Intel plans 32nm Westmere chips for 2009

Intel has outlined its roadmap for 32nm chips

Intel is to invest $7bn (£4.7bn) over the next two years to bring 32nm chips to market, the company has revealed. The first such processors are now expected to go into production later this year, with additional products following in 2010.

The first 32nm processors are codenamed Westmere and will be a die-shrink of the current Nehalem architecture, but with graphics capabilities integrated with the processor. The initial chips will target mainstream mobile and desktop systems, and were demonstrated by Intel at an event in San Francisco today.

Stephen Smith, vice president of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, detailed the firm's roadmap to 32nm processors, saying that it will first deliver new 45nm quad-core Nehalem chips codenamed Lynnfield and Clarksfield that target mainstream desktop and thin-and-light laptops respectively.

These will be followed by 32nm processors called Clarkdale and Arrandale, similarly aimed at desktops and laptops, but these initial Westmere chips will have two cores and integrated graphics functions.

"The smaller production process will enable us to reduce the core size while still delivering two threads per core, and with graphics integrated into the processor," said Smith.

Westmere will eventually scale to a six-core/12-thread client processor called Gulftown, he added, as well as platforms for servers.

Intel also said that its 32nm process will be split into two versions, one optimised for mainstream chips and one for system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors aimed at netbooks and other mobile devices.

Mark Bohr, Intel senior fellow for logic development, explained that this is because mainstream chips call for fast-switching transistors, while SoCs require low leakage current to optimise power efficiency.

The graphics inside the Westmere processors will be based on the current graphics functions integrated into Intel's current 4-series motherboard chipsets, but provide "a significant boost in performance", according to Smith.

Oddly, the graphics and memory controller circuits are on a separate 45nm silicon die from the 32nm processor, at least in the first products, although they will be mounted together inside the same chip package.

This design leads to a newer simplified architecture, which Intel calls " platform repartitioning", that reduces the major component count to just a processor and I/O chip. Current Intel motherboards have separate Northbridge and Southbridge components in the chipset in addition to the processor.

Westmere will also introduce new instructions for accelerating the AES encryption algorithm, which Smith said will "significantly speed up - think several times [faster]" the encryption and decryption of data.

It will also have Intel Turbo Boost technology, a feature designed to optimise performance according to the application in hand.

"When you have a single-threaded application, the cores can step up the clock to increase performance. With fully threaded code, you get the best performance by spreading execution across several cores," explained Smith.

On the server side, a platform called Foxhollow will bring the Lynnfield Nehalem chip into the entry-level single-socket arena, to be followed later by the 32nm Clarkdale product.

For two-socket servers, the Nehalem EP product expected in Q1 2009 will be refreshed next year with a future Westmere-based product, as will the Nehalem EX for four-socket systems.

In a separate speech in Washington, Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini announced the $7bn investment in the fabrication plants that will make the 32nm chips. These will all be sited in the US, New Mexico and Arizona.

Click here to watch vnunet.com's video of Intel unveiling its first 32nm processors in San Francisco.