Intel preps gaming-oriented chipset for 'Nehalem'
'Tylersburg' to debut in X58
25th June 2008 09:27 GMT
Intel looks set to follow the release of its 'Bloomfield' 45nm processors - all based on the 'Nehalem' architecture - with a gamer-oriented chipset, the X58.
The chipset's specs aren't known, but it's not hard to guess. The northbridge will be 'Tylersburg', the chip that links to the host processor over Intel's new HyperTransport-like QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) bus.
Tylserburg provides the system with a PCI Express 2.0 bus - memory is managed by the 1366-pin CPU's own, on-board DDR 3 memory controller. Expect X58-based boards to offer four x8 PCIe slots and support AMD's CrossFire X multi-GPU technology.
Intel is believed to be keen to support SLI too - whether it does so will hinge on the outcome of negotiations with Nvidia.
In turn, Tylersburg connects to the ICH10 southbridge, which handles the system I/O - all the customary HD audio, USB, Gigabit Ethernet and SATA ports are provided.
The X58 should ship in Q4, alongside Bloomfield, which is expected to debut in three version clocked from 2.66GHz up to 3.2GHz. All three CPUs contain 8MB of L3 cache shared across all four cores - each core has its own complement of L1 and L2 cache; 256KB of the latter - and support all the usual Intel extension technologies except TXT (Trusted eXecution Technology). They're all said to have a power and thermal envelope of 130W.
Print
Retweet
Intel Core i7 I7-920 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz, 4x256kB, 4.8GT/s QPI, LGA 1336 Socket B)
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor (3.4GHz, 6MB L3 Cache, 4x512KB L2 Cache, 2000 MHz Bus, Socket AM3)
Intel Core i5 750 Qaud Core Processor (2.66GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.5 GT/s Bus, Socket H LGA1156)
Asus P7P55D Motherboard (Intel Socket H LGA1156, P55 Express, ATX, 16GB DDR3)
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G/SB710 Socket AM3 ATX Motherboard
