Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.35. Core i7 900 series processor die. Photograph courtesy of Intel.
Core i7 and i5 processors also support Turbo Boost (built-in overclocking), which increases the
performance in heavily loaded processor cores while reducing performance to cores that are lightly
loaded or have no work to perform. Turbo Boost is configured through the system BIOS.
The initial members of the Core i Series Family included the Core i5 and i7 processors. These were
later joined by the low-end i3 processors.
Table 3.18
details the various processors in the first-
generation Core i Series family.
Sandy Bridge Architecture
Intel introduced the second generation of Core i-series processors, those based on the Sandy Bridge
microarchitecture, in January 2011 (see
Table 3.19
). The Sandy Bridge microarchitecture includes,
as its predecessor did, an integrated memory controller and North Bridge functions.
Table 3.19. Core i Series Family Processors Using Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture
However, Sandy Bridge has many new features, including an in-core graphics processor on some
models (see
Chapter 12
for details); the new AVX 256-bit SSE extensions; a new Level 0 instruction
cache for holding up to 1,500 decoded micro-ops; a more accurate branch prediction unit; the use of
physical registers to store operands; improved power management; Turbo Boost 2.0 for more scaled
responses to adjustments in core usage, processor temperature, current, power consumption, and
operating system states; and a dedicated video decoding/transcoding/encoding unit known as the
multi-format codec (MFX). All Sandy Bridge processors use a 32nm manufacturing process.
Sandy Bridge processors using LGA 2011 processor sockets are classified as Sandy Bridge-E.
Sandy Bridge also includes Pentium processors in the 967-997, B940-B980, G620-G645T, and
G840-G870 series. These processors feature lower clock speeds, less powerful integrated GPUs, and
smaller cache sizes than Core i processors. Celeron processors in the B720, 847E, 787-797, 807-
887, B710, B800-B840, G440-G465, and G350-G555 series are also based on Sandy Bridge but
feature smaller cache sizes and slower clock speeds than Pentium processors based on Sandy Bridge.
Ivy Bridge Architecture
Intel introduced the third generation of Core i-series processors, those based on the Ivy Bridge
microarchitecture, in April 2012 (see
Table 3.20
). The Ivy Bridge microarchitecture represents an
improved version of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. Ivy Bridge features support for PCI Express
3.0, a new 3D fabrication process at 22nm, lower power consumption, support for low-voltage
DDR3 memory, and support for DirectX 11 graphics with integrated HD Graphics 4000. Existing
Sandy Bridge motherboards can use Ivy Bridge CPUs, but a BIOS update might be needed in some
cases.
Table 3.20
lists Core I series processors using Ivy Bridge microarchitecture.
Table 3.20. Core i Series Family Desktop Processors Using Ivy Bridge Microarchitecture
