New Intel CPUs available soon

[Vinvin]

2 new Intel processors very interresting for chess will be availbale in some months :

1) The Dunnington, 6 cores, 2.66 Ghz : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon#cite_ref-18

2) The Nehalem (Bloomfield model), 4 cores (8 threads with SMP but for chess non-SMP will be probably better), 3.2 Ghz : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalem_(C ... ai403_18-3

This 2 new CPUs will about the same speed as a skulltrail (2*4 cores) 3.2 Ghz .

[M ANSARI]

The multi threading of these CPU's are different and should not be mistaken with older P4 hyperthreading. In this case this hyperthreading might actually be a boost to Chess engines. I am not sure if it will require special additional code to tap these extra thread or if that will occur normally. These threads are more like real threads than the older virtual threads of P4's.

[Vinvin]

I think it's the same HT principle as P4, P4 gave +20-30% speed boot, Nehalem HT will give +50% speed boost, I think +50% is not enough for going to 4 threads to 8 threads for chess.

[Vinvin]

2) The Nehalem (Bloomfield model), 4 cores (8 threads with SMP but for chess non-SMP will be probably better)

Correction : it's not SMP , it's HT (hyper threading)
The Nehalem (Bloomfield model), 4 cores (8 threads with HT but for chess non-HT will be probably better)

Sorry

[Lion]

Yeah, but a 2x6 CPU will rock !!

The only thing is that the cost for one of these will be near 3000 dollars.

So if you have to pay 6k dollors just for the chip, this will not be for me.

The current MacPro 8CPU for less than 3k dollars is a real interesting option I would say.

[Yar]

Benchmarks Nehalem vs Yourkfield you can find here:
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7881.html

And more information in the forum:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... 762&page=5

With best regards,
Yar

[M ANSARI]

nt

[M ANSARI]

CPU prices from Intel have been pretty much stable. When an Extreme Edition CPU first comes out, it usually costs around $1500 ... so most likely scenario will be that the Extreme Edition Nehalem will cost the same. It seems that the hyperthreading in Nehalem will benefit chess engines... unlike older versions of hyperthreading where they actually hurt Chess engine performance. By far the most useful thing in Nehalem is having the memory controller built in the CPU ala AMD. Finally Intel sees the light and takes the last advantage AMD had in its designs of CPU's. I have a feeling that Rybka (which is probably the most memory intensive chess engine) will benefit greatly from this.