14 DAY TRIAL // Santa Clara, California-based Intel has just updated its processor roadmap with the announcement that it is planning to accelerate its plans for the adoption of the next-generation process technology, 32nm. The global leading chip maker said that it would make a serious investment in the development of the 32nm process technology, with prospects for market availability in the fourth quarter of this year. With the news, Intel basically announced that it would skip the manufacturing of some of its 45nm-based processors.
Intel's initial processor roadmap included four new products, with two of them designed for desktop PCs, namely Lynnfield and Havendale, while the other two, Clarksfield and Auburndale, were designed for upcoming portable computer systems. Of the four, the chip maker has “deprioritized” two, namely Havendale and Auburndale.
The first 32nm version of Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture has been codenamed Westemere, which will basically come out as a die shrink of the company's current microarchitecture, providing users with a chip that comes with an integrated graphics core.
Lynnfiled is still expected to launch in the second half of 2009, alongside Clarksfield, both of which will be designed using a 45nm process technology and Intel's current Nehalem microarchitecture. These two new chips will support four cores and eight threads, being focused on the upcoming mainstream desktops and thin-and-light notebooks. According to the new roadmap, Intel's desktop platforms include the Piketon and Kings Creek, while the notebook platform will be known as Calpella.
This year, Intel will also begin the manufacturing of its first 32nm processors, which will come out as two-core, four-threaded processors with integrated graphics. These two will be known as Clarkdale and Arrandale and will boast an integrated memory controller and a graphics core, connected with the processor core in a multichip module. While the processor itself will be manufactured using a 32nm process technology, the graphics core will use Intel's 45nm manufacturing process, used for the recently released Core 2 Duo and Core i7 CPUs. These two parts will be designed to work with Intel's 5-series chipsets.
For the upcoming year, Intel's roadmap includes the 32nm Gulftown processor, which features 6 cores with 12 threads. The next major Intel microarchitecture is called Sandy Bridge and could be out by the end of 2010.
The chip maker's roadmap also detailed the upcoming server processors, with the company now expected to ship versions of its Clarkdale and Westmere processors for the expandable, performance and entry-level servers platforms, codenamed “Boxboro,” “Tylersburg-EP,” and “Foxhollow.”
