Intel® Celeron® Processor

The Intel® Celeron® processor-based desktop platforms offer a robust computing experience together with the outstanding quality and reliability you expect from Intel.

Systems based on the Intel® Celeron processor are ideal for day-to-day computing, whether in the home, classroom, or office.

Take basic computing to new levels with dual-core processing. The Intel® Celeron® processor, with 512 KB of shared L2 cache and 800 MHz Front Side Bus, has two independent processor cores in one physical package running at the same frequency, delivering superior energy efficient dual-core performance.

The Intel® Celeron® processor is also an exceptional value for single-core desktop computing delivering a balanced level of proven technology.

Features and benefits:

For dual-core and single-core processing:
Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution	Enables delivery of more instructions per clock cycle to improve execution time and energy efficiency.
Intel® Smart Memory Access	Improves system performance by optimizing the use of the available data bandwidth.
Intel® Advanced Digital Media Boost	Accelerates a broad range of multimedia, encryption, scientific and financial applications by significantly improving performance when executing Intel® Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE/SSE2/SSE3) instructions.
Intel® 64²	An enhancement to Intel’s 32-bit architecture to enable the processor to access larger amounts of memory.
Execute Disable Bit³	Provides enhanced virus protection when deployed with a supported operating system.
Intel designed thermal solution for boxed processors	Intel boxed processors ship with a thermal solution specifically for this processor designed for maximum thermal and acoustic performance.
For dual-core processing only:
Intel® Advanced Smart Cache	The shared L2 cache is dynamically allocated to each processor core based on workload. This increases the probability that each core can access data from fast L2 cache, significantly reducing latency to frequently used data and improving performance.

Intel® Pentium® Processor E6500 (2M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 FSB)

Essentials

Status	Launched
Launch Date	Q3'09
Processor Number	E6500
# of Cores	2
Processor Base Frequency	2.93 GHz
L2 Cache	2 MB
Bus/Core Ratio	11
FSB Speed	1066 MHz
Embedded	Yes
Supplemental SKU	No
Lithography	45 nm
Max TDP	65 W
VID Voltage Range	0.85V – 1.3625V
1ku Bulk Budgetary Price	$84.00

Package Specifications

TCASE	71.4°C
Die Size	82 mm2
# of Transistors	228 million
Sockets Supported	LGA775
Halogen Free Options Available	Yes

Intel® Pentium® Processor

The Intel® Pentium® processor delivers great desktop performance, low power enhancements, and multitasking for everyday computing.

The Intel® Pentium® processor with Intel® dual-core technology delivers great desktop and mobile performance, low power enhancements, and multitasking for everyday computing.

Features and benefits:

Go beyond everyday computing

The Intel Pentium processor delivers enhanced performance for everyday computing needs such as listening to digital music and editing digital photography and improved responsiveness with office applications.

Smarter, more efficient designs

Intel® Smart Cache enables smarter, more efficient cache and bus design for enhanced performance, responsiveness and power savings.

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor

The power to perform. With power-optimized enabled dual-core technology and exceptional energy efficiency, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor excels running the most intense applications.

Investing in new PCs with Intel® Core™2 processor family can mean big savings for your business. Delivering faster performance, greater energy efficiency, and more responsive multitasking, desktop PCs with Intel® Core™2 processor family can help your whole company be more productive.

Features and benefits:

Get the best overall performance with Intel® Core™2 Duo processor you'll get an arsenal of performance-rich technologies, including up to 6MB of shared L2 cache and up to 1333 MHz Front Side Bus.

Enjoy 3X faster multitasking performance with multi-core processing combines two independent processor cores in one physical package. Processors run at the same frequency and share up to 6MB of L2 cache and up to 1333 MHZ Front Side Bus for truly parallel computing with over.

Improve execution time and energy efficiency with more instructions per clock cycle enabled by Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution.

Get smarter, more energy-efficient performance enabled by Intel® Intelligent Power Capability.

Improve system performance enabled by Intel® Smart Memory Access, optimizing the use of the available data bandwidth.

Get higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem enabled by Intel® Advanced Smart Cache, optimized for multi-core and dual-core processors.

Accelerate a broad range of applications, including video, speech and image, photo processing, encryption, financial, engineering and scientific applications, enabled by Intel® Advanced Digital Media Boost.

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor

Multimedia enthusiasts, prepare to enthuse. Bring quad-core performance to your desktop with the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor. It's the ideal engine for highly threaded entertainment applications and highly productive multitasking.

Introducing the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor for desktop PCs, designed to handle massive compute and visualization workloads enabled by powerful multi-core technology. Providing all the bandwidth you need for next-generation highly-threaded applications, the latest four-core Intel Core 2 Quad processors are built on 45nm Intel® Core™ microarchitecture enabling faster, cooler, and quieter desktop PC and workstation experiences.

Plus, with optional Intel® vPro™ technology, you have the ability to remotely isolate, diagnose, and repair infected desktop and mobile workstations wirelessly and outside of the firewall, even if the PC is off, or the OS is unresponsive.

Features and benefits:

With four processing cores, up to 12MB of shared L2 cache and 1333 MHz Front Side Bus the Intel Core 2 Quad desktops processor delivers amazing performance and power efficiency enabled by the all new hafnium-based circuitry of 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture.

Whether you're encoding, rendering, editing, or streaming HD multimedia in the office or on the go, power your most demanding applications with notebooks and desktops based on the Intel Core 2 Quad processor.

Plus, with these processors you get great Intel® technologies built in:

Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution, enabling delivery of more instructions per clock cycle to improve execution time and energy efficiency

Intel® Intelligent Power Capability, designed to deliver more energy-efficient performance

Intel® Smart Memory Access, improving system performance by optimizing the use of the available data bandwidth

Larger Intel® Advanced Smart Cache, optimized for multi-core processors, providing a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem.

Intel® Advanced Digital Media Boost, accelerating a broad range of multimedia, encryption, scientific and financial applications by significantly improving performance when executing Intel® Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE/SSE2/SSE3) instructions.

Intel® HD Boost³, implementing new Intel® Streaming SIMD Extension 4 (Intel SSE4) instructions for even greater multimedia performance and faster high definition video editing and encoding.

Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)², enabling greater security, manageability, and utilization.

Future ready, designed to perform in highly threaded programs with powerful Intel® multi-core technology.

Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor

For extreme computing. Enjoy revolutionary levels of performance enabling vivid, high-definition experiences and multi-tasking responsiveness from state-of-the-art Intel dual-core and quad-core technologies.

Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core processor

with four processing cores the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers unrivaled performance for the latest, greatest generation of multi-threaded games and multimedia apps.

Now with a new version based on Intel's cutting edge 45nm technology utilizing hafnium-infused circuitry to deliver even greater performance and power efficiency. The Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770 running at 3.2 GHz delivers the best possible experience for today's most demanding users.

• 12 MB of total L2 cache
• 1600 MHz front side bus

Features and benefits:

Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution, enabling delivery of more instructions per clock cycle to improve gaming execution time and energy efficiency

Intel® Deep Power Down Technology, designed to deliver extreme energy-efficient performance

Intel® Smart Memory Access, improving system performance by optimizing the use of all available data bandwidth

Intel® Advanced Smart Cache, providing a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for industry leading multi-threaded games

Intel® Advanced Digital Media Boost, accelerating a broad range of applications, including ultra-realistic game physics and human-like artificial intelligence for an intense gaming experience unlike any other. Now improved even further on 45nm versions with Intel® HD Boost utilizing new SSE4 instructions for even better multimedia performance

Intel® Core™ i5 processor

Intelligent performance that accelerates in response to demanding tasks. The Intel® Core™ i5 processor is a great solution for the multimedia multitasker.

Features and benefits:

Get a major boost in PC power with the intelligent performance of the Intel® Core™ i5 processor.

Intel® Core™ microarchitecture is Intel’s latest generation of dynamically scalable microarchitecture. The Intel® Core™ i5 processor is based on the same energy-efficient processor core as the Intel® Core™ i7 processor, but is designed for mainstream computing.

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload—more performance when you need it the most.

Integrated memory controller enables two channels of high-speed DDR3 1333 MHz memory. This memory controller's lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications.

Intel® Smart Cache provides a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for industry-leading multi-threaded games.

Intel® Core™ i7 processor

With faster, intelligent multi-core technology that automatically applies processing power where it's needed most, Intel® Core™ i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. They're the best desktop processors family on the planet.

Features and benefits:
Go to the next level of multi-core performance.
Intel Core i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in quad-core performance and feature the latest innovations in processor technologies:

Intel® Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload—more performance when you need it the most.

Intel® Hyper-Threading technology enables highly threaded applications to get more work done in parallel. With 8 threads available to the operating system, multi-tasking becomes even easier.

Intel® Hyper-Threading technology enables highly threaded applications to get more work done in parallel. With 8 threads available to the operating system, multi-tasking becomes even easier.

Intel® QuickPath Interconnect is designed for increased bandwidth and low latency. It can achieve data transfer speeds as high as 25.6 GB/sec with the Extreme Edition processor.

Integrated memory controller enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. This memory controller's lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications.

Intel® HD Boost significantly improves a broad range of multimedia and compute-intensive applications. The 128-bit SSE instructions are issued at a throughput rate of one per clock cycle, allowing a new level of processing efficiency with SSE4 optimized applications.

Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition

Conquer the world of extreme gaming with the fastest processor on the planet: the Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition. With faster, intelligent multi-core technology that responds to your workload, it delivers an incredible breakthrough in gaming performance.

Features and benefits:
Get extreme with your gaming and advanced multimedia.
Intel Core i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in quad-core performance and feature the latest innovations in processor technologies:

• Intel® Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload-more performance when you need it the most.
• Intel® Hyper-Threading technology enables highly threaded applications to get more work done in parallel. With 8 threads available to the operating system, multi-tasking becomes even easier.
• Intel® Smart Cache provides a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for industry leading multi-threaded games.
• Intel® QuickPath Interconnect is designed for increased bandwidth and low latency. It can achieve data transfer speeds as high as 25.6 GB/sec with the Extreme Edition processor.
• Integrated memory controller enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. This memory controller's lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications.
• Intel® HD Boost significantly improves a broad range of multimedia and compute-intensive applications. The 128-bit SSE instructions are issued at a throughput rate of one per clock cycle, allowing a new level of processing efficiency with SSE4 optimized applications.

Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition

The highest performing desktop processor on the planet. Shatter the limits of desktop computing with the intelligent performance of the Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition, the smartest way to blast through highly-threaded games and applications.

Intel® Core™ Processor Family

Intel® Core™ processors are the newest, smartest, and fastest processors from Intel, delivering outstanding intelligent performance. The culmination of 40 years of technology leadership, Intel Core processors are the foundation for reliable, responsive, energy-efficient PCs.

Desktop Processors

There are a large number of desktop processors available and this list was generated to point out the three major categories of processors for both the Intel and AMD product lines. The three categories listed are the top performance processors, best value processors (<$250) and best budget processors (<$100). This allows users to select the CPUs best suited to their budgets. If you are looking at purchasing a fully built desktop computer or building one yourself, check out which processors you should be looking to fit your price range.

Outdated Processors
Processors that fall into this category are generally no longer in production by the manufacturers and are typically sold in either budget systems or older refurbished systems. Machines with these processors will typically take longer to run application and possibly might not even run some of software on the market today. It is best to try and avoid systems with these processors unless you want to use a computer for the very basic functions such as word processing and general web browsing.

• AMD Athlon 64 (Non-Dual Core/X2 Models)
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 (Older Socket A Models/DDR Memory RAM Models)
• AMD Athlon XP
• AMD Athlon X2
• AMD Sempron LE
• Intel Celeron
• Intel Celeron Dual-Core
• Intel Pentium 4
• Intel Pentium D
• Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2000 Series

Budget Processors
These are processors that may or may not be in production anymore by the manufacturers but are very inexpensive and functional. There are typically two types of processors that will fall into this category: older high-end processors no longer manufactured and new low end budget processors. Discontinued high-end processors typically provide a better bang for your buck functionally. While they may have a slightly lower clock speed, their architecture of the processor tends to allow them to actually perform better at most computing tasks than newer budget processors.

• AMD Athlon II X2 200 Series
• AMD Athlon II X2 500 Series
• AMD Athlon II X4 600 Series
• AMD Phenom X3 8450 and Higher
• AMD Phenom X4 9650 and Lower
• AMD Phenom II X2 545 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X3 710 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X4 810
• Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 and higher
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8190 and higher
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 to Q8300
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
• Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 and Higher
• Intel Pentium E6300 and Higher

Middle Processors
This is the segment of the market that is probably the best overall value for your computing dollar. While they are not the fastest processors on the market, they still perform very well in all aspects of computing. They may not have the total functional lifespan of the highest end processors, but the price to performance ratio tends to outweigh their longevity.

• AMD Phenom X4 9850 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X4 920 and Higher
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 and Higher
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 to Q9650
• Intel Core i5 750
• Intel Core i7 860 and Higher
• Intel Core i7 920 and Higher

Intel® Centrino® 2 with vPro™ technology and Intel® Core™2 mobile processor

• Get the highest performing mobile workstation processor optimized for people on the move.
• Enjoy great graphics and visualization with enhanced 3D and high-definition video capabilities.
• Experience mobility made better, designed for the longest possible battery life and excellent wireless connectivity.

Intel® Xeon® processor W3500 series and Intel® Core™2 processor family

Designed for single processor workstations, the Intel® Xeon® processor W3500 series, with intelligent performance features delivers the scalable performance necessary for premium single processor workstation experience;

enabling digital content creation, engineering, and financial users to create new ideas faster than ever before.

Intel® Core™2 processor family provides entry workstation users a functional feature set that delivers a rich workstation experience for entry design and development.

Intel® Xeon® processor W5590

Designed specifically for workstations, the Intel® Xeon® processor W5590 series with intelligent performance creates a new category—the digital workbench, combining high-performance computing (HPC) and workstation features into a single powerful innovation platform.

With digital workbenches, users can:

• Create virtual wind tunnels
• Simulate virtual drop test
• Virtually test for manufacturability and assembly
• Virtually test ideas with customers with photo-realistic digital mockups

Intel® Workstation Processors

Changing ideas into reality just became faster. Workstations based on the Intel® Xeon® processor W5590, built on the new Intel® microarchitecture, codenamed Nehalem, deliver intelligent performance features that scale performance to meet your most daunting workstation tasks. Design, model, create, and visualize faster on innovation platforms powered by Intel.

Intel® Itanium® Processor 9000 Sequence

Itanium®-based servers deliver the scalable performance, reliability, and headroom for your most compute-intensive workloads, including direct replacement for RISC and mainframe platforms. Because Itanium processors are available in commercial off-the-shelf hardware from a rich ecosystem of system and solution providers, they can quickly meet mission-critical needs.

Itanium-based servers are incredibly scalable, allowing configuration in systems of as many as 512 processors and a full petabyte (1024TB) of RAM. Together with full support for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, that capacity provides unmatched flexibility in tailoring systems to your enterprise needs.

• Large-scale databases, data warehouses, ERP, business intelligence, and data analytics
• Scales up to 512 processors and an incredible full Petabyte (1024TB) of RAM
• Ultimate scalable performance, flexibility, and reliability

Features and benefits:
Dual-core processing, EPIC architecture, and Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology	Supports massive, multi-level parallelism for today's data-intensive workloads Provides headroom for fast access to information and real-time decision making Delivers fast responses to complex computations
Support for up to 512 processors and one petabyte (1024TB) RAM	Provides scalable performance for enterprise flexibility Gives IT the ability to increase processor and memory capacity as needed, in an open-ended framework
Up to 24MB of low-latency L3 cache	Prevents idle processing cycles with a high-bandwidth data supply to the execution cores Increases the efficiency of the memory subsystem
Intel® Cache Safe Technology	Automatically recovers cache after cache errors Delivers mainframe-class availability
Enhanced machine check architecture	Automatically detects, logs, and corrects errors Provides maximum system uptime
Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)	Reduces virtualization complexity and increases performance Increases operating system compatibility
Demand-based switching	Dynamically reduced energy consumption during typical CPU utilization (in conjunction with enabled OS)
Core level lock-step	Enables one processor core to mirror the operations of the other

Intel® Xeon® processor 3000 sequence

The Intel® Xeon® processor 3000 series-based platforms unleash the computing power of Intel® Xeon® processors. Based on the next-generation Intel® microarchitecture, codenamed Nehalem, these processors provide your business with exceptional performance and power efficiency at a very affordable cost.

The Intel Xeon 3000 processor-based servers protect critical business information and offer the performance and headroom to make employees and businesses more productive, making them ideal for small and medium business owners looking for ways to support rapid business growth on small technology budgets.

• Intelligent Xeon processor-based servers adapt to your diverse workloads, automatically delivering peak performance when your business needs it
• Dependable Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers protect your critical business information by providing error correcting memory and support for redundant storage capabilities
• With the increasing dependence on computers, the Internet, and digital data, an Intel® Xeon® processor-based server offers the performance and headroom to keep your employees productive as your business grows

Features and benefits:

Next-generation Intel® microarchitecture, codenamed Nehalem	Intelligent next-generation Intel® microarchitecture adapts to the workload, automatically increasing processor frequency for greater performance.
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology	Better performance enabled by Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, increasing processor frequency and enabling faster speeds when conditions allow
Intel® Intelligent Power Technology	Lower energy costs while minimizing impact to performance by automatically putting processor and memory into the lowest available power state.
Integrated power gates	Power to the individual processor cores is reduced to near-zero power, independent of other operating cores.
Intel® Virtualization Technology	A suite of virtualization-specific hardware enhancements to Intel® processors, chipsets, and I/O devices to increase application reliability, security and overall system performance Enhancements to Intel Virtualization Technology performance that further speeds up virtual machine transition (entry/exit) times. Supports hardware assist for I/O virtualization using Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (Intel® VT-d).
Intel® 64 architecture	Flexibility for 64-bit and 32-bit applications and operating systems

Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series

Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 Sequence Overview:

The Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series is designed to handle any IT consolidation project with ease while maintaining peak load application responsiveness. With key innovations like large on-die L3 cache, support for four or more processors, and expanded memory of up to 256 GB, servers based on the Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series is the ideal choice for your large virtualization projects and data-intensive, business-critical performance requirements.

• Extending today's lead in virtualization performance with built-in hardware assisted features and breakthrough gains in performance and energy efficiency
• Built for data-demanding enterprise applications with up to 6 cores and a large shared 16MB L3 cache per processor, enabling more transactions per server
• More headroom, improved reliability, and the highest scalability available for large scale server consolidation and business-critical virtualization

Features and benefits of the Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series:

Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series	Scalable performance with decreased footprint and power demands Industry's lowest watt per core platform with available 65 watt processor Based on 45nm Intel® Core™ microarchitecture enabling low voltage options for ultra-dense deployments Platform compatible with previous generation Intel® Xeon® processor 7300 series
Hardware-assisted virtualization technology	Maximize virtual machine density through large memory capacity and more processor resources Investment protection and flexibility with Intel® Virtualization Technology FlexMigration (Intel® VT FlexMigration) More efficient disaster recovery and high availability through virtualization Broadest ecosystem support with virtualization software providers and leading OEMs
Up to 16 MB shared L3 cache	Keeps more needed data closer to the cores for access faster than off-chip memory
Intel® 64 architecture	Flexibility for 64-bit and 32-bit applications and operating systems
Enhanced reliability and manageability	Outstanding platform reliability with many memory controller features, combined with PCI Express* RAS features Error Correcting Code (ECC) system bus, new memory mirroring and I/O hot-plug

Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series

Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 Sequence Overview:

The Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series automatically and intelligently adjusts server performance according to your application needs for an up to 9x performance gain over single-core servers at 18 percent less operating power. This enables you to achieve a 9:1 server consolidation ratio, reducing operating costs by up to 90 percent resulting in an estimated 8-month return on a new server investment.

• Faster performance enabled by Intel® microarchitecture, codenamed Nehalem
• Automatically increase processor frequency and utilize Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) as needed
• Efficiently manage energy expense by scaling power consumption to workload, enabled by Intel® Intelligent Power Technology
• Next generation Intel® Virtualization Technology enables best-in-class virtualization performance, superb scalability, enhanced flexibility, and simplified server management
• Intel® Data Center Manager (Intel® DCM) software development kit provides power and thermal monitoring and management for servers, racks, and groups of servers in data centers. Management Console Vendors (ISVs) and System Integrators (SIs) can integrate Intel® DCM into their console or command-line applications and provide high-value power management features to IT organizations.

View the demo
Go inside the latest innovations in Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, Intel® QuickPath Technology, and Intel® Hyper–Threading Technology.

Features and benefits of the Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series:

Next-generation Intel® microarchitecture	Intelligent next-generation Intel® microarchitecture adapts to the workload, automatically increasing processor frequency for greater performance
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology	Better performance enabled by Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, increasing processor frequency and enabling faster speeds when conditions allow
Intel® Intelligent Power Technology	Lower energy costs while minimizing impact to performance by automatically putting processor and memory into the lowest available power state
Integrated power gates	Individual cores are reduced to near-zero power independent of other operating cores
Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)	Virtualize different generations of Intel® Xeon® processor–based servers in the same pool to deliver peak performance during high-use periods and automatically reduce energy cost during low-use periods
Intel® Virtualization Technology FlexMigration	Integrates multiple generations of Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers, improving flexibility for failover, load balancing, and disaster recovery
Intel® 64 architecture	Flexibility for 64-bit and 32-bit applications and operating systems
DDR3 memory support up to 1333 MHz	Up to 64 GB/s for three times the memory bandwidth over previous memory technology Up to 144GB supports higher performance for data-intensive applications Enhanced reliability, availability, and serviceability features
Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel® I/OAT)	Moves data more efficiently for fast, scalable, and reliable network performance Ability to significantly reduce CPU overhead, freeing resources for more critical tasks
Enhanced reliability and manageability	Many memory controller features, together with PCI Express* RAS features, combine to help improve platform reliability vs. previous-generation platforms New features include Error Correcting Code (ECC) system bus, new memory mirroring and I/O hot-plug

Intel® Server Processors

Intel® server processors deliver enhanced, energy-efficient performance for data-intensive business applications. Powering a range of multi-core 64-bit servers◊, Intel server processors enable you to optimize and scale computing environments to maximize server utilization to workload, while providing you with headroom for growth.

Intel® Atom™ Processors For embedded computing

Intel® Atom™ processors, implemented in 45nm process technology, are power-optimized to deliver robust performance per watt, making them ideal for many embedded applications such as interactive kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, in-vehicle infotainment systems, media phones, industrial automation equipment, digital security systems, and residential gateways.

These single-core processors are software-compatible with previous 32-bit Intel® architecture and complementary silicon. They include embedded lifecycle support, which protects system investments by enabling extended product availability for embedded customers.

A three-chip solution is offered with the Intel® Atom™ processor N270Δ and the mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset. A two-chip solution is offered with the Intel® Atom™ processor Z5xx series and the Intel® System Controller Hub US15W.

Product Highlights:

• Intel hafnium-based 45nm Hi-k metal gate silicon process technology reduces power consumption, increases switching speed, and significantly increases transistor density over previous 65nm process technology.
• Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology reduces average system power consumption.
• Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology)¹; available in designated SKUs provides high performance-per-watt efficiency in an in-order pipeline. HT Technology provides increased system responsiveness in multi-tasking environments. One execution core appears as two logical processors, and parallel threads are executed on a single core with shared resources.

Intel® Atom™ Processor

The Intel® Atom™ processor is Intel's smallest processor, built with the world's smallest transistors and manufactured on Intel's industry-leading 45nm Hi-k Metal Gate technology. The Intel Atom processor was purpose-built for simple, affordable, netbooks and nettops.

Intel Atom processor-based netbooks and nettops offer both an easy-to-use mobile device with simple interfaces and targeted performance for a good online experience. They are rugged and compact in design, and offer the freedom and flexibility of wireless connectivity¹.

Great for Internet, these devices are an affordable option for education, photo and video viewing, social networking, voice over IP, e-mail, messaging, browsing, and numerous other Internet activities and basic applications.

All Intel® Atom™ processors feature:

• Small Form Factor CPU Package
• Low TDP
• Power Optimized Front Side Bus
• Enhanced Data Prefetcher and Enhanced Register Access Manager

Intel® I/O Processors

Many storage, networking, and embedded applications require fast I/O throughput for optimal performance. Intel® I/O processors allow servers, workstations and storage subsystems to transfer data faster, reduce communication bottlenecks, and improve overall system performance by offloading I/O processing functions from the host CPU.

The table below provides a quick overview of the Intel I/O processor family. The Intel® IOP34x family of processors, with Intel XScale® microarchitecture, builds on more than a decade of leadership in I/O processor technology.

Features and benefits:

Intelligent I/O processor	Offloads I/O processing functions, such as I/O interrupt processing and parity calculations, from the CPU. This allows the CPU to streamline application processing and to use other system resources, such as the system bus and memory, more effectively.
On-chip cache	Improves data throughput by reducing external bus traffic.
Parallel transaction capabilities	Eliminates the need to use expensive proprietary controllers to handle parallel transactions and compression algorithms.
Single-chip design	Provides smaller packaging, simplified design, and board space cost savings. Full system-on-a-chip validation.
Comprehensive set of development tools	Faster time-to-market. A complete range of compilers, debuggers, commercial and open source operating systems are available from multiple vendors.

Pentium ® Processors with MMX™ Technlolgy

From point-of-sale (POS) terminals and retail kiosks to advanced networking equipment, Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology enable developers of embedded systems to step up to new levels of performance. To make these designs even easier and more flexible, Intel is making the performance advantages of MMX technology available at a choice of integration levels.

• The upgrade path for embedded Intel® architecture includes longer life cycle support for the 200 MHz and 233 MHz Pentium processors with MMX technology.
• Intel offers 166 MHz and 266 MHz Low-power Pentium processors with MMX technology. Both are available in thin HL-PBGA packaging, as well as PPGA packaging. The 166 MHz Pentium processor is also available in extended temperature range -40ºC to +115ºC.
• Also, the Intel 430TX PCIset now supports synchronous DRAM [SDRAM] in embedded applications.

Product Highlights:

• 166, 200, 233, 266 MHz
• 430TX PCIset
• HL-PBGA, PPGA
• Extended temp

New Design Options

Together the Pentium processor with MMX technology and the 430TX PCIset provides developers with flexible new options to create value-added embedded designs and upgrade existing products to new levels of performance. Regardless of which design path a developer may select, the Pentium processor with MMX technology offers performance enhancements that can be especially valuable in today's most competitive embedded application segments--including "intelligent" POS terminals, telecommunications equipment, networking devices and high-performance industrial computers.
Improve Processor Performance 10-20 Percent

Pentium processors with MMX technology can provide a 10 to 20 percent performance boost over classic Pentium processors at the same frequency. In addition, the MMX technology versions of the processor double on-chip code and data caches to 16 Kbytes and feature improved branch prediction, an enhanced pipeline and deeper write buffers for improved performance.

Advantages of Intel MMX Technology

MMX technology provides 57 new instruction sets to improve processor performance in traditional digital signal processor [DSP] applications, including the graphics, audio and voice processing capabilities now emerging as value-added features in high-performance embedded products. MMX technology can potentially eliminate the requirement for DSP chips in embedded applications such as video kiosks, telecommunications devices and POS terminals.

Intel Architecture Upgrade Path

"The Pentium processor with MMX technology offers developers the advantages of Intel's stable, long-term processor architecture, together with strong tools support, a robust development environment and a clearly defined upgrade path," notes Tom Franz, general manager of Intel's Embedded Microprocessor Division.

If the flexible motherboard guidelines for split voltages were followed on the original design, Pentium Processors with MMX technology offer pin-compatibility, and a high degree of code-compatibility, with the classic Pentium processors. These compatibility features offer developers a smooth extended upgrade path from existing Intel architecture designs, together with a way to quickly add higher performance with minimal development overhead.

Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology

Product Number Core Speed (MHz) External Bus Speed (MHz) Thermal Design Power (Max) Voltage Tcase Package FV8050366200 200 66 15.7W 2.8V 0-70C 296 PPGA FV8050366233 233 66 17.0W 2.8V 0-70C 296 PPGA

Low-power Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology

Product Number Core Speed (MHz) External Bus Speed (MHz) Thermal Design Power (Max) Voltage Tcase Package FV80503CSM66166 166 66 4.5W 1.9V 0-85C 296 PPGA FV80503CSM66266 266 66 7.6W 1.9V 0-85C 296 PPGA GC80503CSM66166 166 66 4.1W 1.8V 0-95C 352 HL-PBGA GC80503CSM66266 266 66 7.6W 2.0V 0-95C 352 HL-PBGA GC80503CS166EXT 166 66 4.1W 1.8V -40-115C 352 HL-PBGA

Intel® Pentium® III Processor

The Pentium® III processor is ideal for high performance applied computing. It supports highend communications, transaction terminal, and industrial automation applications. While incorporating new features and improvements, the Pentium III processor remains software compatible with previous members of the Intel microprocessor family.

The Pentium III processor is validated with multiple chipsets for maximum flexibility and scalability. Combined with the Intel 840 chipset, the Pentium III processor provides high performance and bandwidth including dual processing and a second PCI bus. The 815, 815E, 810 and 440BX chipsets provide a scalable platform supporting a wide selection of Celeron® and Pentium III processors ranging from 66 to 133 MHz processor side bus speeds. The 440BX AGPset supports ECC for the highest data integrity and ISA for legacy I/O. The Intel 815, 815E and 810 chipsets utilize Intel Graphics Technology, an integrated graphics platform which provides more stability, higher quality graphics and a reduced OEM bill of materials cost.

Products Highlights:

• 1.26 GHz 370-pin FC-PGA2 package with 512 KB Advanced Transfer Cache (on-die, full-speed L2 cache)
• 1 GHz, 866, 850, 733, 700 and 600 MHz, 370-pin FC-PGA package
• 700, 500 and 400 MHz BGA2 package
• 1 GHz, 866 and 733 MHz processor supports 133 MHz processor side bus
• 256 Kbytes Advanced Transfer Cache (on-die, full-speed L2 cache)
• Compatible with Intel® 840, 815, 815E, 810E2, 810 chipsets; Intel® 82801E C-ICH; Intel® 440BX AGPset and 440MX chipset

Pentium® III processors Product Number Core Speed (MHz) L2 Cache External Bus Speed (MHz) Thermal Design Power (Max) Voltage Tjunction Package RK80530KZ012512 1.26 GHz 512K 133 29.5W 1.45V 69C* 370 FC-PGA2 RB80526PZ001256 1 GHz 256K 133 29.0W 1.75V 75C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PY001256+ 1 GHz 256K 100 29.0W 1.75V 75C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PZ866256 866 256K 133 26.1W 1.75V 80C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PY850256 850 256K 100 25.7W 1.75V 80C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PZ733256 733 256K 133 22.8W 1.75V 80C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PY700256 700 256K 100 21.9W 1.75V 80C 370 FC-PGA RB80526PY600256 600 256K 100 19.6W 1.75V 82C 370 FC-PGA

Low Voltage Pentium® III processors

Product Number Core Speed (MHz) L2 Cache External Bus Speed (MHz) Thermal Design Power (Max) Voltage Tjunction Package RJ80530KZ933512** 933** 512K 133 12.2W 1.15V 0-100C 479 µFCBGA RJ80530KZ800512** 800** 512K 133 11.2W 1.15V 0-100C 479 µFCBGA

** Supports dual processing when paired with third party chipsets.

Pentium® III processors - Low Power

Product Number Core Speed (MHz) L2 Cache External Bus Speed (MHz) Thermal Design Power (Max) Voltage Tjunction Package KC80526GY850256*** 700*** 256K 100 16.12W 1.35V 0-100C 495 BGA KC80526LY500256 500 256K 100 12.2W 1.35V 0-100C 495 BGA KC80526LY400256 400 256K 100 10.1W 1.35V 0-100C 495 BGA

*** Intel Pentium III processor at 850/700 MHz featuring Intel® SpeedStep™ technology (1.6V/1.35V respectively).

Sitera's network processor family

Sitera's network processor family, the Prism IQ2000 (shown in Figure 7), consists of four RISC cores, co-processors for lookup, order management, multi-cast support, DMA management, context management, and interfaces to both SRAM/RDRAM and a general-purpose CPU. Sitera expects the Prism to handle fast path processing and for a CPU to be designed in for slow path processing.

The Prism's RISC cores have a modified version of the MIPS instruction set with four hardware contexts. Packet scheduling is handled in hardware, with the order management co-processor responsible for resolving packet interdependencies. Sitera offers three variations of the Prism IQ2000, each with the same core but different network interfaces. Sitera's Developer's Workbench is based on the GNU C/C++ compiler, but also includes a simulator and traffic generator. Their reference application code supports Layer 2 and Layer 3 bridging and routing.

Lucent Network Processor

Lucent's network processor design is very different from the other three network processors described in this article. It is a three-chip solution for the fast path. System designers need to add a general-purpose microprocessor for slow path processing. Lucent's network processor has three parts: the functional pattern processor (FPP), the routing switch processor (RSP) and the Agere system interface (ASI). Both the FPP and RSP are programmed with 4GLs (fourth-generation languages).

The idea behind the FPP is that there is a large class of network processing functions that require some sort of pattern matching. This includes parsing packets and searching through routing tables. The RSP handles all actions for a particular packet, including packet modifications like routing, and traffic management functions like queueing. The ASI is for sending and receiving slow path packets from a general purpose CPU.

Development kits are available that implement the Lucent network processor using five Xilinx Virtex FPGAs. Clocked at 33MHz, they support full duplex OC-12 interfaces. The tools are not the standard C/C++ development environment that is common with other network processors. The development kit contains:

• Functional programming language compiler-for programming the FPP
• Agere Scripting Language (ASL) Compiler-for programming RSP and ASI
• Java-based simulation environment
• Command-line simulators for the FPP and RSP
• Traffic generator

The Application Code Library includes IP switching and routing over ATM AAL5, over Ethernet, and over Frame Relay.

Intel IXP1200

Intel has become a leader in marketing network processors as part of their Internet Exchange Architecture. Currently, most network processor companies are extremely secretive about their products. Intel is the exception. Of the four network processors described in this article, Intel's IXP1200 is the only one for which you can directly download a datasheet from the Web.

The IXP1200, shown in Figure 5, consists of a StrongARM processor, six RISC micro-engines, and interfaces to SRAM/SDRAM memory, PCI bus, and Intel's proprietary IX Bus. The IXP1200 has been designed to do fast path and slow path processing in one chip. The StrongARM portion of the processor can be programmed for the slow path with conventional C/C++ tools. The six micro-engines are designed for fast path processing. Each micro-engine has four hardware contexts and can context switch in a single instruction. The micro-engines are limited to 4KB of program space, which is actually quite a bit, since they are programmed in microcode.

Intel provides assembly tools for the microcode as well as a simulator for debugging the non-StrongARM parts of the IXP1200. Intel ships the IXP1200 development environment with example code for Layer 2 and Layer 3 bridging and routing.

C-5 Digital Communications Network Processor

The C-5 Digital Communications Processor (DCP), shown in Figure 4, may be the most powerful network processor of the bunch. It consists of 16 channel processors (CPs) and five co-processors, all connected through a 50Gbps bus. The channel processors, each of which consist of a 32-bit RISC core and two serial data processors (SDPs), are the heart of the unit. The SDPs are microcode-programmable to implement link layer interfaces including Ethernet, SONET, and serial data streams. Since each RISC core can run a different program, and the channel processors share a common bus, you have a lot of flexibility in distributing your processing across this chip. You could have a parallel processing arrangement where you ran identical programs on several CPs, or a pipelined arrangement where each processor was dedicated to a particular task and passed its output to the input of the next processor. The five co-processors are an executive processor, a fabric processor, a table lookup unit, a queue management unit, and a buffer management unit.

The C-5 DCP has enough processing power to implement both data and control plane operations itself, or it can communicate with a host CPU across a PCI bus interface.

Programming the C-5 DCP is not a small task. With the possibility of writing up to 16 different C/C++ programs for 16 processors, as well as writing microcode for the serial data processors(s), and system level code to tie everything together, a lot of effort goes into harnessing the C-5's power. C-Port's core development tools are based on the popular GNU gcc compiler and gdb debugger, modified by C-Port to work with their RISC cores. To program the RISC cores, you write from one to 16 different programs in C or C++. Then you can debug all of your programs at once using the included C-5 DCP simulator, or you can load your programs on to the C-5 DCP itself, and use gdb to debug them one CPU at a time. C-Port rounds out their development toolset with a traffic generator and performance analyzer.

C-Port provides library routines, named C-Ware, to maintain software compatibility for future generations of DCPs. These routines cover features of both the RISC cores and the co-processors, including tables, queues, buffers, protocols, switch fabrics, kernel services, and diagnostics. The C-Ware reference library includes C-5 implementations of a gigabit ethernet switch, packet over SONET (POS) switch, and ATM switch.