Intel Core 2 Extreme - Benchmarking Conroe

Intel's new Core 2 CPUs are probably the most anticipated processors yet to ship since AMD's first Athlon 64. In many ways, Intel's new desktop CPUs, set to launch in July, are the most important CPU products for the company since the original P6 processor in 1995. Intel has been promising lower power utilization and greater performance.We've described the Core 2 architecture back in March. The Core 2 microarchitecture gives us some clues as to why performance might be better. Conroe is a four-wide architecture, so can issue four instructions per clock, as opposed to the three-wide used in NetBurst and Athlon 64 architectures. The Core 2 will also contain a full 128-bit wide SSE (Streaming SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) Extensions) engine that can execute one SIMD instruction per clock. The Extreme and higher-end mainstream desktop CPUs will offer 4MB of shared L2 cache. Finally, the use of micro-ops and macro-ops fusion, which can combine certain types of instructions as they come into the pipeline, enhances performance.

Intel also had two systems set up, both with Core 2 Extreme CPUs. Please note that these were systems configured and built by Intel. We did have full freedom to look at the BIOS settings, as well as run the tests we performed on our own, with no guidance from the Intel staff present. Here's how the systems were configured:

CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme @ 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme @ 3.2GHzMemory 2GB DDR2/667 @ CAS 4-4-4-12 2GB DDR2/"733" @ CAS 5-5-5-15Storage 2 x Hitachi SATA, RAID 0 2 x Seagate SATA, RAID 0Cooling Stock Intel air cooler Intel Sealed Liquid CoolingGraphics ATI CrossFire (2 x X1900) ATI CrossFire (2 x X1900)

Best Processors In The Market!

For people who wish to get the most out of their PC, here are some of the best processors in the market that stand out for providing the best.

Intel Core i7 920

This quad core processor is being hailed as the best chip in the market today. This 2.66 GHz processor easily provides the best performance. With significant architectural changes in the x86 architecture in 13 years, the Intel Core i7 has been completely reinvented. It comes with an integrated memory controller with the capacity to support Triple Channel DDR3 Memory. This provides more maximum memory, which can be as high as 24GB, and faster access.

AMD Phenom II X4 810

This quad core chip has an operating frequency of 2.6GHz. Since it is almost the same as the previous AM2, it can fit into most of the current AMD motherboards without any problem. This chip also supports DDR3 memory. It is very reasonably priced and offers great performance, when compared to many of the more expensive chips that do not do half the job.

Intel Pentium Dual-core E2180

This chip has an operating frequency of 2GHz, 1 MB of cache and 800MHz bus. It performs very well with high definition videos, movies and gaming. Using the right motherboard, it is easily over clocked. Multi-tasking is a breeze with this and even programs that need high CPU power are taken care of with ease. This is a brilliant processor for a small price, and offers similar performance to many of the other Intel dual-core chips.

A computer is only as good as its performance in terms of speed and efficiency. A good processor can make a world of difference. With a huge variety of technologically advanced processors available today, there is one that suits every budget. Just choose the one that meets your requirements and enjoy the ultimate in computing power.

Intel Braidwood technology is based on a flash memory module.

Intel appears ready to take another crack at flash memory-based acceleration--this time offering it with future chipsets. "Braidwood is a flash memory technology that provides faster boot-up time, faster application launch, and a snappier, more responsive system," said Rob Crooke, vice president and general manager of Intel's Business Client Group, speaking during a presentation streamed over the Web from the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, earlier this week.

The architecture accelerates I/O (input/output) accesses by saving that data to flash memory, according to Crooke. In a demonstration at Computex, Crooke showed Braidwood "caching the I/O...And then, when it launches that application again, it happens very quickly," he said. On another front, Crooke also talked about the mainstreaming of Intel's Nehalem Core i7 desktop chips, which are currently limited to high-end enthusiast systems. Due later this year, the "Lynnfield" processor is a new four-core, eight-thread processor that will be paired with the P55 Express chipset. Threads essentially double the number of tasks a processor can perform.

Braidwood will be offered with the future "5 Series" chipset family--which is Intel's first single-chip chipset--and the future "Clarkdale" processor (see discussion below). Users can expect 40 percent better performance on widely used SPECint benchmarks with the Lynnfield-based platform, compared with last year's mainstream Core Q9650 processor-based technology, Crooke said.

AMD answers Intel with 'Congo,' HP laptop

AMD is aiming its Neo technology at the ultra-thin laptop market. This is the same market that Intel has addressed for a long time with its ULV (ultra-low-voltage) chips. However, until very recently, laptops using Intel's ULV chips were expensive "executive jewelry," as Intel CEO Paul Otellini has described the segment. (Think: $2,000-and-up Sony That was then. Intel now targets its ULV silicon at inexpensive ultra-thin laptops. It's probably safe to say that AMD beat Intel to the punch (and got Intel's attention) when HP announced the 0.9-inch-thick, $700 dv2 laptop at CES in January, sporting the first Neo chip.

Advanced Micro Devices will debut its dual-core low-power Athlon chip technology on an updated laptop from Hewlett-Packard next week. This will be followed by "Congo" low-power silicon later this year.The dual-core Neo chip used in the updated HP dv2 (which is exclusive to HP) will be followed by AMD's Congo technology, due in the third quarter, which integrates AMD's HD3200 graphics, an improvement over the current "Yukon" platform. The all-important power envelope--that, after all, is what sets the technology apart from mainstream mobile silicon--of the whole package including the graphics is expected to be about the same as the first-generation Neo, according to AMD.

One of the challenges that AMD faces is benchmarks. This CNET review of the first HP dv2 laptop with the initial Neo chip said that though the "1.6 GHz Neo CPU MV-40 has enough processing power to run Windows Vista smoothly, something that has tripped up Intel-Atom-powered systems" when "running multiple apps simultaneously, none of these low-power, single-core CPUs were particularly impressive, and the Neo and Atom were essentially tied in our multitasking test. By way of comparison, a standard Intel Core 2 Duo ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor, as found in more expensive 12-inch laptops, easily beats them all."

Intel Shows First Working Moorestown Prototypes

Moorestown is a chip platform designed for handheld computers that Intel calls mobile Internet devices (MIDs). The heart of Moorestown is a more power-efficient version of the Atom processor, named Lincroft, which is paired with a chipset called Langwell. Intel claims Moorestown uses one-fiftieth the idle power of its predecessor, the Menlow platform. The new platform is available with a range of wireless options, including Wi-Fi, WiMax and 3G cellular connectivity.Engineers managed to get the three devices working and ready for Computex in less than two months, a source familiar with the situation said, adding that Intel originally hoped to show five working prototypes at the show.

Anand Chandrasekher, the senior vice president of Intel's ultra mobility group, showed off a handful of sleek prototype mobile devices containing its upcoming Moorestown platform at the Computex exhibition in Taipei on Thursday.During his speech, Chandrasekher was joined on stage by executives from hardware makers Inventec Appliances, Quanta Computer and Elektrobit, who all have working handheld devices based on the chips. The devices were all running the Moblin 2.0 version of Linux and are expected to hit the market early next year, company executives said.While Moorestown is nearing volume production, the current MID platform -- called Menlow -- continues to be used in new designs, a trend that is likely to continue into next year and overlap with the availability of Moorestown, Chandrasekher said.