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SAN FRANCISCO--Intel is expected to roll out the first "Nehalem" processor for laptops on Wednesday.

Nehalem is Intel's new processor microarchitecture and is used currently in its high-performance Core i7 series of desktop processors and more inexpensive Core i5 series. The chipmaker is expected to move most laptop, desktop, and server processors to the Nehalem architecture in 2010.

The Core i7 "Clarksfield"--expected to be introduced Wednesday at the Intel Developer Forum--is a quad-core processor for higher-end laptop designs. Laptop models from major PC makers are also expected.

The Nehalem architecture will manifest itself later in laptops as "Arrandale," a dual-core CPU (central processing unit) that integrates graphics into the CPU--a first for Intel. The company demonstrated Arrandale on Tuesday in a laptop during CEO Paul Otellini's keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum.

Earlier this month, in a phone interview, Intel Vice President Steve Smith described the technology as moving its high-performance desktop Nehalem technology into laptops. "We just announced Lynnfield (the Core i5 and i7 chips for desktops), Clarksfield is the equivalent product for notebooks," Smith said at that time.

He continued: "Quad-core, 45-nanometer. Based on Nehalem technology but optimized with power management and integration of the PCI express I/O. Moving from a three-chip solution in the original Nehalem products to two chips--and that is our path going forward." I/O, or input-output, is silicon that enables a processor to talk, and shuttle data, to other parts of the system and peripheral components.

Updated on September 23 at 12:30 a.m. PDT: adding information about the Atom Developer Program.

SAN FRANCISCO--In his keynote at the Intel Developer Forum on Tuesday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini focused on moving beyond the PC while introducing a new processor technology and a new development platform for the Atom processor.

"We're moving from personal computers to personal computing," Otellini said.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini shows a next, next-generation wafer containing 22-nanometer chips

(Credit: Stephen Shankland, CNET News)

He called this a transition to a continuum. "The same experience on any device. How we build this continuum out. That's the theme," he said. "Moore's Law, platform architecture, and software--the combination of these three will allow us to build the continuum."

Otellini also had a surprise. He introduced the company's next, next-generation technology, based on a 22-nanometer process. Intel currently makes chips based on 45-nanometer technology and will move to 32-nanometer by the fourth quarter of this year. After that comes 22-nanometer chips.

Generally, the smaller the chip's geometry, the faster and more power efficient the chip is.

"The world's first working 22-nanometer silicon technology," Otellini said. He showed a wafer containing SRAM memory chips that each contained 2.9 billion transistors. "This is on track for for second half 2011."

In the more immediate future are the 32-nanometer processors. "Thirty-two-nanometer enables us to build a billion transistors in high volume. Started production on Westmere (the 32-nanometer technology) for shipment to customers in Q4." Otellini demonstrated the upcoming 32-nanometer mobile "Arrandale" processor--which integrates graphics silicon with the main processor--in a laptop.

The Intel CEO also introduced a new Intel developer program for the Atom processor in order to boost software adoption on Netbooks and expand the development of software beyond those devices. Asus, Acer, and Dell are supporting the program, Otellini said.

The program provides a framework for developers to create and sell software applications for netbooks with support for handhelds and smart phones available in the future. "We want to fuel the growth of Intel Atom-based products designed for the mobile lifestyle," said Renee James, corporate vice president and general manager, Intel Software and Services Group, in a statement.

As another example of where Atom will be used, Otellini said that automakers Daimler and BMW will use in-vehicle Atom-based infotainment systems from Harmon International in future vehicles.

Otellini also addressed the European Commission's publication on Monday of antitrust allegations against Intel. "They consistently ignored information," Otellini said. He added that customers such as Dell will come forward to state that some of the information was "wrong." In a statement, Intel said Monday that "the Commission relied heavily on speculation found in e-mails from lower level employees that did not participate in the negotiation of the relevant agreements."

Addressing the PC market, Otellini said that he expects "significant growth in 2010." This year he sees "units flat to slightly up," he said, but next year "I think the market is poised for a resurgence."

Intel is expressing Moore's Law anew as packing key technologies into fewer chips. New "Clarksfield," "Arrandale" and "Jasper Forest" processors, among others, will showcase this theme later this month at the Intel Developer Forum.

Intel Vice President Steve Smith discussed the highlights of the annual marquee Intel event that will kick off September 22 in San Francisco in a phone interview on Friday.

"Contrary to speculation that Moore's Law is slowing down or potentially dying, we're here to demonstrate that it's alive and well," Smith said. "Integration gives you a smaller, better, faster, more mobile compute platform," he said. Moore's Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years.

This theme will be manifested in a number of new processors including the first mobile processor based on Intel's new Nehalem microarchitecture codenamed Clarksfield and even more highly integrated processors to follow dubbed Arrandale and Clarkdale as Intel moves to its next-generation 32-nanometer manufacturing process.

True to its rich heritage of codenames, IDF can, at times, slide into little more than a series of codename-riddled Power Point slides, with some names sounding frustratingly familiar such as Clarksfield and Clarkdale. But codenames, for better or worse, are part and parcel of IDF.

Intel codename decoder:

• Clarksfield: 45-nanometer Nehalem mobile processor integrating I/O
  
• Clarkdale: 32-nanometer Nehalem desktop chip integrating graphics with CPU
  
• Arrandale: 32-nanometer Nehalem mobile chip integrating graphics with CPU
  
• Moorestown: 32-nanometer system-on-chip Atom for smartphones
  
• Sodaville: 32-nanometer system-on-chip Atom for consumer
  
• Pine Trail: new Atom for Netbooks integrating graphics with CPU
  
• Jasper Forest: 45-nanometer, first Nehalem embedded chip for uses such as storage hardware
  
• Larrabee: Intel discrete graphics chip that will compete with Nvidia, AMD
  
• Westmere: 32-nanometer manufacturing process technology
  

Smith said that Intel's move to the next-generation "Westmere" 32-nanometer manufacturing process will drive even more integration next year. "We have completed development and certification of the 32-nanometer process, which means our factory is fully qualified to run the wafers. And we are actually running Westmere CPU wafers through the factory in support of our Q4 revenue production. Absolutely on track for that Q4 revenue production," he said, referring to commercial production of 32-nanometer processors.

In the more immediate future, Intel will roll out a new mobile processor based on its current 45-nanometer technology. "We just announced Lynnfield (the Core i5 and i7 chips for desktops), Clarksfield is the equivalent product for notebooks," Smith said. "Quad-core, 45-nanometer. Based on Nehalem technology but optimized with power management and integration of the PCI express I/O. Moving from a three-chip solution in the original Nehalem products to two chips--and that is our path going forward." I/O, or input-output, is silicon that enables a processor to talk, and shuttle data, to other parts of the system and peripheral components.

Speaking more specifically about Clarksfield integration, Smith said that "the key elements are integration of memory controller, integration of PCI Express 'gen' 2, power management." Intel will also be talking a lot about a feature called Turbo mode. "Turbo mode is extremely important. If you're not using all the cores, the cores that are not used are powered down. The cores that you are using can run at a faster clock rate with Turbo mode," Smith said.

Smith spoke about the next-generation Atom processor for Netbooks and Nettops, "Pine Trail," too. This chip will also ... Read More

Waiting for a Core i7 laptop? While Intel is slated to release its first mobile "Nehalem" Core i7 processor in the coming months, the desktop counterpart has already spawned a cottage industry of benchmark-busting laptops.

"It's completely revitalized the desktop replacement laptop," said Kelt Reeves, president of enthusiast PC maker Falcon Northwest, referring to designs that have shoehorned a desktop Core i7 processor into a laptop enclosure.

At the very high end of Falcon Northwest's lineup, interest has shifted to models with the Core i7 processor and away from models oriented around extreme-performance graphics cards, Reeves said.

Falcon Northwest laptop can use Core i7 processors running at speeds up to 3.33GHz

(Credit: Falcon Northwest)

For instance, the Falcon Northwest FragBook DRX Core i7-based models come with Nvidia's lower-performance GeForce GTX 280M graphics processor instead of the higher-end Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology, which uses two graphics chips. But performance has actually improved in many cases, Reeves said.

"It's a much better balance of a very-high-powered CPU and a very-high-powered graphics card," he said.

Only at the highest settings in popular games like Crysis and World in Conflict did laptops using older Intel Core 2 processors with SLI graphics offer any competition to the Core i7 models, according to Reeves.

AVADirect Clevo D900F Core i7 laptop: a lot of processing power means a lot of fans (count 'em: 4)

(Credit: CNET Reviews)

But it may be too charitable to call these laptops. Sheer size and heat dissipation requirements almost defy laptop categorization. "There's a huge set of heat pipes and copper cooling fins and fans needed to duct out all that power," Reeves said.

Falcon Northwest is not the only company selling large luggable, heat-spewing laptops. CNET Reviews looked at the AVADirect Clevo D900F Core i7 laptop with the same Nvidia graphics processor and said that "the D900F handily topped all of the other performance laptops we've tested. Its processing results were more on par with the Alienware Area-51 X58 gaming desktop (using a 3.2GHz Intel Core i7 chip)."

Smooth Creations and CyberPower, among others, also offer laptops based on the Core i7 processor.

So when will the real deal appear? The first processor designated officially as a Nehalem mobile processor from Intel is expected to emerge by October. Code-named Clarksfield, it will be a quad-core processor, like the current desktop i7, but not impose the kind of thermal stress on the laptop enclosure that the current i7 does. Clarksfield is expected to have a thermal envelope (referred to as Thermal Design Power) that is below half of the current i7, which is rated at 130 watts for the highest-end processor.

Benchmark results for the Falcon Northwest Core i7 laptop are here.

Core i3, i5, i7. A straightforward, if not insipid, branding scheme, right? Wrong. Those alphanumeric identifiers are fighting words.

Last week, Intel announced a new branding scheme for its upcoming processors. In a blog, spokesman Bill Calder wrote that the branding will be "simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7)." Intel calls the "i" suffix an identifier.

The upcoming Lynnfield chip for desktop PCs, for example, will be available as either Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 depending upon the feature set and capability. The upshot of the new branding is to make it easier for less tech-savvy consumers to readily identify classes of Intel chips based three simple identifiers, according to Calder.

But judging by the tenor of many of the comments attached to Calder's brand structure blog, you would think the chipmaker had committed high treason.

In the minds of some, it did. The shortcomings of the current naming scheme notwithstanding, many tech-savvy consumers have gotten used to it. For example, Core 2 Quad means a chip built on the Core 2 architecture with 4 processing cores. Core 2 Duo indicates two cores.

One of the most common criticisms cited in the comments section is that i3, i5, and i7 are too vague. "Above all, I'd like to see...at a glance how many cores and what features they have (or have not)," one comment said. Another comment suggested that Intel add more identifiers. For example, Intel Core i5 4100, where 4 is the number of cores and 100 is a speed rating.

Yet another idea was this: Intel/name/number/year, where "name" is the product name, "number" is a bigger-is-better ranking, and "year" the year the architecture was released.

And another: "Either ditch the Celeron, Pentium and Xeon names completely or embrace them completely. These are fairly well known as the 'good, better, best'."

Updated at 12:15 p.m. PDT: adding Centrino and Deborah Conrad discussions.

Intel has spelled out its branding for the upcoming Core series of processors including the "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" chips. The chipmaker also said that "Centrino" will be phased out as a PC brand.

In a post Wednesday on Intel's Web site, spokesman Bill Calder wrote that the branding will be "simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7)."

Calder added that it is "important to note that these are not brands but modifiers to the Intel Core brand that signal different features and benefits."

The upcoming Lynnfield chip (desktop) will be available as either Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 depending upon the feature set and capability, Calder wrote. Clarksfield (mobile) will have the Intel Core i7 name.

Deborah Conrad, vice president and director of corporate marketing at Intel, talks about new branding strategy via video on Intel Web site

Arrandale (32-nanometer mobile) will appear as the Core i3 but will ultimately span the Core brand to include Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7. Clarkdale (32-nanometer desktop) will be available under the Core i3 and Intel Core i5 brands, Calder said.

The widely-used Centrino moniker will be phased out as a PC brand, according to Calder. Centrino "will be used as a name for Wi-Fi and WiMAX products" and "still be in market on mobile PCs into next year," he said. But eventually will be discontinued.

"In the back half of this year you'll begin to see Core i5 and more Core i7s coming to market. Then by the first part of next year you'll begin to see Core i3, and i5, i7," said Deborah Conrad, vice president and director of corporate marketing at Intel, speaking in a video posted on Intel's Web site. "Then the old names will get retired as those products get phased out," she said.

Intel also disclosed other branding. "We will still have Celeron for entry-level computing at affordable price points, Pentium for basic computing, and of course the Intel Atom processor for all these new devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones," according to the post. "For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer," he wrote.

"We are focusing our strategy around a primary 'hero' client brand which is Intel Core. Today the Intel Core brand has a mind boggling array of derivatives (such as Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, etc). Over time those will go away and in its place will be a simplified family of Core processors," Calder wrote.

Calder continued: "This will be an evolutionary process taking place over time, and we acknowledge that multiple brands will be in the market next year including older ones, as we make the transition."

Updated at 9:25 p.m. PDT: correcting for expected Clarksfield and Lynnfield availability.

Intel has been talking a lot about Westmere chips lately. So, here's a quick look at Intel's first chips based on 32-nanometer technology.

Chief Executive Paul Otellini addressed Westmere during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call this week, saying the Westmere chip design will ship later this year, earlier than expected. "We have shipped thousands of Westmere samples to over 30 customers already," Otellini said in the conference call.

Intel's current lineup is made up of processors based on 45-nanometer technology. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. The move to 32-nanometer will put Intel ahead of rival Advanced Micro Devices, which isn't expected to transition to 32-nanometer chips until late in 2010.

The first installment of the Westmere family, the Clarkdale and Arrandale processors, is expected later this year, according to published Intel documentation. Clarkdale is a 32-nanometer desktop processor with built-in graphics--what Intel describes as a "multi-chip package with graphics integrated in (the) processor." Arrandale is a version--also with integrated graphics--for the mobile market, due later this year.

Intel Nehalem/Westmere chip lineup

(Credit: Intel)

In 2010, a processor code-named Gulftown (see graphic) is slated to appear and will be Intel's first six-core desktop processor. The Westmere chip will plug into existing Intel motherboard designs.

Westmere will support Intel's Hyperthreading technology, which doubles the number of tasks that can be handled simultaneously.

In related news, Intel's Nehalem mobile "Clarksfield" (don't confuse with Clarkdale) and Nehalem desktop "Lynnfield" processors will come in the second half of the year, according to Intel.

Chinese-language technology Web site HKEPC says Clarksfield quad-core processors will have speeds of 1.6GHz, 1.73GHz, and 2.0GHz and range in price from $364 to $1,054.

Both Annandale (32-nanometer) and Clarksfield (45-nanometer) chips are targeted at the "thin-and-light" laptop market, according to Intel documentation.

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel plans to bring its first dual-core Atom to market next month, it was revealed here Monday during the Intel Developer Forum. The chipmaker also disclosed more details of the Nehalem processor.

The power-efficient processor will be targeted at Atom-based desktops called nettops. Currently, Intel offers the Atom N230 processor for nettops. This chip has a slightly higher power envelope than the Atom processors built exclusively for mobile devices.

That news was revealed to this reporter by an Intel employee as senior vice president Pat Gelsinger was delivering his IDF keynote, which included more specifics about Nehalem, the family of chips the company plans to begin rolling out in the fourth quarter. Gelsinger, the general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, showed the first wafer holding individual eight-core processors, detailed the power-saving features of the Nehalem processors, and confirmed future mobile Nehalem processors.

Intel Nehalem processor lineup as shown at IDF 2008

(Credit: Intel)

Also due in September is the six-core Dunnington server processor, the final member of Intel's 45-nanometer "Penryn" family, which will ship to customers next month, Gelsinger said.

Most of his keynote centered on Nehalem, and one of the features Intel was pushing hard at IDF was a technology called Turbo mode.

Turbo mode is essentially a switch that turns off unused processor cores and then uses the remaining active cores more efficiently. This kind of sophisticated power-management technology will be used in both Nehalem-based laptops and servers, according to Gelsinger, and will become increasingly necessary as Intel brings out chips with more cores like the eight-core Nehalem processor due next year.

In short, in multi-core processors, cores not doing much can still use power. So, it's better to use, for example, a couple of cores more efficiently than four cores inefficiently.

The power saving technology is enabled by "an integrated microcontroller which only works on power management," said Rajesh Kumar, an Intel Fellow, who spoke during Gelsinger's keynote. There are about 1 million transistors dedicated solely to power management, Kumar said.

The feature "requires no operating system intervention. It is fully detected and managed by the hardware. If it has detected an idle core, it is able to reallocate that power budget to the other cores," Gelsinger said in an interview after his keynote.

On another front, Intel showed the first eight-core Nehalem chip. "This is the first showing of the eight-core Nehalem-EX," Gelsinger said in his keynote. He said the chip is a monolithic design, meaning that all eight cores are on one piece of silicon.

Nehalem-EP, or Nehalem Efficient Performance, will be a quad-core chip for mainstream servers and workstations. What Intel traditionally calls two-socket servers, Gelsinger said.

The mainstream desktop will be the Core i7. "With the i7 we have high-end desktop and extreme," Gelsinger said. The extreme edition is for overclockers, he said. Enthusiast gamers often overclock processors (ratcheting up clock speed beyond the rated speed) to gain extra performance.

"Turbo Mode" is a linchpin Nehalem technology

(Credit: Intel)

But there will be more pedestrian dual-core versions of Nehalem too. "There will be versions for the desktop that will be dual-core as well," Gelsinger said.

Gelsinger also talked about Intel's plans to put graphics directly onto the same piece of silicon as the processor. This will be a first for Intel.

He described why Intel is putting graphics right next to the processor. "There's a big sucking sound near the CPU. It keeps pulling things closer to it. This is uniquely enabled by Moore's Law...and as things get closer together I'm able to drive down thermal envelopes (i.e., heat) and decrease physical form factors (i.e., enable smaller computer designs)," Gelsinger said.

Gelsinger broke down the future processor lineup--with graphics on the processor die and without--as follows. "Lynnfield and Clarksfield are the versions without graphics. Havendale and Auburndale are the versions with integrated graphics." (Even Intel executives occasionally get confused by all the code names and it took two tries for Gelsinger to get this right.)