The Bish

Core i7: Your essential guide to Intel’s new killer

The launch of yet another new CPU architecture from Intel is nearly upon us. But what exactly can you expect when Core i7, the processor formerly known as Nehalem, arrives next month?

First up, Core i7 is the latest installment of Intel’s “Tick-Tock” strategy of annual processor updates. Lest you have forgotten, with Tick-Tock Intel has committed for the foreseeable future to rolling out a brand new CPU architecture one year followed by a shrink in transistor size the next.

Core i7 is a “Tick” and therefore represents a new architecture built on Intel’s existing (and extremely successful) 45nm high-K silicon process. The big noise with the Nehalem architecture is improved multi -threaded performance scaling.

That means more threads, more bandwidth, more efficient load balancing - just more of everything that matters for high performance parallel computing. And not just any parallel computing. Intel has been making a big fuss about the coming age of visual computing – advanced graphical interfaces, context aware computers capable of observing human behaviour, intelligent video and photo search and much, much more.

Core i7 is the first chip designed with that new computing paradigm in mind. To pull that off, Intel has introduced a number of new technologies. Well, if we’re being really frank, not all of the technologies are new. Some have been seen on competing chips already, others actually resurrected from Intel’s own back catalogue. Anyhow, let’s look at what is “new” for Nehalem compared with Intel’s existing Core 2 processors.

A single CPU die

Intel’s existing Core 2 quad-core chips may comfortably have the measure of AMD’s competing Phenom processor when it comes to performance. But in purely philosophical terms, there’s no doubting which is the more elegant architecture. And it ain’t Intel’s.

That’s because Intel’s current quads are actually a pair of completely separate dual-core CPU dies glued together in a single processor package. From an engineering perspective, that makes them something of a jerry-rigged kludge compared to Phenom, which has all four cores neatly arranged on a single die.

It also means that inter-core communications on a Core 2 processor can be a bit complicated. Between two cores on the same die, bandwidth is massive and latency low. But if cores on separate dies need a chat, the communication path is routed off the CPU through the north bridge chip on the motherboard. Not ideal.

Intel has done a great job in hiding the downside of its current quad-core architecture with fat on-die memory caches as well as the raw grunt of the Core 2 execution core. But as core counts rise, this approach would have become more and more of a boat anchor dragging down performance.

Consequently, all Core i7 chips will be monolithic in terms of the arrangement of the processor cores. At launch, Core i7 will be available in quad-core trim. An eight-core version is penciled in for next year and that too will have all its cores crammed into a single die.

It’s a bandwidth beast

Kiss goodbye to the northbridge chip as you knew it. The first Core i7’s will sport both the memory controller and system I/O integrated onto the CPU die. AMD’s chips have boasted essentially the same basic architecture since the launch of the Athlon 64 in 2003.

But with Nehalem, Intel has a few quirks of its own. For starters, it has created the Quick Path Interconnect (QPI). It’s a serial data interface similar, but Intel would say superior to, AMD’s HyperTransport. Initially QPI will deliver up to 6.4 billion data transfers per second, per QPI link.

Intel has also added PCI Express links directly into the CPU die. That will deliver much more bandwidth for high performance graphics cards and remove any contention issues with other system peripherals.

As for the on-die memory controller, Intel has upped the ante to three channels, the first such arrangement on a desktop PC processor. All in all, Core i7 is shaping up to be a bandwidth beast. Expect to see memory bandwidth alone more than double compared with Intel’s current desktop platforms.

First with Fusion?

A few months after the launch of the first high performance Core i7 chips, Intel will release a mainstream variant. The big news here is the optional integration of a graphics processing core. That’s something AMD has been talking about for ages with its Fusion technology. But it looks like it will actually be Intel that brings out the first CPU with integrated graphics.

However, it’s not clear whether the graphics core will actually be on the same silicon die as the CPU cores. Our best information suggests the cores and cache will be on one die with a second so-called “uncore” die housing the memory controller, graphics and system I/O.

A HyperThreading redux

When Intel launched its first dual-core desktop CPUs back in 2005, it claimed that the move to multi-core chips was just the next step in a master plan for parallel computing that had started with the introduction of HyperThreading on the Pentium 4 family of processors.

We’re not sure we buy that argument. Given the spectacular change of course Intel made when it became apparent that the prospect of Pentium 4 hitting its 5GHz+ clockspeed targets had flamed out, it certainly looked like more of an emergency tactic.

Nevertheless, Intel has had HyperThreading on the shelf and it was only a matter of time before it was re-introduced. In the Core i7 it’s essentially the same technology as before and allows each core to process two software threads simultaneously for improved multi-threaded performance. With two threads per core, Core i7 chips will pack no less than eight logical cores at launch and 16 before the end of 2009.

It’s turbo charged

Core i7’s final really fancy feature is Turbo Mode. Currently, at any given price point, there’s a trade off between the higher clock speeds of dual-core processors and the superior multi-threading of the slightly lower clocked quad-core alternative.

With Turbo Mode, Intel is attempting to deliver the best of both layouts. Core i7 chips will be capable of increasing the clockspeed of individual cores when it detects that only one or two are under heavy load. The idea is to make the most of the chip’s overall thermal ceiling when some cores are sitting idle.

A new socket

Given the fundamental change in architecture, it’s no surprise to find that Core i7 will require a new CPU socket. So, you can’t upgrade existing Intel-powered PCs with Core i7 chips.

More surprising is Intel’s decision to offer two different sockets for Core i7. At launch, the first high performance Core i7 chips will use the new LGA 1,366 socket. However, another new socket, LGA 1,160, will be used for mainstream models slated for 2009. That could make life tricky for enthusiasts who like to buy low clocking chips and run them at high speeds courtesy of performance-orientated motherboards.

The final reckoning

If those are the key highlights of the upcoming Core i7, there will also be plenty of fascinating details to dissect. With a much higher level of on-die feature integration, how will the new platform’s power consumption and performance-per-watt compare, for instance? Or could the use of different CPU sockets and platforms lead to a performance apartheid?

For the answer to those questions and a whole lot more, tune in to our comprehensive Core i7 coverage in November. We’ll be literally carpet bombing Intel’s new platform with benchmarks in the quest for knowledge and quite possibly breaking at least one very important world record in the process…

By Jeremy Laird

So I was not going to go. My car is dizzle dead and I didn’t want to spend a trillion dollars to rent one.

Though it looks like im going now thanks to the interwebs @ lanfest.intel.com. I got a ride from a human who lives in canon city. He/She shall pick me up here in the sprizzle springs.

I can’t wait.

Time for a real post, full of shit you don’t care about.

First things first. My PC build, so far, has been phenominal. I haven’t had a single issue with the hardware or my drivers. TF2 runs like a champ. I didn’t realise how hard my AMD4000 was bottlenecking my 8800GT. The new E8500 has opened the gates, and there is much treasure to be found. I’ve been playing a lot of UT3 lately because eye candy is sex…for the eyes. I need to snag the Crysis demo and see how that runs, and when I get home today I’ll run a 3dmark06 benchmark and post my scores here…though I don’t really think there’s anyone who actually reads my blog who would know what the hell 3dmark06 is.

Things arn’t looking too bright for next weekend; I may not be able to attend the Intel Lanfest. It sucks because I already paid $25 for my damn seat.

Henrie 2nd handed me a LCD monitor, keyboard, and my old mouse back. As soon as I can snag my 8500GT or a co-workers 7800GTX I can finally get windows installed on my old rig. Good thing I posted more shit about my computer(s) huh?

Im on hold right now with Mitchells TAC, our Ultramate supporters, while im blogging. Shittiest hold music ever. It’s like jazz+tribal war music….and right now, island music just kicked in…what the hell.

I started this new post to talk about other non-computer things that were on my mind. I forgot them all? I have tommorrow off. To do nothing. It will be epic. Call me for hang outs and blue berries.

I WANT to see religulous.
I WANT to eat sushi tommorrow.
I WANT to defrag my PC(s).
I NEED to pay my bills.
I NEED to clean my room.
I NEED to do my laundry.
I SHOULD sell my WoW account.
I SHOULD NOT play Warhammer Online.
I WISH I could grow facial hair as opposed to facial pubes.

From Dawkins/MSNBC

Scientists confirm shark’s ‘virgin birth’

Pup carried by Atlantic blacktip shark contained no male genetic material

By Steve Szkotak

RICHMOND, Va. - Scientists have confirmed the second case of a “virgin birth” in a shark.

In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.

The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Neb., zoo.

“This first case was no fluke,” Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. “It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion.”

The aquarium sharks that reproduced without mates each carried only one pup, while some shark species can produce litters numbering in the dozen or more. The scientists cautioned that the rare asexual births should not be viewed as a possible solution to declining global shark populations.

“It is very unlikely that a small number of female survivors could build their numbers up very quickly by undergoing virgin birth,” Chapman said.

The medical mystery began 16 months ago after the death of the Atlantic blacktip shark named Tidbit at the Virginia Beach aquarium. No male blacktip sharks were present during her eight years at the aquarium.

In May 2007, the 5-foot, 94-pound shark died of stress-related complications related to her unknown pregnancy after undergoing a yearly checkup. The 10-inch shark pup was found during a necropsy of Tidbit, surprising aquarium officials. They initially thought the embryonic pup was either a product of a virgin birth or a cross between the blacktip and a male of another shark species — which has never been documented, Chapman said.

Tidbit’s pup was nearly full term, and likely would have been quickly eaten by “really big sand tiger sharks” that were in the tank, Chapman said in a telephone interview from Florida.

That is what happened to the tiny hammerhead pup in the Omaha case.

“By the time they could realize what they were looking at, something munched the baby,” he said of aquarium workers. The remains of the pup were used for the DNA testing.

Virgin birth has been proven in some bony fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds, and has been suspected among sharks in the wild. The scientists who studied the Virginia and Nebraska sharks said the newly formed pups acquired one set of chromosomes when the mother’s chromosomes split during egg development, then united anew.

Absent the chromosomes present in the male sperm, the offspring of an asexual conception have reduced genetic diversity and, the scientists said, may be at a disadvantage for surviving in the wild. A pup, for instance, can be more susceptible to congenital disorders and diseases.

The scientists said their findings offer “intriguing questions” about how frequently automictic parthenogenesis occurs in the wild.

“It is possible that parthenogenesis could become more common in these sharks if population densities become so low that females have trouble finding mates,” said Mahmood Shivji, one of the scientists and director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

The DNA fingerprinting techniques used by the scientists are identical to those used in human paternity testing.

Chapman, who is with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook, was assisted in the study by Beth Firchau of the Virginia Aquarium.

Chapman and Shivji were on the team that made the first discovery of virgin birth involving the Nebraska shark.

fin.

Like I know I get time off for this, and I knew when it was going to happen…it just looks way funny when it’s actually in front of my face.

FYI: I’ll be building my PC tonight. I decided I’ll take a shit ton of pics and post/create a “making of.”

So here is the final config for my new PC, which I should be able to build on friday if all my parts arrive on time. I was going to buy a POS case to xfer my current and soon to be old parts in. But I realised that my current case is already a POS with the minimal airflow provided by my 80mm fans.

CASE: Antec 300
CPU: E8400 3.16 6MB L2 Shared
MOBO: EVGA 750I FTW
RAM: OCZ 2GB(2×1)DDR2 800 5-5-5-15
HD: Seagate 250GB SATA 16MB Cache
VID: MSI 8800GT 512 DDR3
PSU: Thermaltake 650W

I also snagged me a SATA dvd/cd rom burner as I despise IDE cables. Laura is gonna take my old PC. Well, it’ll be in my room for anyone to use. I’ll have to put in a weaksauce 8500GT for now, and am also downgrading the HD from the 250GB SATA to an 80GB IDE. Lastly I have a spare 550W PSU to throw into the rebuild. I can’t waits.

Also I’m seat H12 @ the Intel Lanfest, wewt!

Peace.

So I’ve been wanting to upgrade my PC lately. After my previously failed AMD 5000+ BE upgrade, I RMA-ed all the parts back, ebayed the others, and then swore off AMD until they get their shit together. They’re still humping 90nm.

Anyways the decision came down to an E8400 or an E8500. Right now newegg.com has them priced @ 169.99 and 189.99 respectivly. I came into work today and a co-worker informed me that frys.com had the E8500 for 149.99. Makes no fucking sense. I have no idea why it’s that cheap right now, but they sold out after 1-2 hrs. I was able to snag me one though. So my E8500 should be here on tuesday/wednesday. I’ll get my motherboard next week also too. I’m Still trying to decide/need a paycheck. Im going for the EVGA 750i FTW. It will be sex. I still have my OCZ DDR2 800 from my AMD upgrade. I’m thinking of rebuying more ram though. Either some DDR2 1066…though it seems kind of silly, as im going to over clock anyways, so my DDR2 800 I have now will essentially be DDR2 1066. Or im just going to rebuy more DDR2 800 w/ lower CAS. Mine right now is 5-5-5-15. Newegg.com still has some corsair ram with 4-3-5-12 timings. Which is pretty sexy. Though I cant OC that ram, as it will need 5-x-x-x timings. O well.

If things go well, I’ll pick up another mid tower and migrate my current/old parts to it so Laura can rock the TF2 with me. Wewt.

All I want to do is stare @ eye candy in TF2. Im a picky son-a-bitch and if im not getting perfect FPS I put all setting to low and turn off AA and AF. I should be able to play with motion blur, HDR, and all that gud shit nigs.

Sigur Ros @ Red Rocks is tommorow. My ears are excited. So are my lungs and liver.

From the P-Zizzle

We have a new euphemism and a potential new regulation from the Bush administration: “provider conscience rights”. What this is about is providing religious doctors with loopholes so that they can avoid responsibility for treating patients with the best possible care — so they can use religious excuses to justify neglect. You can read the press release, Regulation Proposed to Help Protect Health Care Providers from Discrimination, and of course the odious Mike Leavitt has mentioned it. This is a proposed new rule that if, for instance, a doctor with superstitious scruples is treating a rape victim, he would not only be allowed to refuse her emergency contraception, he wouldn’t even be required to refer her to someone who could give it to her, or even mention that the option existed. Apparently, the ignorant dogma of the health care provider supersedes the right of the patient to informed consent and appropriate care.

This is open for commentary for the next few days. Again, I notice the web page has a bizarrely twisted title: “Ensuring that Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices In Violation of Federal Law”. Now asking that doctors behave ethically with respect for the rights of the patient is now “coercive”. Who cares about the patient, though? Isn’t medicine all about the doctor imposing his or her will, right down to his arbitrary beliefs about deities, on the patient?

Lois Uttley, a well-known defender of patient rights, has spelled out a few general principles which are being defied by this new regulation. Maybe you could use some of these when expressing your objections.

Principles of a Progressive Response:

The welfare of the patient must be at the center of medical decision-making and treatment.

Patients must be able to make treatment decisions based on accurate medical information and their own ethical or religious beliefs.

Protecting Patients’ Rights: Five Key Principles

A patient’s right to informed consent must be paramount. No information may be withheld.

Institutional treatment restrictions must be disclosed to patients in advance.

Get out there and speak out for your right to not be bound by your doctor’s freaky religion. This is especially important for women, since anything to do with reproduction seems most likely to induce gibbering meltdowns among the religious right — and they’re going to use their delusions to deny you good healthcare.

I finally ordered some new jugglin’s last night. Got me 5 more OFFICIAL WFJ 2.5 inch juggling balls. The same kind used by the god Jason Garfield. I got red ones again. Only other colors were yellow white or black. I didn’t want to lose the balls as they passed by my skin so yellow was a no go. White would just get dirty. And I wouldn’t be able to juggle the black ones at night. RED IT IS!

Sigur Ros on the 27th. It shall be worthy of epicness. Those going so far, Me, Laura, Lauren, Brandon, Tyler, Lindsay, Zack + his ninja friends, and lauren’s gangsta friends from Louisiana.

EDIT** Oh yeah, my ceiling in my closet has a huge fucking hole and water is dripping through/out. I have no idea if it clean or “dirty” water. Ew.