From CNET:

Intel ready to ship dual-core processors
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By CNET Labs manager, Daniel A. Begun
March 15, 2005

A new era for desktop CPUs has arrived with the introduction of the 
dual-core processor. AMD announced as early as June 2004 its plans to 
manufacturer dual-core processors, but the first dual-core desktop 
processors you'll actually see in shipping systems will have Intel's 
name on them. Earlier this year, Intel announced that desktop processors 
using dual-core technology will be available by the end of June, but the 
company recently hinted at March's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that 
dual-core processors could be available even sooner than that. AMD has 
stated that its dual-core desktop processors will be available in the 
second half of 2005; before that, however, AMD plans to release its 
dual-core Opteron chip for servers.

What is dual core?
------------------
Simply put, dual-core technology places two independent execution units 
onto the same processor die--think of it as two processors in one. This 
idea differs from Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, which uses a 
single (physical) execution unit but allows the processor to run two 
separate (logical) execution threads. Some of the dual-core processors 
will also include Hyper-Threading, so there will be some dual-core CPUs 
that support four independent threads (two of the threads are running on 
physical execution units, and two are running on logical units).

It turns out that dual core is just the first step; soon, we'll see even 
more multiple cores on a single processor die. Intel predicts that we'll 
see up to eight threads per desktop processor by the end of the decade 
(and up to 32 threads per server processor). It's becoming increasingly 
challenging to continue driving the clock speeds up, so developers are 
seeking out new ways to increase processor capabilities. In his keynote 
address at IDF, Intel's soon-to-retire CEO Craig Barrett equated moving 
to multiple cores as the most logical way to keep up with Moore's Law:

If you want to have transistor budgets in the billion or 10 billion 
range, you have to do things a little bit different to continue to 
double the processing capability, the processing power, on an annual 
basis. In fact, going to dual core, multi-core approaches are the way 
you would do that. You more or less throttle the clock-speed increases, 
but you're able to continue to use more and more transistors and more 
and more processing elements--cores--to bring forward great capability. 
That enables all sorts of new applications and allows us to continue the 
basic premise of Moore's Law: innovate and integrate. In this case, part 
of the innovation is taking a core and then being able to integrate many 
of those cores into a device.

Making it work
--------------
In order for dual-core technology to be adequately utilized, however, 
the operating system and the applications need to support thread-level 
parallelism--which basically means running multiple execution threads 
simultaneously. According to Intel, Microsoft Windows XP and more than 
200 applications, such as Adobe Photoshop CS and Roxio Videowave 7.0, 
are multithreaded. Most of today's multithreaded applications are of the 
content-creation ilk, which tend to perform many operations in parallel. 
As dual-core technology becomes more prevalent, you can expect to see 
more multithreaded apps become commonplace--for example, 3D-intensive 
games can take advantage of dual-core technology by using more robust 
physics and AI engines for more realistic effects and gameplay. But 
since Windows XP itself is multithreaded, you don't necessarily have to 
be running multithreaded apps to see a performance gain. Windows is a 
multitasking environment, and as such, there are usually applications 
running in both the foreground (such as the browser you are using to 
read this) and the background (such real-time virus scanning). A 
dual-core processor can execute the multiple threads of these 
applications more efficiently.

Intel claims it saw from 50 to 124 percent performance gains of a 
dual-core-based system over one using a 3.73GHz Pentium 4 Extreme 
Edition on its own multimedia application tests. For more-mainstream 
apps, Intel estimates about a 40 percent performance improvement. As 
soon as CNET Labs gets its hands on a dual-core processor, we'll put it 
through its paces to see whether it delivers on the hype.

Making its debut
----------------
The first dual-core processors we'll see from Intel will be for high-end 
desktops. One will be a Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition. It will 
feature two 3.2GHz execution units--each of which includes 1MB of L2 
cache and supports Hyper-Threading--for a total of 2MB of L2 cache and 
support for four execution threads. The CPU will operate on an 800MHz 
frontside bus and will include Intel's new 64-bit Extended Memory 64 
Technology (EM64T) and Execute Disable Bit functionality. The 206nm² die 
will be built on Intel's 90nm process technology and will include a 
whopping 230 million transistors. Intel will continue to use the LGA775 
package, but the new chip will not work in motherboards that use older 
chipsets.

The new chipset for the dual-core Extreme Edition will be the 955X 
Express chipset. It will support both 800MHz and 1,066MHz frontside-bus 
speeds, 667MHz dual-channel DDR2 memory, and up to 24 PCI Express lanes. 
Additionally, the 955X will support dual x16 PCI Express slots. Intel 
has been reticent to provide the specific details about these dual PCI 
Express slots, but the rumor mill has been speculating that, because of 
Intel and Nvidia's cross-licensing agreement, the new chipset will 
support Nvidia's SLI solution.

The other dual-core CPU we'll see soon from Intel will be the 3.2GHz 
Pentium D. The Pentium D is almost identical to the dual-core Extreme 
Edition--even down to the same number of transistors. The only 
significant difference is that the Pentium D will not support 
Hyper-Threading, so this CPU supports only two threads. The Pentium D is 
meant to be paired to the upcoming 945 Express chipset.

Waiting in the wings
--------------------
Intel's initial intent is to aim dual-core processor directly at the 
high-end performance market; the company will continue to manufacturer 
and market single-core processors for mainstream and budget customers. 
Intel predicts that by the end of 2006, however, dual-core processors 
will have sufficiently infiltrated mainstream systems to the extent that 
roughly 70 percent of all desktops and laptops shipped will use 
dual-core CPUs.

Intel also expects to move over to a 65nm manufacturing process next 
year. On the desktop front we'll see the single-core Cedar Mill 
processor and the dual-core Presler CPU. Presler will feature two Cedar 
Mill die on a single package, with 2MB of L2 cache on each core, for a 
total of 4MB of L2 cache.

Dual-core won't arrive on the mobile front from Intel until 2006, when 
the company releases its 65nm, dual-core mobile processor--Yonah--with 
2MB of L2 cache that will be shared by the two cores. Yonah will be part 
of Intel's next update to the Centrino platform, currently code-named 
Napa. Napa will consist of the Yonah processor, the Calistoga chipset 
with integrated graphics, and the Golan Wi-Fi chip. Golan will support 
802.11a, b, and g, but it is not slated to support the 
yet-to-be-approved 802.11n specification. Intel also claims that even 
though Yonah represent a significant increase in the number of 
transistors on the CPU die, the battery life will be at least as good as 
it is with the current Centrino platform.

Now that Intel has launched the first true dual-core salvo, only time 
will tell how rival AMD responds. But even more important, will 
dual-core technology live up to expectations? Check back with us 
soon--after CNET Labs is able to test dual-core's capabilities and 
report on its performance.

-- 
Regards,
Mike

Failed the exam for
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MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert
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