Intel IDF Report #1 - CPUs

Another interesting topic of discussion, although not as big as Willamette, is the Timna.  The Timna is the first chip that boasts a technology Intel coined as Smart Integration.  The Timna will be Intel’s sub-$600 flagship CPU made possible because of this Smart Integration technology. 

Smart Integration essentially takes the memory controller and the graphics controller and moves them off of the motherboard and actually integrates them onto the CPU.  This will definitely be a poor gaming solution compared to the dedicated 3D graphics accelerator solutions that will be available around the release of the Timna, but for the entry level market the Timna should be quite successful. 

According to Intel, the Timna’s integrated graphics should be an extension of the i752 graphics core, and not an entirely new design.

As a notebook solution, if it ever makes it into that market, the Timna should also be an interesting solution.

Chipsets

One of the biggest discussions in recent times has been over the exclusive support of RDRAM as a memory solution on the i820 chipset. 

From what we’ve been able to gather, Intel is definitely going to be using DDR SDRAM in the server platforms and they’ve stated that RDRAM isn’t a solution for the value segment, however what they have not stated is that it will be used in the performance value segment.  This means that most performance desktops won’t be using DDR SDRAM, leaving RDRAM as a continually supported option from Intel. 

According to Intel, as the processor performance increases, the benefits experienced from RDRAM will increase as well.  The figures they gave us now indicate a 2 – 5% benefit from RDRAM now, and they predict that as the performance of CPUs increase that figure could increase to 30%.  They don’t see a role for DDR SDRAM in the desktop market, which is very unfortunate, at least for the time being. 

Another interesting thing to note is that they indicate that RDRAM will be an option in the value segment in the next 1 – 2 years.  It sounds like Intel definitely has strong beliefs in RDRAM, in spite of the recent flak they’ve been given for supporting the expensive memory standard.  The next year should be very interesting to say the least.

While the forum has definitely gotten off to a very interesting start, this is only the first day and there is quite a bit to come.  Be sure to check back during the next couple of days for even more first hand updates from IDF as well as nightly summaries of everything that’s going on over here in sunny Palm Springs.