Integrated, which transfers in both digital and analogue. 
Each of these formats offer consumers different end results of quality composition, such that if you want the best of both worlds for your video cards you may want to choose the DVI integrated, whereas you can go for either one of the other two formats, if you would like a true digital or high resolution analogue for your visual display. 
Currently, the official DVI equipment is set to 7.5m in length. However, the maximum length is never exact as manufacturers are creating stronger cards and bigger monitors as well as booster and junctions for longer cables.

Intel Core i7-920 Quad Core Desktop Processor

The Bottom Line12/3/08 - Intel's Core i7-920 brings with it some major improvements over the previous Core 2 quad processor lineup. The new integrated memory controller provides it with a near double memory speed with PC3-8500 DDR3 memory over older PC2-6400 DDR2 processors. While the memory performance is a major increase, the overall performance of the Core i7-920 is probably on the order of about 10% faster in general. It's a good first step for performance but Intel is set to improve it much more with upcoming revisions. Compare Prices Pros* Excellent Memory Performance* Good Price to Performance Ratio* Great Over clocking Potential Cons* Requires Expensive LGA 1366 Motherboard Hardware* Triple Channel Memory Configuration Necessary For Best Performance. Description* Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem Quad Core Processor* 2.66GHz Operating Frequency* 800MHz of 1033MHz Memory Bus Speed* 8MB Shared Cache* Support for SSE4 Instructions and EM64T 64-bit Extensions* Hyper threading For Eight Processing Threads* 1.25v Operation* 45nm Process* Heat sink Included* Three Year Warranty.
Guide Review - Intel Core i7-920 Quad Core Desktop Processor12/3/08 - Intel's new Core i7-920 processor is the lowest grade in their latest desktop processor that features some major architecture changes from the previous Core 2 models. The most notable of these is the integrated memory controller similar to what AMD has been doing for years with their Athlon and now Phenom processors. This moves control of the memory from a chip on the motherboard directly to the processor in order to boost performance.
Like the Core 2 Quad models, the Core i7-920 includes four processors on a single chip. The core's themselves run at a 2.66GHz clock speed that is similar to that of the Core 2 Quad Q9400 model. While the Core 2 models had 6MB of shared cache, the i7-920 upgrades that to 8MB but still retain a shared cache design unlike the cache per processor of the AMD processors. Hyper threading is supported to give the system four additional virtual cores to operating 8 simultaneous threads. In testing, the performance was a definite improvement, especially for the memory. While DDR3 memory is inherently faster, the integrated memory controller boosted performance anywhere from 30 to 50 percent over a DDR2. Of course, numbers like these also require a triple channel memory configuration of PC3-8500 DDR3 memory. If only two memory sticks are used instead of three, the performance drops lower. The end result of the Core i7 is a major improvement to performance. To achieve this, Intel also needed to design a new chipset and pin layout making the i7 incompatible with previous Core 2 motherboards. This makes the processor not as viable as a upgrade for currently Core 2 users due to the increased cost of motherboard and memory as well. Still, if you are looking at building a new system, the Core i7-920 is a very strong performer that shouldn't be ignored.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Desktop Processor

The Bottom Line Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8400 is probably one of the best overall values currently in the desktop processor market. Sure, it only has two processor cores, but it runs at a fairly high clock speed and its low voltage and thermal output allow for it to be easily over clocked making it perform at levels equivalent to processors costing much more. Excellent Price to Performance Ratio* Very Strong Over clocking Potential* Lower Thermal Power Requirement Cons* Stock Intel Heat sink Can Get Very Noisy Description* Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfs dale Dual Core* 3.0GHz Operating Frequency* 1333MHz Front Side Bus* 6MB Shared Cache* Support for SSE4 Instructions* Intel EM64T 64-bit Extensions* 0.85V – 1.3625V Operation* 45nm Process* Heat sink Included* Three Year Warranty. Guide Review - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Desktop Processor5/18/08 - Intel's Core 2 Duo lineup of processors have been extremely popular thanks to their strong performance and excellent power profiles. The industry is pushing more for quad processors, but most applications still aren't optimized for using multiple cores. This is where the advantage of the Core 2 Duo lineup shines thanks to its higher clock speeds.
The Core 2 Duo E8400 was one of the first of Intel's 45nm processor lineup. The smaller traces allow the processor to use less power and reduce heat generation. The additional space on the die allows the cache to increase from the previous 4MB of the E6000 series to 6MB. The E8400 uses the newer 1333MHz bus speed to help it transfer data between subsystems faster than the 1066MHz cores. All of this add up to a very fast processor that comes in at a very reasonable price. Overall, performance in all applications was quite strong. The only area that the E8400 will really fall behind quad core CPUs is in software programs such as video editing software. In fact, many applications now seem to be limited by other aspects of the systems such as memory, hard drive or GPU where additional cores or high clock speeds won't make much of an impact.

Intel Core 2 Duo Threatened: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition CPU Review

The launch of the new Phenom II processors that are built using the latest 45nm process became an important milestone not only for AMD Company, but also for the entire computer industry. The architectural improvements introduced in Phenom II, their increased clock frequencies and larger L3 cache raised the performance of AMD solutions to a completely new level. As a result, when we tested the first representatives of the quad-core Phenom II X4 family, we could even declare a new round of competition between AMD and Intel in some segments. However, there are not that many segments yet, where they can compete. So far, there has only been fair competition only in the budget quad-core processors market. Phenom II X4 processors from the 800 and 900 lineups seem to be a pretty acceptable alternative to the junior Intel Core 2 Quad solutions, which is a significant step forward for AMD. Of course, the new 45nm Phenom II processor core will allow AMD to stand out in some other market segments. We have already discussed the company’s plans concerning the adoption of 45nm manufacturing technology in CPUs from different market price segments that feature different number of cores, frequencies and L3 cache size. So far these plans have been partially put into life. Namely, Phenom II family already includes not only quad-core models. Besides Phenom II X4 900 and 800 series, AMD is serving the users their “signature” dish – triple-core processors aka Phenom II X3. These CPUs allow AMD to put partially defective quad-core dies to good use offering the customers a very attractive transitional solution. It is, in fact, extremely acute now that the multi-threaded calculations concept is setting in relatively slowly.
From the multi-threaded calculations standpoint, these triple-core processors can barely be regarded as an alternative to any of the Intel offerings. But judging by their prices, Phenom II X3 may be of interest to those users who aim at mainstream computer systems. In other words, it may make perfect sense to compare new-generation triple-core AMD processors against dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo, and the table below illustrates that nicely:
AMD didn’t feel comfortable positioning their Phenom II X3 processors as competitors to top dual-core solutions from Intel, but they considered it absolutely justified to compare them against the junior Intel Core 2 Duo E8000 or top solutions in the E7000 series. Taking into account this situation, we decided to carry out another test session devoted solely to triple-core Phenom II processors. So, our today’s article will discuss the performance and other consumer features of triple-core AMD processors manufactured with 45nm process. Right now they are represented by two Socket AM3 solutions: Phenom II X3 720 and Phenom II X3 710.

Intel pushes new mini motherboards

Chipmaker Intel Wednesday launched two new motherboards suited to net tops and small form factor desktops at its annual partner conference on the Gold Coast. One of the boards, the D945GSEJT (codenamed Johnstown), featuring the 45nm Intel Atom processor and Mobile Intel 945GSE Express Chipset, will only be available for system integrators and channel original equipment manufacturers. The board adds extra features--such as fan less passive cooling, VGA and DVI dual graphics, wireless connectivity via the PCI express mini card slot and a horizontal SO-DIMM leading to a total motherboard height of 20mm. These features, however, come at a higher price which has led Intel to believe that the broader channel would use the company's other cheaper boards. Those who buy it would have to build a custom board for their own needs, according to Norman Cheng, product line manager within Intel's desktop group. Johnstown will be available towards the end of the first half of this year. The second board, the DG41MJ (codenamed Misty Lake), was expected to have wider appeal and will be available to the broader channel. The board is intended for small form factor PCs for home entertainment and daily computing. Misty Lake was Intel's answer to requests to make a cheaper version of its other options. The small board, which supports Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors, has legacy features such as a parallel port, integrated VGA and DVI, Intel High Definition Audio and an integrated 10/100/1000 network connection. The board is now available for PC manufacturers and system builders to order from Intel distributors. The company was unable to say when it would be more broadly available at the time of publication.