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Intel Officially Brands Nehalem as 'Core i7' Processor

ktlx said:
It's entirely possible, based on platform rumors, that memory for the first i7 equipped Mac Pros will be considerably more expensive than today. Intel has hinted in the past they are committed to FB-DIMMs for the Xeon line even with the integrated memory controllers. It's possible the Mac Pro will require six or twelve DDR3 FB-DIMMs with each one possibly costing as much as the DDR2 FB-DIMMs when they were released.
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The only way the Mac Pro is going to use FB-DIMM with Nehalem is if it goes 4 socket. Intel is having the 2 socket systems use ECC DDR3. Supposedly Intel is going to be shying away from FB-DIMM.

MrCrowbar said:
Didn't they do that with the Macbook Air? The battery life is supposed to be the longest in the Apple lineup and performance is also below that of the seemingly-abandoneed Mac Mini.
But yea... pricing is different.

"low velocity" is intereseting. :eek:

The problem is there's no laptop class of processors that allows much more than 5 hours. The chip makers are upping the performance while keeping the power consumption as low as the preview generation. I thing a seriously undeclocked Core 2 Duo would be damn fine though. I'd love a little "eco" icon in the menu bar that undeclocks the CPU when clicked. There's an app called "Coolbook" out there, but it only lets you control Intel's Speed Step steps. Per Default, my Macbook's Core (1) Duo 2.0 GHz runs at 1.0 GHz, occasionally going up and only to full 2.00 GHz when there's something to do. I'd love for it to go down to, say 250 MHz when I'm doin word processing. It's idling below 5% CPU most of the time so I don't think you'd even notice the slowdown. It could still gp up to full speed when wanted (eco-mode switched off).
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The problem is the multiplier can only go so low. It used to be that you could go all the way down to like 5x on the multilplier. That is why they are also making the bus speeds scalable. If you lower that as well you can reduce the CPU speed even more. Coupled with shutting down cores, that should allow for some pretty good power savings.
 
diamond.g said:
The only way the Mac Pro is going to use FB-DIMM with Nehalem is if it goes 4 socket. Intel is having the 2 socket systems use ECC DDR3. Supposedly Intel is going to be shying away from FB-DIMM.
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Okay, that's different than what Intel has shown in their past platform memory roadmaps. In their past roadmaps, they've shown FB-DIMMs for all multi-socket Xeon processors, even with the switch to DDR3.
 
ktlx said:
Okay, that's different than what Intel has shown in their past platform memory roadmaps. In their past roadmaps, they've shown FB-DIMMs for all multi-socket Xeon processors, even with the switch to DDR3.
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Well the Nehalem info on Wiki points to Dailytech claiming that only the MP Beckton will get FB-DIMM support. I would be honestly surprised if Apple were to use more than 2 sockets in the Mac Pro (but am a bit taken back that they don't in the xServe).

Also note that if the prices listed are true, Apple is going to have to drop prices as other manufacturers will be able to offer quad core systems for a far cheaper price than Apple can. (Well I think....)
 
diamond.g said:
Well the Nehalem info on Wiki points to Dailytech claiming that only the MP Beckton will get FB-DIMM support. I would be honestly surprised if Apple were to use more than 2 sockets in the Mac Pro (but am a bit taken back that they don't in the xServe).
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Neither of those links dispute the Intel roadmaps I've seen for dual socket Nehalem processors. Dailytech simply says servers and workstations will use registered DDR3 and so will DDR3 FB-DIMMs. Wikipedia is even less specific and simply lists them as DDR3.

Of course it's entirely possible Intel finally realized the number of server users needing FB-DIMMs in first generation dual socket system is vanishingly small. With registered DDR3 it will be straightforward to put two memory slots on each channel, for a total of twelve. Using 4GB DIMMs, that's 48GB per system. I think it's rare for people to take dual socket systems above 16GB and I think this first generation will be replaced by Q1 2010, so Intel may have decided the market for people needing more than 48GB isn't worth the added upfront and operating expense of FB-DIMMs.

I'll also be curious to see how many notoriously conservative server buyers jump on the first generation. Intel may be banking on them holding back long enough for memory manufacturers to make 8GB and 16GB DIMMs mainstream data center parts.
 
Hopefully Apple pulls its weight at Intel and receives the mobile versions of i7 early. Also, I don't think we will see case redesigns for MBP and MB until i7, as thats when they'll be working with new mobile boards anyway. Maybe an Aluminum MB this year.

Macbook Pro 15" 2.2 i7
4 GB DDR3 1066
1680 x 1050
ATI 46xx HD Mobility / Nvidia 260M
500GB HD / 120GB-200GB SSD
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

^This would be extremely tasty in May-June 2009.

Especially if you can configure the base MBP with a reasonable SSD 160-200GB and not go over $2300.
 
diamond.g said:
i7 == Nehalem. So whatever Nehalem is supposed to bring to the table (SSE5, SMT, DMI/QPI, etc) we should see in i7. I will admit I think the name is dumb as well. But there isn't anything dumb about the improvements it is supposed to bring to the table.
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i7 is not Nehalem. Nehalem is the basically the name of the architecture. i7 doesn't even have to refer to a specific core. i7 is simply a marketing term that Intel said refers to high-end processors. Not even Extreme Edition since there will be a special grey Core i7 logo for "true" Extreme Editions while "regular" high-end processors will use a blue i7 logo. i7 will mostly refer to Bloomfield and high-end Lynnfield processors.

Intel has said that they will be introducing more marketing names to make things more clear (or less depending how you look at it). Most likely it'll something like:

Core i7 grey: $999+ Extreme Edition
Core i7 blue: $300 - $999 High-end processors
Core i5: $150-$300 Mainstream processors
Core i3: $0-$150 Low-end processors (replacing Celeron)
 
booksacool1 said:
No mainstream chips till 2009? ****, that sounds like it'll be 6 months away.
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Intel is suffering some significant 45nm capacity constraints right now, as one of the fabs they expected to have up now (FAB28 in Israel) is now looking like it will not be up until 2009. And FAB11X will not be ready until early 2009 (per plan).

With AMD out-classed in desktop and mobile, Intel is not in a hurry to flood the market with i7's and the ones they can launch will be at a nice price premium for them:

3.20GHz i7 - $999
2.93GHz i7 - $593
2.66GHz i7 - $284

Compare that to the current Core 2 Duo equivalents (as of 7/20/08):

3.16GHz E8500 - $183
3.00GHz E8400 - $163
2.66GHz E8200 - $163
 
So with desktop chips shipping this year, what does that mean for the next Mac Pro update? Late this year a long shot, more likely January at the big mac event?

And I assume this will be a Mac Pro update worth waiting for, particularly since the current model hasn't been updated in such a long time?

booksacool1 said:
No mainstream chips till 2009? ****, that sounds like it'll be 6 months away.
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No mainstream *portable* chips until then. They are saying desktops in 2008. There should be an interim notebook update this fall like Apple always does after their back to school promotions are over.
 
amac4me said:
The next MacBook and MacBook Pro updates won't be earth shattering. People have been hoping for redesigns but I don't think we'll see them just yet.
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All the rumors point to a redesign.

amac4me said:
It would be too risky for Apple because it wouldn't make sense to have redesigned systems released just prior to the holiday shopping season. It opens the door to potential problems, a design flaw, production issues, or something that couldn't have been anticipated.
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iMac G5. iMac aluminum. iPods. iBook G4 (?). 15" aluminum PowerBook G4.

amac4me said:
Overall, I think the time to release redesigned systems is after the holidays at MacWorld 2009. With the 3G iPhone release out of the way and other than a Snow Leopard demo, what else do we have to look forward to in January?
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Mini-tablet. iLife '09 and iWork '09. New displays. Apple tv. iPhone / iPod touch firmware. Mac Pro. Something else we don't yet know about.

andiwm2003 said:
nehalem promises a secret power saving system. will that allow to change the design of noteboks toward MBA like designs?
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I think the power saving features are to save power when idle and at less than 100%. So TDPs don't change and cases don't change. The improvements are in battery life when not at load.

milo said:
So with desktop chips shipping this year, what does that mean for the next Mac Pro update? Late this year a long shot, more likely January at the big mac event?
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Around January is my estimate. Unlikely to be at MWSF unless there's a redesign.

milo said:
And I assume this will be a Mac Pro update worth waiting for, particularly since the current model hasn't been updated in such a long time?
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Nehalem's benefits would make it worth waiting for.

milo said:
No mainstream *portable* chips until then. They are saying desktops in 2008.
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From what I know there won't be mainstream anything until Q3 2009.
 
Core i7? That's so.... stupid.

I realize that this is the first major overhall to the Intel-based x86 architecture in a VERY long time-- not counting the Pentium 4, it's the first in like.... 10+ years... but still. Core 3 would have been okay.

Maybe they should call it the core Athlon... since they're stealing ideas from AMD :D
 
iMacmatician said:
Around January is my estimate. Unlikely to be at MWSF unless there's a redesign.
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I'm confused by that. You think they'd release them in January, but separate from the big trade show in January? Why?

It seems like a major improvement from intel, and a major selling point for the MP, case redesign or not. Apple has showed machines at MWSF that were
new chips in existing cases.

iMacmatician said:
From what I know there won't be mainstream anything until Q3 2009.
Click to expand...

Again I'm confused. Didn't you just say the Mac Pro would likely get these chips in January? Or do you just not consider the MP to be a "mainstream" machine?


Overall, are these new chips intended to replace the xeons, the conroes (or whatever the latest version of intel's midpriced chip apple isn't using is called), or laptop chips? Or are they all just variants on the same thing? With these new chips will the xeon/conroe distinctions go away in favor of one line of chips with differences in clock speeds and number of cores? This whole thing is a bit confusing, if someone could clear it up or point to a source that does, that would be great.
 
ktlx said:
Neither of those links dispute the Intel roadmaps I've seen for dual socket Nehalem processors. Dailytech simply says servers and workstations will use registered DDR3 and so will DDR3 FB-DIMMs. Wikipedia is even less specific and simply lists them as DDR3.

Of course it's entirely possible Intel finally realized the number of server users needing FB-DIMMs in first generation dual socket system is vanishingly small. With registered DDR3 it will be straightforward to put two memory slots on each channel, for a total of twelve. Using 4GB DIMMs, that's 48GB per system. I think it's rare for people to take dual socket systems above 16GB and I think this first generation will be replaced by Q1 2010, so Intel may have decided the market for people needing more than 48GB isn't worth the added upfront and operating expense of FB-DIMMs.

I'll also be curious to see how many notoriously conservative server buyers jump on the first generation. Intel may be banking on them holding back long enough for memory manufacturers to make 8GB and 16GB DIMMs mainstream data center parts.
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Interesting, do you happen to have links of the FB-DIMM roadmap. All I was able to find is stuff seemingly making it look like the DDR3 form of FB-DIMM not being pursued.

commander.data said:
i7 is not Nehalem. Nehalem is the basically the name of the architecture. i7 doesn't even have to refer to a specific core. i7 is simply a marketing term that Intel said refers to high-end processors. Not even Extreme Edition since there will be a special grey Core i7 logo for "true" Extreme Editions while "regular" high-end processors will use a blue i7 logo. i7 will mostly refer to Bloomfield and high-end Lynnfield processors.

Intel has said that they will be introducing more marketing names to make things more clear (or less depending how you look at it). Most likely it'll something like:

Core i7 grey: $999+ Extreme Edition
Core i7 blue: $300 - $999 High-end processors
Core i5: $150-$300 Mainstream processors
Core i3: $0-$150 Low-end processors (replacing Celeron)
Click to expand...

Interesting. I would have thought they were going to just go with Core i7 Solo/Duo/Quad/Octo (assuming they can do 8 cores on one die)
 
milo said:
So with desktop chips shipping this year, what does that mean for the next Mac Pro update? Late this year a long shot, more likely January at the big mac event?
Click to expand...

The original plan was to launch Gainestown first, but it now looks to be Bloomfield will come first.

Still, I remain hopeful Gainestown will be out in time to put in the Mac Pro at Mac World 2009.


The Tall One said:
So are the MacPros gonna get 'em?
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They will not get Bloomfield, but they will (almost assuredly) get Gainestown.
 
one of the most moronic, dead uninspired names I 've come across. What a marketing department they must have....jesus....

ipod, iphone, ilife, itunes...i7...uggh makes on wanna puke...
 
BullMooseFilms said:
*I*ntel was calling things ixxx long before steverino was.

i286, i386, i486 etc. If anything Apple ripped off Intel.
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My point wasn't that intel ripped off apple, just that they followed their lead now that i-something is in fashion. I remeber the i386 days too, I am old enough, but that doesn't mean that because they did it then they are not following the current trend for it. Besides it's still a godawful name anyway you look at it...well maybe for an Austin Powers gadget i7 would be ok, but a processor...people where poking fun at amd and phenom but i7....:eek:
 
Another possibility is since Intel uses numbers to differentiate their current Core product line, perhaps they will do the same with Nehalem.

They could call each processor model by a different numerical suffix with a the numbers behind it describing how fast it is in relation to it's peers.

So as a hypothetical example, a 2.66GHz Bloomfield would be an "i710" while a 2.93GHz Gainestown would be an "i820" (not to be confused with the old Pentium III RDRAM chipset of the same designation).

Or they could all have the same "i7" prefix followed by the second number describing the CPU family and the third number describing speed.

So as a hypothetical example, a 2.66GHz Bloomfield now becomes an "i712" and a 2.93GHz Gainestown becomes an "i723".
 
milo said:
I'm confused by that. You think they'd release them in January, but separate from the big trade show in January? Why?
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Apple hasn't released a Mac at MWSF or WWDC since at least 2003 that wasn't either a new Mac, a redesign, or a revamp (Intel transition).

In the last few years Apple has released products the week before MWSF and WWDC, as well as at the end of January.

milo said:
Again I'm confused. Didn't you just say the Mac Pro would likely get these chips in January? Or do you just not consider the MP to be a "mainstream" machine?
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Mainstream is below the Extreme/performance segment Bloomfield is targeted at (although the lowest-end Bloomfield is upper mainstream).

Lynnfield (performance and mainstream desktop), Clarksfield (performance and mainstream mobile), Havendale (mainstream and value desktop), and Auburndale (mainstream and value desktop) are all slated for Q3 2009.

milo said:
Overall, are these new chips intended to replace the xeons, the conroes (or whatever the latest version of intel's midpriced chip apple isn't using is called), or laptop chips? Or are they all just variants on the same thing? With these new chips will the xeon/conroe distinctions go away in favor of one line of chips with differences in clock speeds and number of cores? This whole thing is a bit confusing, if someone could clear it up or point to a source that does, that would be great.
Click to expand...
Nehalem has multiple variants detailed here.
 
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