The world of technology is used to new gadgets and devices being unveiled on a regular basis, each claiming to offer better features than the previous ones. However, experts agree that the Intel Core i7 processors represent a significant leap in the microprocessor industry.
The basic Core i7 design is based on the Intel Core 2 processors but has undergone massive revisions and improvements in many areas – from the front end to the memory and the I/O interfaces, and has many firsts to its credit. To begin with, the processor integrates four cores into a single chip. The Core i7 has replaced the front-side bus with a point-to-point interconnect called QuickPath that offers low latency. The memory controller, in another first for Intel, is integrated onto the CPU die. There is also a brand new cache structure in the Core i7. Unlike in the previous Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad processor that just had an L1 and L2 cache, all the Intel Core i7 processors have the unique feature of L1, L2 and shared L3 caches. The cache sizes are as follows – 64K L1 cache per core, 1 MB total L2 cache and a whopping 8MB L3 cache shared across all the cores. Essentially, this means that all Intel Core i7 processors now have more than 9MB memory allowing for greater retention and faster retrieval of frequently used data. The Core i7 also uses simultaneous multi threading that enables it to run eight threads at a time.
The Core i7 series offer considerably higher speeds as well. For example, the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition features a non-turbo multiplier of 24. If you couple the base 133 MHz clock frequency with this 24 multiplier, the processor offers a speed of 3.20 GHz. The Core i7 930 on the other hand features a non-turbo multiplier of 21 taking its base clock frequency to 2.8 GHz and the base frequency of Core i7 950 is 3.0 GHz. The other dramatic change in architecture is in the number of pins – while the socket pin count in the Core 2 processors were 775, in the Core i7 they go up to 1366! The size of the die in the Core i7 processor core is 263mm2 and contains a total of 731 transistors. All these changes and improvements in architecture have resulted in delivering a product that has far greater performance potential and more bandwidth than any recently developed CPU.
Obviously, the Core i7 displays significant gains in terms of absolute performance. Almost all the applications that could support eight threads saw remarkable improvements in their performance – applications such as 3D rendering and HPC or scientific computing applications. Not surprisingly, the Core i7 has caught the fancy of many gaming and digital media enthusiasts.
Recently there had been some concern that no significant process was being made in new CPU architectures. The Core i7 has not only laid those concerns to rest but has created new frontiers for processor technologies and performance.
You can find a wide range of world-class PCs based on Intel’s Core i7 Series CPUs with latest software and hardware at Evetech. Power users, gamers and digital media enthusiasts can find customized PC systems fitted with Intel Core i7 processors at Evetech.co.za with best price in South Africa.
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