Tech Link (Industry): Eat this, Quad FX: Here's an 8-core desktop!

THG, or TGDaily has posted a coverage of Intel's Clovertown eight(8)-core monster. I have posted my own Eight-core monster here, and even posted my own early benchmark, unfortunately, that's the only benchmark I am able to post due to work and other tasks (from trivial to weird stuff). They posted a score of 3DMark06 CPU score with a whoopin 61% lead over the competitor's QuadFX (and you'd still think Intel doesn't know how to benchmark?). Expand to read more from THG...
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Las Vegas (NV) - You didn't think that Intel would leave all that dual-socket fame for itself, did you? At CES, Intel showed off an 8-core desktop system build on a 2P workstation board with two quad-core processors. Intel claims that the system trumps AMD's fastest Quad-FX by 61% in one key benchmark. And yes, we do have pictures of this beast.

Technically, Intel's dual-socket prototype PC isn't that unusual and there are may be many enthusiasts who have built systems using a similar approach in the past. However, this specific PC takes the multi-core theme to the edge and shows what is possible today.

The PC uses a 2-processor workstation board with an Intel 5000-series (Blackford) and chipset supporting FSB1333. The board carries two Xeon 5300 series (Clovertown) processors. Intel also built four 120 mm side panel-mounted fans, which we heard were just for drama and not really necessary to cool the system. 4 GB of FB memory and an Nvidia GeForce 8800 card complement the computer.

The system was the brainchild of Francois Piednoel, an engineer with Intel's benchmarking team. He wanted to show how simple it was to make an 8-core workstation with regular parts. "We're not marketing it, but if you want it and need it, it's available."

Piednoel added that the parts weren't "crazy expensive" and could easily be purchased through online retailers like Newegg or Gamepc.com.

Before we mention the performance, let us drop a word on power consumption. AMD's Quad FX system was heavily criticized for its shameless hunger for power. While we did not hear anything from Intel about the power consumption of this 8-core monster, we do know that the two Clovertown processors are rated at a maximum power consumption of just 80 watts - compared to the 125 watts of each FX processor in the dual socket AMD system.

Performance-wise, Intel ran the 3DMark 2006, along with some other tests, on its system and the CPU portion of the benchmark was said to have achieved 6089 points in a test run and came in at 6065 when we pushed the button. The 3.0 GHz dual-socket dual-core system from AMD (FX-74) came in at 3764 points in Tom's Hardware's benchmarks, which gives the Intel system at least theoretically a lead of 61%.

Theoretically, because we can't compare those two system due to the different environments and different setups. In any case, this Intel prototype hints to exciting enthusiast computers that may be in our future. Not just at Intel, but AMD as well: The AgenaFX quad-core is due in mid-2007 and will be available as a drop-in upgrade for current QuadFX computers.

Source:Eat this, Quad FX: Here's an 8-core desktop!

Tech Link (Platform): Octa-Core Computing : Intel’s Cloverton Xeon Processor

This is a bit late, but I since I missed posting it, I figure better late than never. So, GamePC has put up an article for which I can't do because, well, I'll get my ass kicked for breaking NDA. Anyway, they have a comprehensive review, but I only have one peeve: they mentioned they have a Maxon Cinebench 9.5 benchmark but they actually don't have it in there :(. Bummer....

The Final Word

Intel’s new quad-core Xeon 5300 series processors can offer spectacular performance at fairly low clock speeds, while at the same time consuming no more power or creating no more heat compared to higher-clocked dual-core variants. On a technical level, we feel that the chip is certainly a success, as one can now deploy eight-core systems just as easily as dual and quad-core systems of yesteryear. With new standard ATX sized Xeon motherboards from Tyan and Supermicro, it’s also now possible to have eight-core computing in a standard ATX sized case, something which would simply be impossible as of last year. Eight-core systems used to require proprietary (read : ultra expensive) components and were extremely limited, whereas with these new Xeon 5300’s, one can assemble an eight-core system using over the counter components.

As one would expect, Intel’s quad-core Xeon processors are quite expensive - roughly double the price of their dual-core brethren at the same clock speeds. Price wise, an eight-core setup with 2 x 1.86 GHz quad-core processors will cost about the same as a quad-core setup with 2 x 3.0 GHz dual-core processors. So, which is better, more cores or higher-clocked cores? Turns out that in the majority of our benchmarks, a highly-clocked quad-core setup will outperform a lower-clocked eight-core system in most real-world applications. This is simply due to the fact that most applications don’t know how to handle eight cores, whereas most multi-threaded applications can properly handle four cores without getting too confused. If you have an application which is heavily multi-threaded and can take advantage of eight cores, the Xeon 5300’s actually provide better price/performance compared to the dual-core 5100 series. However, such applications are extremely rare on the market.

For everyone outside of the high-end server market, or those who heavily multi-task with multi-threaded applications, this chip will simply be overkill. However, an interesting area to consider will be virtualization, which will very likely show these eight-core processors in a much more positive light. A fairly inexpensive eight-core system could potentially run dozens of servers at with low power consumption and low-heat, which is certainly attractive for potential rackmount customers. For workstation and desktop users though, we would recommend sticking with the dual-core Xeon 5100 series until quad-core prices drop and software can catch up with what this hardware is capable of.

While it’s a great product to drool over, the real-world benefits of an eight core system are few and far between for the vast amount of users out there. Even during heavy multi-tasking, we couldn’t feel a difference between and eight-core and a four-core system. We applaud Intel for getting the prices of eight-core systems down to a far lower-level than they once we, and once again raising the stakes against AMD (who won’t have eight-core systems available until mid-2007). We’ll update our scores once Intel starts shipping the high-grade (2.33/2.66 GHz) quad-core Xeons in the coming month.

Source:Octa-Core Computing : Intel’s Cloverton Xeon Processor

Press Release: TYAN® ADDS QUAD CORE SUPPORT TO INTEL® SERVER / WORKSTATION SOLUTIONS FOR PERFORMANCE INCREASE, MORE EFFICIENCY

Dang, I can't believe I mixed posting the Tech Link and Press Release. I guess that's what happens when you're excited with a new toy. I just got my new Globe* Visibility line activated which I used to post. Anyway, check out this Press Release and sorry for the error I posted yesterday afternoon.

TYAN® ADDS QUAD CORE SUPPORT TO INTEL® SERVER / WORKSTATION SOLUTIONS FOR PERFORMANCE INCREASE, MORE EFFICIENCY

Quad Core Support adds Higher Speeds and
Performance to TYAN Motherboards with Intel® Chipsets


FREMONT, CA, November 14th, 2006 - At the advent of this year's Supercomputing 2006 event, TYAN Computer Corp., the world's leading whitebox server platform provider, announced support for the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series on Tempest S5380, S5370, S5372 server motherboards and Tempest S2696, S2692 workstation motherboards.

A wide range of applications stand to benefit from the addition of Intel quad-core processor support, such as high-performance computing (HPC), digital content creation, film and media entertainment development, CAD systems, as well as bio-sciences and financial systems.

TYAN's Tempest S5380, S5370, and S5372 offer rich feature sets including support for the Intel® Xeon® 5000, 5100, and 5300 series processors, PCI Express and PCI-X, multiple gigabit network ports, SAS and SATA2 RAID options, and remote management support. The Tempest S2696 and S2692 provide additional workstation solutions to TYAN's line-up, offering multiple PCI Express slots, built-in audio and FireWire, as well as SAS and SATA2 options.

"The addition of Intel quad-core processor support to TYAN's server/workstation product family provides customers with a wide range of benefits including substantial increases in speed, performance, energy efficiency and versatility," stated Danny Hsu, Vice-President of Sales/Marketing at TYAN. "General-purpose servers and workstation customers will also enjoy up to a 50% performance jump over today's dual-core 2P Intel Xeon processor-based platforms, as well as additional virtualization headroom."

"The addition of motherboards based on Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series will provide TYAN's customers with a high-performance solution that provides superior processing power in the same power envelope of existing dual-core solutions," said Boyd Davis, general manager of Intel's server platforms group marketing.

The TYAN Tempest S5380, S5370, S5372, S2696, S2692 with Intel quad-core processor support have been sampling to select SI customers, and will reach mass availability in late Q4 of this year.

Source:TYAN® ADDS QUAD CORE SUPPORT TO INTEL® SERVER / WORKSTATION SOLUTIONS FOR PERFORMANCE INCREASE, MORE EFFICIENCY

Brag: "Dual Intel Clovertown 8 cores @ 2.66 Ghz benching now"

FanBoyz, ready, set, go and start salivating. Get a napkin to wipe off that drool too. This isn't just good on paper print out, nor is it any nice Powerpoint* file with pretty graphics. From the looks of it, this is the real thing! As early as this week, I have seen two instances of Clovertown in action. Expand for more..

This baby is a real monster. Do you know about Kentsfield? That four core next generation processor slated to be released Q4 of this year? That's just a taste of what's coming from Chipzilla. Kentsfield, that's like two Conroe XE in one package, can do Cinebench "Daylight" render in 10seconds, and Kentsfield needed to be overclocked to ~4GHz to reach that. Now, in comparison, Clovertown can complete it in the same time of 10secons but only with 2.66GHz clockspeed. Oh my goodness, imagine the clockspeed and memory speed difference between a four-core Kentsfield@4GHz vs a Clovertown@2.66GHz. This is just pure massive ownage.

FanBoyz, prepare your wallets! (Yes, with an "s"). And oh, here's another Clovertown linky (search for Clover Town 2.4G in that page).

Source:Dual Intel Clovertown 8 cores @ 2.66 Ghz benching now