Intel Switched To “Turbo Mode” For Nehalem Processors...

Intel brought a new meaning to the word “performance” on Tuesday, during this year's Developer Forum held in San Francisco. Intel Senior Vice President Pat Gelsinger showcased that the roadmap for the chipmaker is based on higher performance and more efficient computing, and that their next generation processor family will simply go “turbo.”

Intel revealed details about its first desktop PC Core i7 processors, as well as the high-performance server products codenamed “Nehalem-EP.” These will be in the first line for production, followed by a second server derivative for the expandable sever market – “Nehalem-EX”, as well as desktop – “Havendale” and “Lynnfield,” and mobile – “Auburndale” and “Clarksfield,” clients in the second half of 2009.

Gelsinger pointed out in his keynote: “Our engineers have put together an incredible processing family here that will include a tremendous amount of new processor features all centered on delivering faster computer performance and terrific energy efficiency.”

The Nehalem chips, which are produced using Intel’s 45-nanometer manufacturing process, will benefit from the “turbo mode,” which turns off power in unused processors, thus adding up to the performance of the other cores.

Gelsinger also discussed “Larrabee,” which is expected to come out in 2009 or 2010. The first Larrabee-based product will target the personal computer graphics market, as Gelsinger explained, will support DirectX and OpenGL and will run today’s games and programs.

Intel Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Mobility Group David Perlmutter gave a live demonstration of the first mobile version of Nehalem, the laptop platform “Calpella,” which redefines compute ob-the-go, offering improved visual experience, manageability and security, as well as enhanced turbo mode features and “evolutionary power management.”

In addition to that, Perlmutter also revealed details about the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, the first ever mobile-focused quad-core laptop workstation, as well as the company’s second generation dual-core mobile processors for ultra-thin notebook PCs.

Intel also introduced the next-generation Core microarchitecture with Hyper-Threading Technology, offering up to 8-threaded performance capability on 4 cores, as well as best-in-class memeory bandwidth thanks to the QuickPath Interconnect technology, which grants up to three times the memory bandwidth of older-generation Core microarchitecture.