Core Concepts - Woodcrest and Conroe
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While Yonah is called Core (Duo or Solo) and features the new Core logo, it doesn't actually make use of the new Core microarchitecture. The first chip to carry the new architecture will be Woodcrest, the first eighth generation server and workstation chip, which is due for release on June 19, 2006. Hot on Woodcrest's heels will come Conroe, the first eighth generation desktop chip, scheduled for released on July 23, 2006. Finally, Merom, the first eighth generation mobile chip, will come out sometime in August of this year. Like Yonah, Conroe and Merom will feature the new Core branding and will be known as Core 2 but will continue the Xeon brand that Intel has used in its server-class processors since the Pentium 2 range. Intel feels that a unification of desktop and mobile brands will help end users to choose the solution that is right for them.
There are six planned versions of Woodcrest at the launch, ranging from the Xeon 5110 that features a 1.6GHz clock speed, a 4Mb L2 cache and a 1066MHz front-side bus, to the Xeon 5160 that boasts a 3GHz clock speed, 4 Mb of L2 cache and a 1333MHz FSB. Compared to a dual-core Xeon, released in October 2005, Woodcrest is purported to give 80 percent greater performance at 35 percent less power, with a proposed consumption of no more than 80W. There are already reports out there stating the Woodcrest, with a rate of execution of over 38 GFLOPS on the 3GHz variant, will be one of the best performing CPUs on the market when it is released, outperforming all existing microprocessor technologies. Power consumption is forecast to be less that 70W.
Hardware news and reviews giant Hexus was recently able to obtain two Conroe samples and proceeded to put them through some pretty rigorous benchmarking tests up against some existing, high standard processors. You can read their full report on the site, but to cut a long story short, they were very impressed with the Conroe's performance. Their samples, operating at slightly lower clock speeds than their competitors, far exceeded any of the other chips (made by both Intel and AMD) in most of the tests. This is a real seal of approval for the Conroe and demonstrates the success of Intel's new direction. Like Woodcrest, Conroe will sport an FSB of 1066MHz, with L2 cache sizes ranges from two to four MB. Power consumption is said to be in the 60-70W range with clock speeds of 1.86 to 2.67GHz.
Next: Merom >>
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