INTEL Starts to Produce 45nm CPUs

Right after INTEL released Penryn's specs they also claimed that the company had already started to shift one of its fabs to 45nm process and the final switch to 45nm CPUs will occur in the beginning of 2008. Rob Willoner, technology analyst at INTEL's technology and manufacturing group is reported to have said that the D1D fab in Oregon is already sampling out 45nm parts.

The firm expects the first final 45nm CPUs to leave the D1D fab's doors probably in the second half of 2007. Typically, it takes Intel 6 to 9 months to reach the crossover point between shipments of products that are manufactured under 2 separate processes. Effectively, the crossover means that - by the end of 2008 - Intel will produce more advanced processors with the Core 2 architecture with SSE4 extensions. Evidently, all SSE4 parts will use 45nm process.

INTEL was a busy bee this year, especially when regarding roadmaps. In October, they said that they are going to release 15 different 45nm CPUs like Bloomfield, Yorkfied and Wolfdale. Intel is already sampling the code-named Penryn processor using 45nm technology and hopes to be able to mass release it by the second quarter of 2007.

There are not many things that are known about Penryn but the 45nm incarnation of the dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo processor for mobile computers (code-named Merom) will include SSE4 extensions that are said to improve software involving graphics, video encoding and processing, 3D imaging and gaming. Because the SSE4 instruction set is not being used at the moment, we cannot say what kind of performance improvements will 45nm parts bring over older Core 2 CPUs.