Intel Channel Confrence Spring 2008
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:50 pm
I attended the ICC Spring 2008 and here I'm going to tell you all about all the good stuff that is coming from Intel, from server applications, mobile innovations and the new architechure design for desktop computing.
Firstly I'd like to brag, because this was my first time I been to this event. Intel gives away a lot of merchendise, from the "space man" to the Core 2 Extreme. They give you a raffel ticket and if they call your number, bingo, you win a prize. Boy I got lucky! I won a Core 2 Extreme QX9650! Which is probably the highest end desktop processor currently. The specs on it are:
Clock Speed: 3.0 GHz
Cores: 4
FSB: 1333 MHz
Cache: 6M + 6M (12M)
The package comes with a 120 mm fan, real nice heatsink and fan, better than the BluOrb I bought for my pentium D which is what I'm currently running.
Ok, done with my bragging rights. Moving on.
Intel has developed a modular server which is a intergrated solution for pretty much all your server needs. It's a very nice design, where redundancy is in the design, meaning failure in any one of the componets wont leave you screwed. The server supports RAID 0/1/5 or a combonation. The server has 4 power supplies, so if one quits, you're still ok. The server has space for 4 blades and assuming one of the blades quits, your can re assoctiate the hardware to another blade and everything is fine. This was one thing I was certianly impressed with.
The next thing mobile stuff. Intel is coming out with Centrino 2 and Centrino 2 vPro. Don't know what vPro is? We'll discuss it later on. Intel is coming out with a Quad Core processor for notebooks, it's great! Worried about battery life? Worry not, these quad core processors only use 25 watts of power! The key to the Centrino 2 technology is the mobility, the wireless in these guys supports up to 450 mbps, because there are basically 3 recievers. The next best thing Intel in unleashing is solid state disks, and they're better designed than Super Talent's. One thing you must know about flash memory is that it wears out. What is different with Intel's SSD is the wear and tear is distributed evenly and also has extra space for blocks that are failing, basically in thier 80 GB SSD, they're actually more than 80 GB of space just for that reason. They'll be releasing an 80 GB SSD and smaller sizes, the 80 GB will cost aroun $600, still expensive, but much cheaper than Super Talent. The next question is the performance that much better? YES. I watched a demo showing the time it took to copy a 680 MB file, open programs and a few other things all at the same time. The time it took the SSD to do the job was 22 seconds, a 7200 RPM drive took 1 minute, 37 seconds.
The Atom processor, not so much for performance, but you'll be seeing these guys in PDA's, Nettops, and Netbooks. First question is what the hell is a Nettop or a Netbook. Nettops are low end mobile computers that typically sit on the counter, and are designed solely for surfing the web. Netbooks are low end, inexpensive notebooks that were designed for the underprivlaged, such as 3rd world countries, now more adults and the elderly are buying these netbooks. The reason? They're eaiser to use, and people dont have to learn how to operate a PC to get on the net, most of these people use thier computers for email and surfing the web. The coolest thing about the atom processor is it's size, it's about the size of a pencil erasier and it is also on the 45 nm process, however the performance is only sub-celeron.
Desktop stuff is only getting cooler. Next year expect to see more cores and even more power. Intel is going to release 32 nm processors, that means the parts in the processor are smaller and the circuits are only 32 nm apart, so that means they can essentially fit more transistors on a chip. Right now there are 800 million transitors in a single processor.
Wondering about AMD? HA! They're no where close. Performance, intel has about a 65-100% performance gain, and on battery life, intel lasts almost 6 hours on a 6 cell battery. So if you're buying a notebook or a new desktop computer make sure it has an Intel inside!
Firstly I'd like to brag, because this was my first time I been to this event. Intel gives away a lot of merchendise, from the "space man" to the Core 2 Extreme. They give you a raffel ticket and if they call your number, bingo, you win a prize. Boy I got lucky! I won a Core 2 Extreme QX9650! Which is probably the highest end desktop processor currently. The specs on it are:
Clock Speed: 3.0 GHz
Cores: 4
FSB: 1333 MHz
Cache: 6M + 6M (12M)
The package comes with a 120 mm fan, real nice heatsink and fan, better than the BluOrb I bought for my pentium D which is what I'm currently running.
Ok, done with my bragging rights. Moving on.
Intel has developed a modular server which is a intergrated solution for pretty much all your server needs. It's a very nice design, where redundancy is in the design, meaning failure in any one of the componets wont leave you screwed. The server supports RAID 0/1/5 or a combonation. The server has 4 power supplies, so if one quits, you're still ok. The server has space for 4 blades and assuming one of the blades quits, your can re assoctiate the hardware to another blade and everything is fine. This was one thing I was certianly impressed with.
The next thing mobile stuff. Intel is coming out with Centrino 2 and Centrino 2 vPro. Don't know what vPro is? We'll discuss it later on. Intel is coming out with a Quad Core processor for notebooks, it's great! Worried about battery life? Worry not, these quad core processors only use 25 watts of power! The key to the Centrino 2 technology is the mobility, the wireless in these guys supports up to 450 mbps, because there are basically 3 recievers. The next best thing Intel in unleashing is solid state disks, and they're better designed than Super Talent's. One thing you must know about flash memory is that it wears out. What is different with Intel's SSD is the wear and tear is distributed evenly and also has extra space for blocks that are failing, basically in thier 80 GB SSD, they're actually more than 80 GB of space just for that reason. They'll be releasing an 80 GB SSD and smaller sizes, the 80 GB will cost aroun $600, still expensive, but much cheaper than Super Talent. The next question is the performance that much better? YES. I watched a demo showing the time it took to copy a 680 MB file, open programs and a few other things all at the same time. The time it took the SSD to do the job was 22 seconds, a 7200 RPM drive took 1 minute, 37 seconds.
The Atom processor, not so much for performance, but you'll be seeing these guys in PDA's, Nettops, and Netbooks. First question is what the hell is a Nettop or a Netbook. Nettops are low end mobile computers that typically sit on the counter, and are designed solely for surfing the web. Netbooks are low end, inexpensive notebooks that were designed for the underprivlaged, such as 3rd world countries, now more adults and the elderly are buying these netbooks. The reason? They're eaiser to use, and people dont have to learn how to operate a PC to get on the net, most of these people use thier computers for email and surfing the web. The coolest thing about the atom processor is it's size, it's about the size of a pencil erasier and it is also on the 45 nm process, however the performance is only sub-celeron.
Desktop stuff is only getting cooler. Next year expect to see more cores and even more power. Intel is going to release 32 nm processors, that means the parts in the processor are smaller and the circuits are only 32 nm apart, so that means they can essentially fit more transistors on a chip. Right now there are 800 million transitors in a single processor.
Wondering about AMD? HA! They're no where close. Performance, intel has about a 65-100% performance gain, and on battery life, intel lasts almost 6 hours on a 6 cell battery. So if you're buying a notebook or a new desktop computer make sure it has an Intel inside!
What I'm waiting for is Intel to start selling SSD's (Solid State Disk), but I'm also waiting for them to come down in price, Super Talent is around $1400 for an 80 GB SSD, Intel's, when they come out, are supposed to be around $600, and they're probably going to be another solid product.
