Intel Core i7
Intel Core i7 is Intel's brand name for several families of desktop and laptop 64-bit x86-64 processors using the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture. It is a successor to the Intel Core 2 brand. Prior to 2010, all models were quad-core processors. In 2010, the name was applied to dual-core Arrandale models, and the upcoming Gulftown Core i7-9x0X Extreme processor will have six hyperthreaded cores.
Intel representatives state that the moniker Core i7 is meant to help consumers decide which processor to purchase as the newer Nehalem-based products are released in the future. The name continues the use of the Intel Core brand. Core i7, first assembled in Costa Rica, was officially launched on November 17, 2008 and is manufactured in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon, though the Oregon (PTD, Fab D1D) plant has already moved to the next generation 32 nm process.
Processor cores
The initial Core i7 processors released were codenamed Bloomfield branded as Core i7-9xx along with their Xeon 3500-series counterparts. As of 2009, they are Intel's high-end Desktop processors, sharing the Socket 1366 platform with the single and dual-processor server processors.
Lynnfield is the second processor sold under the Core i7 brand, while at the same time being sold as Core i5. Unlike Bloomfield, it does not have a QPI interface but directly connects to a southbridge using a 2.5 GT/s Direct Media Interface and to other devices using PCI Express links in its Socket 1156. Core i7 processors based on Lynnfield have Hyper-Threading, which is disabled in Lynnfield-based Core i5 processors.
Clarksfield is the mobile version of Lynnfield and available under the Core i7 Mobile brand, as part of the Calpella platform. It was released at the Intel Developer Forum on September 23, 2009.
The second mobile Core i7 processor family will be Arrandale, sold as the Core i7-6xx processors and featuring an integrated graphics processing unit but only two processor cores, half of Clarksfield. Clarkdale (microprocessor), the desktop version of Arrandale, will not be sold as Core i7, but only as Core i3 and Core i5.
Gulftown will be the extreme version of the Core i7, with up to 6 hyperthreaded cores, 12 MB of cache, Turbo Boost and Intel QuickPath connection bus. The first release will be the Core i7 980X in Q1 2010.
Specifications
| Codename (main article) |
Logo | New Logo | Brand name (list) | L3 Cache | Socket | TDP | Min. feature size | I/O Bus | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulftown (Unreleased) |
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition | Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition logo as of 2009 | Core i7-980X Extreme Edition | 12 MiB | LGA 1366 | 130 W | 32 nm | QuickPath | Mar 2010 |
| Bloomfield | Core i7-9xx Extreme Edition | 8 MiB | 45 nm | Nov 2008 | |||||
| Intel Core i7 | Intel Core i7 logo as of 2009 | Core i7-9xx | |||||||
| Lynnfield | Core i7-8xx | LGA 1156 | 95 W | Direct Media Interface | Sep 2009 | ||||
| Core i7-8xxS | 82 W | Jan 2010 | |||||||
| Clarksfield | Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition | Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition logo as of 2009 | Core i7-9xxXM Extreme Edition | µPGA-989 | 55 W | Sep 2009 | |||
| Intel Core i7 | Intel Core i7 logo as of 2009 | Core i7-8xxQM | 45 W | ||||||
| Core i7-7xxQM | 6 MiB | ||||||||
| Arrandale | Core i7-6xxM | 4 MiB | 35 W | 32 nm | Direct Media Interface, Integrated GPU |
Jan 2010 | |||
| Core i7-6xxLM | 25 W | ||||||||
| Core i7-6xxUM | 18 W |
Intel Infoscape at the Consumer Electronics Show
The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured the Intel Infoscape, which is run on an Intel Core i7 processor. One laptop ran two 7-foot screens displaying 576 cubes connected to 20,000 information sources, including 20 live video feeds. Visitors would touch one of the cubes, and an infobox displaying that content would come forward. One journalist explained, "The graphics on the giant screens were tons of fun to move around with their uncanny quickness and smooth motion, and the whole thing felt super responsive, giving us a peek into the future. It seemed a lot like that computer screen in the movie Minority Report. It was the most spectacular demo we saw at CES 2010." Cnet speculated, "Will you be getting one in your living room? We don't think so. But it was a cool technology demo, and a brilliant way of demonstrating what the i7 platform can do."
See also