New Silvermont Atom Chips Will Use Pentium and Celeron Branding

Subject: Processors | June 2, 2013 - 11:32 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: silvermont, pentium, Intel, haswell, celeron, atom, 22nm

In addition to the impending launch of Intel's desktop Haswell processors, the company is also working on new Atom-series chips based on Intel's Silvermont architecture. Ryan Shrout wrote about the upcoming Atom architecture a few weeks ago, and you can read up on it here. However, in short, Atoms using the Silvermont architecture are 22nm SoCs with a Hyper Threaded, dual-module quad core design that comes with burst-able clockspeeds and up to 2.5x the performance of chips using the previous generation Saltwell architecture. Intel is promising up to a 50% IPC (instructions per clock) increase, and 4.7x lower power versus previous generation Atom CPUs.

A block diagram of Intel's upcoming Silvermont architecture.

With that said, over the weekend I read an interesting article over at PC World that hinted at these new Silvermont-based Atom processors taking up the Pentium and Celeron branded CPU mantle. In speaking with Intel employee Kathy Gill, the site learned that Intel will be using the Silvermont architecture in code-named Bay Trail-M and Bay Trail-D processors for notebooks and desktops respectively. The Bay Trail code name isn't new, but Intel's use of the Pentium and Celeron branding for these Atom chips is. For the past few generations, Intel has re-purposed lower-tier or lower binned Core processors as Pentiums or Celerons by disabling features and/or clocking them lower. It seems that Intel finally believes that its Atom lineup is good enough to serve those low-end desktop and notebook CPU purposes under the budget brand families.

Kathy Gill further stated that "we aren't ready to disclose additional details on Haswell plans at this time,” which does not rule out Haswell-based Celeron and Pentium chips. It does not confirm them either, however.

After a chat with PC Perspective's Josh Walrath on the issue, I'm not certain which direction Intel will take, but I do believe that Intel will (at least) favor the Atom chips for the Pentium and Celeron brands/lines because the company will see much better profit margins with the Silvermont-based chips compared to Haswell-based ones. On the other hand, Intel would lose out on the ability to re-brand low binning Core i3s as Pentium or Celeron CPUs. Further, going with both architectures would complicate matters and invite a good amount of brand confusion for many consumers in spite of allowing a mix of better profit margins and re-purposing chips that otherwise wouldn't make the cut (admittedly, Intel probably has to artificially limit some number of chips to keep up with the volume of Pentium and Celerons needed, it's difficult to say to what extent though).

Hopefully we will know more about Intel's Bay Trail CPUs and branding plans at Computex later this week.

What do you think of this move by Intel, and will the Silvermont-based Bay Trail chips be up to the task?

Source: PC World

Corsair's Neutron drives get even more dense

Subject: Storage | May 3, 2013 - 07:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: LAMD, corsair, neutron, ssd, asynchronous NAND, 22nm

Still featuring the Link_A_Media Devices LM87800 controller but with all new 22nm SK Hynix Synchronous NAND the refreshed Corsair Neutron SSD series just arrived on [H]ard|OCP's test bench. The refresh brings both good and bad attributes, while the 22nm NAND proves a little slower than the original 25nm it also brings a much lower price. That lower price paired with a 5 year warranty should make this drive attractive to users that are holding off on picking up an SSD because of fears that the drive will stop functioning in a few years, or who have a hard time spending well over $1/GB for storage.

"Corsair keeps pace with continuing innovation in the NAND market by switching from 25nm IMFT NAND to the rarely seen 22nm SK Hynix NAND. This NAND provides a lower price point and extra capacity. Today we take a look to see if the Neutron Series performance remains and how this new SSD build stacks up to the competition."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Intel Will Allegedly Release Three Ivy Bridge-E Processors Later This Year

Subject: General Tech | April 2, 2013 - 10:59 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-E, Intel, 22nm

Many enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting the next generation of Intel processors to use LGA 2011, which is supposed to be Ivy Bridge-E. Especially after seeing rumors of a 10 core Xeon E5-2600 V2 Ivy Bridge-EP CPU, I think many users expected at least an eight core Ivy Bridge-E part.

Unfortunately, if a slide posted by VR-Zone China is any indication, LGA 2011 users will not be getting an eight core processor any time soon. The slide suggests that Intel will release three new Ivy Bridge-E CPUs in the third quarter of this year (Q3'13). However, the top-end part is merely a six core CPU with slight improvements over the existing Sandy Bridge-E 3960X chip.

Specifically, the slide alleges that the initial Intel release will include the Core i7 4820, Core i7 4930K, and the Core i7 4960X. An Ivy Bridge-E equivalent to the SB-E 3970X is noticeably absent from the lineup along with several of the other rumored (higher core count) chips.

Rumored Ivy Bridge-E chips:

	Clockspeed	Core Count	L3 Cache	Manufacturing Process	TDP
Core i7 4960X	3.6GHz (4GHz Turbo)	6	15MB	22nm	130W
Core i7 4930K	3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo)	6	12MB	22	130W
Core i7 4820K	3.7GHz (3.9GHz Turbo)	4	10MB	22	130W

Existing Sandy Bridge-E equivalents:

	Clockspeed	Core Count	L3 Cache	Manufacturing Process	TDP
Core i7 3960X	3.3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo)	6	15MB	32nm	130W
Core i7 3930K	3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)	6	12MB	32nm	130W
Core i7 3820	3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)	4	10MB	32nm	130W

All of the chips allegedly have 130W TDPs, 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, support for quad-channel DDR3-1866 memory, and are built on Intel's 22nm manufacturing process. The low end i7 4820 is a quad core chip clocked at 3.7 GHz base and 3.9 GHz turbo with 10MB L3 cache. The i7 4930K is an unlocked six core part with 12MB L3 cache and clockspeeds of 3.4 GHz base and 3.9 GHz turbo. Finally, the Core i7 4960X is rumored to be the highest-end chip Intel will release (at least, initially). It is also a six core part clocked at 3.6 GHz base and 4 GHz turbo. It has 15MB of L3 cache. These chips are the Ivy Bridge-E equivalents to the 3820, 3930K, and 3960X chips respectively. The new processors feature higher clockspeeds, and are based on 22nm 3D transistor technology instead of SB-E's 32nm manufacturing process. It seems that Intel has extended unlocking to the lower-tier LGA 2011 chip, as it is listed as the Core i7 4820K. Having an unlocked multiplier is nice to see at the low end (the low end of the enthusiast platform, anyway). Curiously, the TDP ratings are the same, however. That suggests that the move to 22nm did not net Intel much TDP headroom, and the higher clocks are bringing them up to similar TDP numbers. At least the TDP ratings are not higher than SB-E, such that you motherboard and HSF should have no problems accepting an IVB-E CPU upgrade (with a BIOS update, of course).

It will be interesting to see how the new Ivy Bridge-E chips stack up, especially considering Intel may also be unveiling the consumer-grade Haswell processor this year. On one hand, Ivy Bridge-E offers up a CPU upgrade path for existing systems, but on the other hand pricing and the performance of Haswell (and lack of higher core count Ivy Bridge-E chips like previous rumors suggested) may see enthusiasts instead opt for a motherboard+CPU overhaul instead of simply recycling the LGA 2011/X79 motherboard. At this point, if this new slide holds true it appears that Ivy Bridge E/LGA 2011 will become even more of a niche solely for workstations that need the extra PCI-E lanes and quad channel memory. I say this as someone running a Lynnfield system who is itching for an upgrade and torn on going for the enthusiast platform or waiting for Haswell.

What do you think about the rumored Ivy Bridge-E chips, are they what you expected? Do you think they will be worth a CPU upgrade for your LGA 2011-based system or are you leaning towards Haswell?

Read more about Ivy Bride-E at PC Perspective, including: Ivy Bridge-E after Haswell: I think I've gone cross-eyed.

Source: VR-Zone China

The Atom ain't dead yet! New ultra low power Avoton chips for servers

Subject: General Tech | December 11, 2012 - 07:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: 32nm, 22nm, tri-gate, Intel, atom, Avoton

Intel's Atom S1200 line of chips are obviously designed to compete with ARM's upcoming 64bit chips in the server room. The family of processors will all be under 10W TDP, with the top chip, the Atom S1260, which is a dual core 2GHz part that produces 8.5W. The three chips they have released are on the older 32nm process but according to EETimes you can expect new models using the 22nm tri-gate processors in the near future. From what The Register could find out Intel has not yet ruled out LGA models as well as the embedded chips you will be seeing first. They did pin down some more stats, with the new Atoms supporting DDR3 1333MHz and support eight lanes of PCI Express 2.0, what they will not be able to support on chip is network connectivity, these chips will still be at least partially dependent on other chips for some of their features so they are not truly an SoC, yet.

"CHIPMAKER Intel has released its Atom S1200 series aimed at low power single socket servers.

Intel's race to meet ARM in the low power server market has seen the firm push its Atom branded chips into sub-10W territory while supporting 64-bit memory addressing and ECC memory. Now the firm has released three dual-core chips that make up its Atom S1200 series, all sporting sub-10W TDP."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

Source: The Register

New 22nm Pentiums and Celerons for the new year

Subject: General Tech | November 29, 2012 - 12:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pentium, celeron, Intel, 22nm, G2130, G2020, G2020T, G1620, G1610, G1610T, Ivy Bridge

There won't be any new Intel desktop processors for Christmas and even in the New Year it will be the entry level lineup that is first refreshed. Six older Pentium and Celeron models will hit EOL and be replaced with new Ivy Bridge based 22nm models, likely with similar specs and reduced power consumption. The news for mobile processors is a little better with the Core i7-3687, Core i5-3437U, Celeron 1037U, 1007U, 1020M and 1000M all slated for the first quarter of 2013. DigiTime also mentions a new 20nm member of the 530 series of SSDs should be arriving at the same time.

"Intel is set to upgrade its entry-level desktop Pentium and Celeron product lines in the first quarter of 2013 with the launch of Ivy Bridge-based 22nm Pentium G2130, G2020 and G2020T and Celeron G1620, G1610 and G1610T processors, while its existing Sandy Bridge-based 32nm Pentium G870, G645 and G645T as well as Celeron G555, G550 and G550T will be phased out of the market starting the end of 2012, according to sources from the upstream supply chain."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

Source: DigiTimes

Intel Planning 10-core Xeon E5-2600 V2 Ivy Bridge-EP CPU

Subject: Processors | October 17, 2012 - 06:48 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: xeon E5-2600 v2, lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-EP, Intel, 22nm

A recently leaked slide reveals one of Intel’s upcoming Xeon-branded server chips coming in Q3 2013. The Xeon E5-2600 V2 is an Ivy Bridge-EP processor and will be compatible with motherboards featuring the LGA 2011 socket.

The Xeon E5-2600 V2 in particular has a 70W TDP (thermal design power) rating while the highest-end Ivy Bridge-EP CPUs will have TDPs of up to 130W. The E5-2600 V2 has 10 physical cores, and with HyperThreading it can handle a maximum of 20 threads. Each physical core has access to 256KB L2 cache and the chip has a total of 30MB L3 cache. Further, this (and other) Ivy Bridge-EP processor will support up to 1866MHz DDR3 system RAM.

Interestingly, the Xeon E5-2600 V2 is merely the middle of the road part for Intel. The company will be releasing processors that are even higher-end than this one. They will have up to 12 physical cores which means up to 24 threads. And paired with Intel's 22nm manufacturing process and 3D transistors, these chips will fit right into workstations and server rooms.

Source: Guru 3D

Dell is bringing Ivy Bridge to the server room

Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2012 - 12:34 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: xeon e3, Ivy Bridge, E3-1200 v2, dell, 22nm

Dell's microserver family is undergoing a major change right now as their 5000 series is moving to the new generation of chips from Intel. The current C5000 and C5125 uses Athlon II X2 and X4 and Phenom II X2 chips based on the customers preferences and will continue to do so for the near future but the C5220 will be using the not quite yet released yet Xeon E3-1200 v2. That Ivy Bridge chip means that Dell expects to be selling 17W and 45W versions of the C5220 which gives Intel a nice lead in power efficiency and processing density. As more new Xeons come out you will see models requiring more power and thus less physical servers in a rack. Dell expects to fit a dozen of the lower powered models into a full rack mount chassis and eight of the higher wattage models. Check out the specifics as well as hints as to the other members of the Ivy Bridge contingent of the Xeon family at The Register.

"Dell's PowerEdge server line is once again trying to get out in front of Intel, announcing that its PowerEdge-C family of microservers are revved up with the new Ivy Bridge Xeon E3 processors, which the chip giant is launching soon."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

Source: The Register

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge LGA1155 Processor Review

Author: Ryan Shrout

Date: April 23, 2012

Subject: Processors

Manufacturer: Intel

Tagged: Z77, Ivy Bridge, Intel, i7-3770k, i5-3570, 3770k, 3570, 22nm

An update to a great architecture

This article will focus on the new Ivy Bridge, 3rd Generation Core Processor from a desktop perspective. If you are curious as the performance and features of the Ivy Bridge mobile processors, be sure to check out our Core i7-3720QM ASUS N56VM review here!!

One of the great things about the way Intel works as a company is that we get very few surprises on an annual basis in terms of the technology they release. With the success of shows like the Intel Developer Forum permitting the release of architectural details months and often years ahead of the actual product, developers, OEMs and the press are able to learn about them over a longer period of time. As you might imagine, that results in both a much better understanding of the new processor in question and also a much less hurried one. If only GPU cycles would follow the same path...

Because of this long-tail release of a CPU, we already know quite a bit about Ivy Bridge, the new 22nm processor architecture from Intel to be rebranded as the 3rd Generation Intel Core Processor Family. Ivy Bridge is the "tick" that brings a completely new process technology node as we have seen over the last several years but this CPU does more than take the CPU from 32nm to 22nm. Both the x86 and the processor graphics portions of the die have some changes though the majority fall with the GPU.

Ivy Bridge Architecture

In previous tick-tock scenarios the "tick" results in a jump in process technology (45nm to 32nm, etc) with very little else being done. This isn't just to keep things organized in slides above but it also keeps Intel's engineers focused on one job at a time - either a new microprocessor architecture OR a new process node; but not both.

For the x86 portion of Ivy Bridge this plan stays in tract. The architecture is mostly unchanged from the currently available Sandy Bridge processors including the continuation of a 2-chip platform solution and integrated graphics, memory controller, display engine, PCI Express and LLC along with the IA cores.

Continue reading our review of the new Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge Processor!!

See, Ivy Bridge really was about to be released!

Subject: Processors | April 23, 2012 - 12:41 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Z77, Ivy Bridge, Intel, i7-3770k, i5-3570, 3770k, 3570, 22nm

Intel's latest die shrink and architecture refinement, aka their "Tick", has arrived in the form of Ivy Bridge. This CPU is actually only one third CPU, a third devoted to Intel's HD4000 graphics core, and the final third comprised of a shared L3 cache, memory controller and other IO devices. [H]ard|OCP did an almost direct comparison between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, with the 2600K having the same amount of cores as the 3770K and only lags behind by 100MHz in raw speed. The overall performance increases and new features that this new architecture were targeted more at the mainstream user than the enthusiast in [H]'s opinion but if you are building a new machine and aren't going for overclocking records then they wholeheartedly recommend Ivy Bridge.

You can catch Ryan's full review right here though you cannot yet buy it.

"The new Ivy Bridge processor has already been well covered across the Internet due to leaks of Intel parts into review sites' hands. So at this point there is little to tell in all honesty. But today we work to tell you what you most likely already know; Ivy Bridge looks to be a very solid product but offers little in the way of an upgrade from Sandy Bridge."

Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:

Processors

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Bad news upgraders; Intel's 22nm is suffering 28nm woes as well

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2012 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Ivy Bridge, Intel, 28nm, 22nm

There is bad news out of DigiTimes today for those hoping to upgrade to an Ivy Bridge CPU when they first become available, the availability will not be good. The thirteen desktop processors that are slated to be released any time now are predicted to suffer the same short supply that plagued AMD when they first released their 28nm parts and is still preventing those who can afford a GTX 680 from being able to buy one. Hopefully this issue has been part of the core reason as to why the Ivy Bridge release date has been so well suppressed, even with the leaks that have appeared over the past quarter. Perhaps Intel is planning to have enough good 22nm silicon stockpiled that the availability will be a bit better than the GTX 680 and perhaps even enough to see first adopters through until the production levels can be increased.

"Although Intel is ready to launch and sell its upcoming Ivy Bridge-based processors soon, shipments of the processor are estimated to be lower than expected with the possible driver being either low capacity or yield rates, and the situation is forcing Intel to adjust its processor shipment proportions for notebook and desktop platforms, according to sources from PC players, which added that Nvidia and AMD are also facing shortage issues for their 28nm graphics cards."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

Source: DigiTimes

Subject: Processors | June 2, 2013 - 11:32 PM | Tim Verry Tagged: silvermont, pentium, Intel, haswell, celeron, atom, 22nm

Subject: Storage | May 3, 2013 - 07:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: LAMD, corsair, neutron, ssd, asynchronous NAND, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | April 2, 2013 - 10:59 AM | Tim Verry Tagged: lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-E, Intel, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | December 11, 2012 - 07:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: 32nm, 22nm, tri-gate, Intel, atom, Avoton

Subject: General Tech | November 29, 2012 - 12:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: pentium, celeron, Intel, 22nm, G2130, G2020, G2020T, G1620, G1610, G1610T, Ivy Bridge

Subject: Processors | October 17, 2012 - 06:48 AM | Tim Verry Tagged: xeon E5-2600 v2, lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-EP, Intel, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2012 - 12:34 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: xeon e3, Ivy Bridge, E3-1200 v2, dell, 22nm

An update to a great architecture

Subject: Processors | April 23, 2012 - 12:41 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: Z77, Ivy Bridge, Intel, i7-3770k, i5-3570, 3770k, 3570, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2012 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom Tagged: Ivy Bridge, Intel, 28nm, 22nm

Subject: Processors | June 2, 2013 - 11:32 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: silvermont, pentium, Intel, haswell, celeron, atom, 22nm

Subject: Storage | May 3, 2013 - 07:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: LAMD, corsair, neutron, ssd, asynchronous NAND, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | April 2, 2013 - 10:59 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-E, Intel, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | December 11, 2012 - 07:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: 32nm, 22nm, tri-gate, Intel, atom, Avoton

Subject: General Tech | November 29, 2012 - 12:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pentium, celeron, Intel, 22nm, G2130, G2020, G2020T, G1620, G1610, G1610T, Ivy Bridge

Subject: Processors | October 17, 2012 - 06:48 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: xeon E5-2600 v2, lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-EP, Intel, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2012 - 12:34 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: xeon e3, Ivy Bridge, E3-1200 v2, dell, 22nm

Subject: Processors | April 23, 2012 - 12:41 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Z77, Ivy Bridge, Intel, i7-3770k, i5-3570, 3770k, 3570, 22nm

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2012 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Ivy Bridge, Intel, 28nm, 22nm