Energy-Efficient Performance

Performance made energy-efficient

Energy-efficient performance is the intersection of great performance supporting expanded capabilities and designed for energy efficiency. The result: Performance made energy-efficient.

Intel is bringing the benefits of energy-efficient performance to the world

As the demand for new and more powerful compute capabilities continues to grow, the need for greater energy efficiency becomes increasingly important. Energy costs are escalating around the world, and society is becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of energy generation and consumption.

To address the need to balance ever-increasing performance gains while maximizing energy efficiency, Intel is delivering unprecedented innovations in processor architecture, silicon, platform technology and software. This is expected to translate into extraordinary computer experiences across all segments:

• Increased performance and improved multitasking enabling greater productivity
• Exciting new usage models and applications
• Greater power savings for enterprise computing
• Longer battery life for greater mobility
• Enabling quieter desktops for homes and offices
• Thrilling game performance
• New form factors for the home, office, data center, and on the go

Architecture innovation

Take advantage of new multi-core architecture innovations! With a new Intel® architecture delivered every 2 years, you'll be able to take immediate advantage of advanced, energy-efficient performance levels and cutting-edge capabilities. Intel® Core™ microarchitecture builds computing headroom and performance enabling smaller footprint and power demands through power-conscious design features: Intel® Intelligent Power Capability throttles power to the processor's execution cores, powering up only those components that are needed. Intel® Advanced Smart Cache improves performance and efficiency by increasing the probability that each execution core can access data from cache. Intel® Smart Memory Access increases performance by optimizing memory bandwidth and increases efficiency by improving out-of-order execution. Beginning in the second half of 2007, look for 45nm Hi-k Intel Core microarchitecture. By shrinking transistor size from 65nm to 45nm and using different transistor materials, Intel can enable dramatic increases in the performance and efficiency of Intel Core microarchitecture. In 2008, look for Intel's next-generation 45nm Hi-k microarchitecture, code named "Nehalem". This truly dynamic and design-scalable microarchitecture can deliver enormous performance and energy-efficiency gains across mobile, desktop, and server computing.

Silicon innovation

Energy-efficient performance begins with energy-efficient transistors at the silicon level. As transistors get smaller (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter), more power and heat dissipation issues develop. As a result, implementing new features, techniques and structures is imperative to continuing microprocessor innovation. Intel's groundbreaking 65nm process technology roughly doubles transistor density from the previous generation. 65nm transistor technologies include: Second generation strained silicon with 10-15 percent improved drive current (over the 90nm process) for improved performance 1.2nm gate oxide and 35nm gates for improved performance NiSi for low resistance cap on gates and source-drains Lower interconnect capacitance through low-k carbon doped oxide dielectric and 0.7x line length scaling, providing increased performance and lower power In the second half of 2007, look for Intel's paradigm-shattering 45nm Hi-k metal gate process technology. By using dramatically different transistor materials, Intel makes record-breaking PC, laptop, and server processor speeds possible while reducing the amount of electrical leakage from transistors that can hamper chip and PC design, size, power consumption, noise, and costs. Compared to today's 65nm technology, Intel's 45nm technology will provide the following product benefits: Approximately twice the transistor density (great for smaller chip sizes or increased transistor counts) Approximately 30 percent reduction in transistor-switching power Greater than 20 percent improvement in transistor-switching speed or a greater than 5 times reduction in source-drain leakage power Greater than 10 times reduction in transistor gate oxide leakage for lower power requirements and increased battery life

Platform innovation

Designing for energy-efficient performance is essential to ensuring that new systems can support high-end applications without dramatically increasing energy consumption. This requires a fundamental rethinking on how to deliver new levels of performance within a given power envelope at home, in the office, on the go and in the data center.

Intel® multi-core platforms offer new capabilities and enhanced user benefits across mobile, desktop, and server segments. These include:

• Higher performance blade servers with smaller footprints that deliver lower operating costs through greater energy efficiency
• Smaller, thinner form factors and enabled extended battery life for mobile devices
• Better application responsiveness in multi-tasking environments
• High-performance computing (HPC) technology for new applications