Intel Clovertown: Quad Core for the Masses
by Jason Clark & Ross Whitehead on March 30, 2007 12:15 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
Architecture & Roadmap
It's no secret that Clovertown isn't what the purists would call a "true quad core" architecture; it is two Woodcrest processors joined together in a single package. Does it matter? In our opinion, no. Clovertown performs very well, as you will see later in the article.
Clovertown is going to be with us for most of 2007 until Penryn is released, which is essentially a die shrink to 45nm. It is doubtful we will see a "true" quad core Intel part until the next generation architecture is released in 2008, code-named Nehalem. Below is the most recent server roadmap we have for the server platform. The part marked "Future Processor" in the Xeon DP Platform and UP Platform is Nehalem. You can read more about Nehalem and Penryn in our recent article on that subject.
Clovertown at its heart is two Woodcrest parts connected together on a single package. Each pair of cores shares a single 4MB of L2 Cache, just like Woodcrest and the pair of cores shares a single 1066/1333 MHz pipe. For most Woodcrest systems, Clovertown will be a drop-in replacement after a BIOS upgrade. We tested the Clovertown in a spare Supermicro board we had in the lab, and had no issues upgrading it from dual core to quad core. For a more in-depth analysis of Clovertown architecture, check out a Johan's very thorough write-up on Clovertown.
It's no secret that Clovertown isn't what the purists would call a "true quad core" architecture; it is two Woodcrest processors joined together in a single package. Does it matter? In our opinion, no. Clovertown performs very well, as you will see later in the article.
Clovertown is going to be with us for most of 2007 until Penryn is released, which is essentially a die shrink to 45nm. It is doubtful we will see a "true" quad core Intel part until the next generation architecture is released in 2008, code-named Nehalem. Below is the most recent server roadmap we have for the server platform. The part marked "Future Processor" in the Xeon DP Platform and UP Platform is Nehalem. You can read more about Nehalem and Penryn in our recent article on that subject.
Clovertown at its heart is two Woodcrest parts connected together on a single package. Each pair of cores shares a single 4MB of L2 Cache, just like Woodcrest and the pair of cores shares a single 1066/1333 MHz pipe. For most Woodcrest systems, Clovertown will be a drop-in replacement after a BIOS upgrade. We tested the Clovertown in a spare Supermicro board we had in the lab, and had no issues upgrading it from dual core to quad core. For a more in-depth analysis of Clovertown architecture, check out a Johan's very thorough write-up on Clovertown.
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yyrkoon - Monday, April 2, 2007 - link
You can not read, and understand what I am writting, and I am the dolt or moron . . .Interresting that . . . interresting indeed. I think what I will do, is just ignore whatever else you have to say, just like the majority of other readers seemingly have done.
archcommus - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
However if Barcelona comes out and then Penryn smashes it just a few months later, yeah, then I'm gonna be worried about them. :(Griswold - Saturday, March 31, 2007 - link
Say no to drugs.anony - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
This is for the authors. Sorry if I missed it, but do the power measurementsinclude chipset power? AMD processors include the memory controller as well,
right? Do the performance/watt take this into account?
Ross Whitehead - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
We measured power at the wall, but we do not include the power for the disk chassis.Thus, performance/watt takes all of your mentioned items into account.
blckgrffn - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
I am guessing Pernyn will be different enough from Clovertown to make using vmotion (and many other enterprise features) impossible. It sucks enough that we already have two processor families in our Dell 2950's, and here comes one more.I am all for progress, it just looks like this might be something VMware has to address at some point.
Nat
Beenthere - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
...the industry. As usual Intel's "glueblob" is another rushed-out-the-door, knee-jerk reaction to AMD supplying superior CPU products. AMD is really gonna hurt Intel with Barcelona and friends.johnsonx - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
Beenthere + Cornfedone = CramitpalGriswold - Saturday, March 31, 2007 - link
You forgot to add some "fine-ass".Phynaz - Friday, March 30, 2007 - link
Wow, you really are a moron.