MaximumPC 2007 04

L

aid out by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore

in 1965, Moore’s Law states that tran-

sistor density on chips will double every 18

months. In recent years, as advances in chip

design have slowed, the rate’s slowed down,

and experts have doubted that the law could

continue unchallenged. However, new devel-

opments in high-k plus metal technology are

expected to keep the ride going for at least

a few more years.

Intel recently held a press conference to

announce its upcoming 45nm CPUs will use

high-k dielectric and metal gate transistors,

which will double transistor density while

offering 10 times less gate leakage and a 20

percent boost in switching speed. Described

by some industry insiders as the holy grail

of computing, high-k dielectric gates will

replace the silicon dioxide gates in use

today, while metal (instead of polysilicon)

would be used to construct another part

of the gate. If you think of a transistor as a

simple on/off switch, the high-k and metal

structure would equal the actual toggle and

insulation components. By using smaller

and more efficient insulators, the switch can

handle more power while switching faster.

Put simply, Intel’s first CPU to use this tech-

nology—the Penryn—could run as fast as

4GHz while using the same or less power

than today’s 65nm processors. Oh, and it

will pack 50 percent more cache.

Although Intel claimed AMD wouldn’t have

similar technology until it hit a 32nm process,

IBM and AMD chimed in soon after Intel’s

news to say that they too have high-k and

metal transistors ready for their 45nm

parts. Intel, however, said it’s already

pumping out wafers and test CPUs using

high-k plus metal parts.

Like Intel’s Core 2 CPUs, the 45nm

Penryn will be a native dual-core chip, with

quad-core processors fashioned by joining

two chips at the front-side bus. The dual-

core Penryn will feature 410 million transis-

tors versus the Core 2’s 281 million transis-

tors, with the quad version doubling the

transistor count. Intel hasn’t disclosed the

amount of L2 cache or the clock speeds, but

predictions are that it will have a 6MB cache

and buzz in at speeds greater than 3GHz,

which is where the Core 2 Extreme tops out.

Penryn will feature new SSE4 instructions

and further enhancements to the microar-

chitecture to increase performance over

Conroe. Intel is already fabbing test CPUs

using the new transistors and is expected to

enter full production at the end of the year,

with availability soon after.

AMD hasn’t said much about its CPU

based on 45nm technology, but it’s not

expected until mid 2008 at the earliest,

as the company is just now ramping up

production of its 65nm CPUs. This sum-

mer, AMD is expected to release a native

quad-core CPU code-named Barcelona.

Barcelona will feature microarchitecture

tweaks and AMD has publicly said it expects

the CPU to be 40 percent faster than Intel’s

current quad-core counterpart.

quick start The beginning of The magazine, where arTicles are small

Introducing

45nm

CPUs

08 MAXIMUMPC april 2007

Intel’s upcoming Penryn CPU, shown

in this die shot, will pack 820 million

superfast transistors on a single chip

when configured as a quad core.

Intel, IBM, and AMD embrace

next-generation transistors to

increase density and speed

Process Name P1262 P1264 P1266 P1268 P

LithograPhy 90nm 65nm 45nm 32nm 22nm

1st ProductioN 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

LauNch cPu

code-Name

Prescott Presler Penryn Westmere? Unknown

used iN Pentium 4,

Pentium 4

Extreme

Edition

Pentium D,

Pentium

Extreme

Edition,

Core 2 Duo,

Core 2

Quad, Core

2 Extreme,

Core Duo

Unknown

but likely

a Core 2

deriva-

tive

Unknown Unknown

intEl’s ProCEss roaDmaP