Intel claims to have the "world's best processors" for personal
computing with their Core 2 family, and The Register's
comparison with AMD's Athlon 64 seems to bear up that claim.
The new chips begin shipping this month, and we'll undoubtedly
see new desktop and notebook PCs with Core 2 by the end of the
month. Apple moving to Core 2 in the iMac and MacBook Pro would be a
good way to differentiate their midrange models from the entry
level Mac mini and MacBook. It's just a question of when, and our
guess is that Apple will move the MacBook Pro and iMac to Core 2 at
the same time it announces the Power Mac replacement.
PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing news is covered
in The 'Book Review. General
Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review.
Intel Unveils Core 2: 'World's Best
Processors'
PR: Intel Corporation today unveiled 10 Intel Core 2 Duo
and Intel Core 2 Extreme processors for consumer and business
desktop and laptop PCs and workstations, reshaping how computers
perform, look and consume power - and most importantly - transform
how people use them.
"The Core 2 Duo processors are simply the best processors in the
world," said Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel. "Not since
Intel introduced the Pentium processor has the industry seen the
heart of the computer reinvented like this. The Core 2 Duo desktop
processor is an energy-efficient marvel, packing 291 million
transistors yet consuming 40% lower power, while delivering the
performance needed for the applications of today and tomorrow."
The highly anticipated processor family already has very broad
support with more than 550 customer system designs underway - the
most in Intel's history. Ultimately, tens of thousands of
businesses will sell computers or components based on these
processors.
The Intel Core 2 Duo processors are built in several of the
world's most advanced, high-volume output manufacturing facilities
using Intel's leading 65-nanometer silicon process technology. The
desktop PC version of the processors also provide up to a 40%
increase in performance and are more than 40% more energy efficient
versus Intel's previous best processor. According to multiple
independent review organizations, the processors win more than nine
out of 10 major server, desktop PC and gaming PC performance
benchmarks.
The Intel Core 2 Duo processor family consists of five desktop PC
processors tailored for business, home, and enthusiast users, such
as high-end gamers, and five mobile PC processors designed to fit
the needs of a mobile lifestyle. Intel Core 2 Duo processor-based
workstations will also deliver industry leading performance for
such areas as design, content creation and technical computing.
The processor family is based on the revolutionary Intel
Core™ microarchitecture, designed to provide powerful yet
energy-efficient performance. With the power of dual cores, or
computing engines, the processors can manage numerous tasks faster.
They also can operate more smoothly when multiple applications are
running, such as writing e-mails while downloading music or videos
and conducting a virus scan. These dual-core chips also improve
tasks, such as viewing and playing high-definition video,
protecting the PC and its assets during ecommerce transactions, and
enabling improved battery life for sleeker, lighter notebooks.
Consumers and businesses will have the option to purchase Intel
Core 2 Duo processors as part of Intel's premier market-focused
platforms, which are made up of Intel hardware and software
technologies tailored to specific computing needs, including Intel
vPro™ technology for businesses, Intel Centrino Duo mobile
technology for laptops, and Intel Viiv™ technology for the
home.
Many of the products will also offer a selection of
Intel-designed and integrated technologies such as Intel
Virtualization Technology and Intel Active Management Technology
that make the PC more secure and manageable. Also, support for
64-bit computing now expands to notebook PCs. The new processors
can be paired with the Intel 975X, 965, and Mobile Intel 945
Express chipset family. The Intel 965 Express chipset includes the
latest integrated graphics and Intel Clear Video Technology. All
these chipsets are Microsoft Windows Vista(a) Premium Ready.
Advanced Innovations
Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Core 2 Extreme processors include many
advanced innovations, including:
- Intel Wide Dynamic Execution - Improves performance and
efficiency as each core can complete up to four full instructions
simultaneously using an efficient 14-stage pipeline.
- Intel Smart Memory Access - Improves system performance by
hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available
computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and
where it is needed.
- Intel Advanced Smart Cache - Includes a shared L2 cache or
memory reservoir to reduce power by minimizing memory "traffic" yet
increases performance by allowing one core to utilize the entire
cache when the other core is idle. Only Intel provides this
capability in all segments.
- Intel Advanced Digital Media Boost - Effectively doubles the
execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and
graphics applications.
- Intel 64 Technology - This enhancement to Intel's 32-bit
architecture supports 64-bit computing, including enabling the
processor to access larger amounts of memory.
- Mobile PC Processor Unique Features
- Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors include many advanced
innovations, including:
- Intel Dynamic Power Coordination - Coordinates Enhanced Intel
SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states)
transitions independently per core to help save power.
- Intel Dynamic Bus Parking - Enables platform power savings and
improved battery life by allowing the chipset to power down with
the processor in low-frequency mode.
- Enhanced Intel Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing - Saves
power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of
inactivity to lower CPU voltage.
Intel has been shipping production-ready Intel Core 2 Duo
processors for all segments in advance of today's unveiling.
Initial Intel Core 2 Extreme processor-based systems are now
available from system manufacturers, resellers and integrators,
including Intel Channel Partner Program members. Intel Core 2 Duo
desktop processor-based systems will be available beginning in
early August. Intel Core 2 Duo processor-based notebooks will be
available at the end of August.
- Link: Welcome to the
World's Best Processors
Core 2 MacBooks for the Holidays?
The Apple Core's Jason D. O'Grady says:
"It's pretty easy to deduce that Merom, Intel's successor to the
Yonah (a.k.a. Core Duo) chip, will find its way into a speed-bumped
MacBook Pro. The question is when.
"Intel will be announcing the Core 2 Duo chips at a press event
tomorrow (Thursday) at company headquarters in Santa Clara, CA
according to a spokesman. Although the event will focus on the
desktop Core 2 Duo chip (Conroe) the notebook version (Merom) is
expected to debut as well, with the caveat that it won't be
available until August.
"Although I originally reported that Merom may appear in the
MacBook Pro as early as August, sources close to the project have
their doubts."
- Link: Merom
MacBooks for the Holidays?
Core 2 Laptops to Ship Late August
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel has published the details of the first 'Merom' mobile
Core 2 Duo processors, though the chips will not ship in notebooks
until toward the end of August, the chip giant revealed this
morning."
- Link: Merom
Laptops to Ship Late August
Intel Inside, but Still a Mac
smarthouse.com.au's Richard Hill reports:
"Here's what all the fuss has been about. In a blaze of
headlines, Apple has abandoned its long-standing use of the PowerPC
processor in favour of new chips from Intel. A key factor in the
switch has been the lack of a competitive PowerPC chip that runs
cool enough to fit in Apple's famously slim portables, making the
MacBook Pro's release a defining
moment.
"Given the transformed architecture and instruction set driving
the MacBook Pro, its most remarkable trait is how much like the
PowerBook G4 - its immediate predecessor - it feels. Only small
details indicate any change, most notably the built-in iSight video
camera over the display - an overdue catch-up with rival
manufacturers. The screen itself has 60 pixels shaved off its
resolution to make room for the iSight's circuitry, but otherwise
meets Apple's high standards, presenting deep blacks....
"...the MacBook Pro is responsive, quiet and elegant in use,
enabling you to work without distraction. (It does run
significantly hotter than its predecessors, however.)"
- Link:
Intel Inside but Still an Apple Mac
Core 2 May Save Christmas
CNET News.com's Tom Krazit reports:
"Without a new operating system from Microsoft, the performance
delivered by the new chip could be the selling point for PCs this
holiday season.
"It might be the chip that saves Christmas.
"Intel is finally ready to launch its Core 2 Duo processor
Thursday at an event at its Santa Clara, Calif.-based headquarters,
after months of talks and PowerPoint slides. And based on the early
reviews, it appears as though Intel has a winner on
performance."
- Link:
'Tis Finally the Season for Intel's Core 2 Duo
Intel to Ship New Desktop, Laptop Chips in
August
Reuters' Aiko Hayashi reports:
"Intel Corp. said on Thursday it plans to start shipping new
processors for desktop and laptop computers in August, betting the
energy-saving chips would help the world's largest semiconductor
maker regain share from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
"Intel, which has been losing market share in computer
processors to AMD, is introducing a series of new products with
all-new designs this year. It says the chips bring better
performance and lower power consumption, counting on them to help
halt several quarters of falling sales and profits....
"The Core 2 Duo series, previously codenamed Conroe and Merom, is
the second in a range of products that use a more efficient design
after the Xeon 5100 series, a new chip for computer servers that
hit the market last month."
- Link:
Intel to Ship New Desktop, Laptop Chips in August
Intel Core 2 Duo vs. AMD Athlon 64 FX-62
The Register's Lars-Göran Nilsson reports:
"Although Reg Hardware published benchmarks for the new Intel
Core 2 Duo and Extreme chips almost two weeks ago, it has taken that
long for Intel to launch the product formally. If you've got the
cash, you should be able to pick one up today. But the question
many folk - particularly those with a preference for AMD's
processors - are still asking is, why? There's no doubt that Intel
has produced an impressive successor to the Pentium D, but can it
beat AMD's latest offerings?
"We should point out that we wanted to include full benchmarks
for AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62 in our Core 2 Duo review. AMD, alas, was
unable to supply us with one for testing. Too busy buying ATI to
make any chips, eh, lads?
"So, to give you an idea of how much faster the Core 2 Duo
architecture is, we've compared our benchmarks from the Core 2
review with those we recorded for our FX-62 review...."
- Link:
Intel Core 2 Duo vs. AMD Athlon 64 FX-62
