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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Breaking News -
Platforms:
Intel Produces More Muscular Xeon
MP
Available at speeds of 3 GHz with up to 4MB of integrated L3 cache, Intel
Xeon
processor MP based servers deliver productivity, scalability, dependability
and excellent price/performance for a broad range of mid-tier enterprise
applications.
Intel Xeon processor MP features the Intel NetBurst microarchitecture,
Hyper-Threading Technology and an Integrated Three-Level Cache architecture to
mid-range and high-end server platforms that support four or more processors
in multiprocessor configurations. The Intel NetBurst microarchitecture
provides support for MP speeds up to 3 GHz and offers a 400 MHz system bus for
outstanding throughput and scalability for multiprocessor platforms and
multi-threaded server applications.
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Hyper-Threading Technology improves processor efficiency by supporting
multiple software threads on each processor in the system, thereby improving
performance on threaded server applications. The unique integrated Three-Level
Cache architecture provides up to 4MB of Level 3 cache and provides greater
throughput to memory for greater performance on large server workloads.
Intel Xeon processor MP based platforms are ideal for mid-range enterprise
server workloads that are compute- or transaction-intensive, and demand the
stability and versatility of the Intel architecture.
Features Benefits
Supports Multiprocessor Server designs with 4 or more processors.
Performance
and scalability to support larger server workloads and business growth. Speeds
available at 1.50, 1.90, 2, 2.20, 2.50, 2.70, 2.80 and 3 GHz. Faster raw
execution resulting in higher transaction rates and faster response times.
Intel NetBurst Microarchitecture with 400 MHz system bus. Higher throughput
within the processor and out to memory and I/O for improved headroom.
Hyper-Threading Technology: Hardware support for multi-threaded server
applications Improved performance on threaded server applications provides
support for more users or faster response times.
Integrated Level 3 Cache in 4MB, 2MB or 1MB options. Increases throughput
for
large server workloads.
Streaming SIMD Extensions 2. 144 new instructions improve response times
for
media servers and secure transactions.
Compatible with 3rd party chipsets that provide DDR memory and PCI-X I/O
capabilities. Balanced platform bandwidth offering greater system level
throughput for enterprise server workloads.
Compatible with existing Intel Architecture-based software. Today's server
applications can realize immediate benefits.
Intel NetBurst Microarchitecture
The Intel NetBurst Microarchitecture is binary compatible with previous
generation Intel Architecture (IA-32) processors. It adds new features
beginning with innovative techniques that enhance processor execution such as
Higher Core Frequencies, a Rapid Execution Engine, and Advanced Dynamic
Execution. The pipeline depth in the processor is doubled, allowing the
processor to reach much higher core frequencies. The Rapid Execution Engine
allows the two integer ALUs in the processor to run at twice the core
frequency, which allows many integer instructions to execute in one half of
the internal core clock cycle. The Advanced Dynamic Execution improves
speculative execution and branch prediction internal to the processor.
Hyper-Threading Technology
Going beyond GHz, Intel is changing the landscape of processor design and
performance by supporting multiple software threads on each processor in the
system. Hyper-Threading Technology is a groundbreaking technology that will
enable new capabilities and applications for the evolving internet and
enterprise infrastructure. Hyper-Threading Technology allows your
multi-threaded server applications to execute more than one thread per
physical processor, increasing the throughput of your server applications and
enabling you to scale with processor requirements to handle future workloads.
This technology provides tangible benefits for today's server applications by:
Increasing the number of transactions that can be processed for the enterprise
Enabling support for more users improving business productivity Providing
faster response time for Web sites and e-Business applications therefore
enhancing your customer's experience
400 MHz System Bus
The 400 MHz system bus is a quad-pumped bus running off of a 100 MHz system
bus clock, making 3.2 Gigabytes per second (3,200 Megabytes per second) data
transfer rates possible. The system bus is designed to increase the throughput
of multiprocessing or multithreaded server applications and to provide the
necessary bandwidth for Hyper-Threading Technology when accessing memory and
I/O.
Level 1 Execution Trace Cache
In addition to the 8KB Level 1 Data cache, the Intel Xeon processor MP
includes an Execution Trace Cache that stores up to 12K of decoded micro-ops
instructions in the order of program execution. This increases performance by
removing the decoder from the main execution loop and makes more efficient
usage of the cache storage space since instructions that are branched around
are not stored. The result is a means to deliver a high volume of instructions
to the processor's execution units and a reduction in the overall time
required to recover from branches that have been mis-predicted.
Level 2 Advanced Transfer Cache (512KB)
The 512KB L2 Advanced Transfer Cache (ATC) delivers a much higher data
throughput channel between the Level 2 Cache and the processor core. The
Advanced Transfer Cache consists of a 256-bit (32-byte) interface that
transfers data on each core clock. As a result, the Intel Xeon processor MP
can deliver a data transfer rate of core speed multiplied by 32 bytes,
reported in GBs which is nearly 2X the transfer rate of the Intel Pentium III
Xeon processor's L2 cache. This contributes to the Intel Xeon processor MP's
ability to keep the high-frequency execution units executing instructions vs.
sitting idle.
Integrated Level 3 Cache (4MB, 2MB, or 1MB)
The Intel Xeon processor MP includes an additional third level of cache,
located on the processor die, designed specifically to meet the compute needs
of enterprise server applications. The Integrated Level 3 Cache is available
in 4MB, 2MB or 1MB options and is coupled with the 400 MHz system bus to
provide a high bandwidth path to memory. The efficient design of the
Integrated Level 3 cache provides a faster path to large data sets stored in
cache on the processor. This results in reduced average memory latency and
increased throughput for larger server workloads.
Higher Core Frequencies
Higher core frequencies are capable through the Intel NetBurst
microarchitecture which doubles the pipeline depth compared to the P6
microarchitecture used on Intel Pentium III Xeon processors. One of the key
pipelines, the branch prediction / recovery pipeline, is implemented in 20
stages in the Intel NetBurst microarchitecture, compared to 10 stages in the
P6 microarchitecture. This technology significantly increases the performance,
frequency, and scalability of the processor.
Rapid Execution Engine
Two Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) on the Intel Xeon processor MP are
clocked
at twice the core processor frequency. This allows basic integer instructions
such as Add, Subtract, Logical AND, Logical OR, etc. to execute in half a
clock cycle. For example, the Rapid Execution Engine on a 3 GHz Intel Xeon
processor MP runs at 6 GHz.
Advanced Dynamic Execution
The Advance Dynamic Execution engine is a very deep, out-of-order
speculative
execution engine that keeps the execution units executing instructions. The
Intel Xeon processor MP can also view 126 instructions in flight and handle up
to 48 loads and 24 stores in the pipeline. It also includes an enhanced branch
prediction algorithm that has the net effect of reducing the number of branch
mis-predictions by about 33 percent over the P6 generation processor's branch
prediction capability. It does this by implementing a 4KB branch target buffer
that stores more detail on the history of past branches, as well as by
implementing a more advanced branch prediction algorithm.
Enhanced Floating-point and Multi-media Unit
The Intel Xeon processor MP expands the floating-point registers to a full
128-bit and adds an additional register for data movement which improves
performance on both floating-point and multi-media applications.
Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (SSE2)
With the introduction of SSE2, the Intel NetBurst microarchitecture now
extends the SIMD capabilities that MMX technology and SSE technology delivered
by adding 144 new instructions. These instructions include 128-bit SIMD
integer arithmetic and 128-bit SIMD double-precision floating-point
operations. These new instructions reduce the overall number of instructions
required to execute a particular program task and as a result can contribute
to an overall performance increase. They can accelerate a broad range of
applications including video, speech, and image; photo processing; encryption;
financial; engineering and scientific applications.
Manageability Features
Thermal sensors on the Intel Xeon processor MP enable the system to
actively
monitor and manage thermal conditions and reduce the chance of system failure.
This processor also includes Error Correction Code (ECC) on the Integrated
Three-Level cache architecture to maintain the integrity of mission-critical
data. The Intel Xeon processor MP also comes with a System Manageability Bus
(SMBus) which enables efficient communications between components and allows
for easy access to system manageability information stored in the Processor
Information ROM. These features of the Intel Xeon processor MP provide
platform-level manageability for reliable, robust server operation and ease of
management.
Features Used for Testing and Performance Monitoring
IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary Scan mechanism enables
testing of the Intel Xeon processor MP and system connections through a
standard interface.
Product Performance
The Intel Xeon processor MP (now available in a 4MB Integrated Level 3
cache
version) delivers the next generation of performance for e-Business and
enterprise server applications. Processor performance data is available on the
Intel Xeon Processor MP Business Products & Services Web site.
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