TechViewsSuper Fast Processors
How much speed is enough?
Since the inception of the first Personal Computer (PC), scientists and researchers have always strived towards making faster, cheaper and more efficient processors. Of these factors, speed of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the clock-rate of the processors was always the key concern of the computer architects. The Moore's law, as described by Gordon E Moore, the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation describes the trend as: 'the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has increased exponentially, doubling approximately every two years.' In recent times though, some groundbreaking innovations have taken place, which seem to be defying all laws in terms of speed. On May this year, the Japanese company Fujitsu Ltd announced that it developed the fastest central processing unit in the world. The Tokyo-based company presented a CPU that has the ability to carry out 128 billion calculations per second. It is for the first time since 1999 that Fujitsu received the title of the world's fastest CPU developer. Having developed the Venus, the Japanese company managed to surpass some of the largest technology corporations in the world, including Intel Corp. and IBM Corp. in terms of speed of the central processing unit. It was estimated that Fujitsu's latest creation runs about 2.5 times than the previous record holder developed by Intel. With the help of miniaturisation technology, the Japanese company was able to include twice as many central circuits onto a chip as there were on previous CPU, thus having eight instead of four circuits. The chip measures 2 sq. cm. Furthermore, the Venus saves energy, reducing the consumption of electricity by about 30 percent compared to current levels. There are rumours that the CPU is going to be used in the next-generation supercomputer that will start operating at the end of 2010. The supercomputer will be installed at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Science (Riken) and will feature tens of thousands of such CPUs as the Venus. Engineers believe that the current CPU will be used to help new technologies develop drugs, predicts earthquakes and design rocket engines. Another processor worth mentioning is the Intel Core i7 processor, dubbed by Intel as its most advanced desktop processor ever. Released in November 2008, the Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption. Broadly heralded by the computing industry as a technical marvel, the Intel Core i7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006 benchmark test that measures the performance of a processor. This is the first time ever for any single processor to exceed a score of 100 points. "Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on Earth to the most demanding users on Earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music," said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "When you couple what is Intel's biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like Intel's solid state drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow." Tech Web sites have been extremely positive in their product reviews. Anandtech states that "Core i7 continues to fuel Intel's beacon of performance." "The Core i7 is everything they promised it would be," says PC Perspective. "Nehalem is a masterpiece," says the Lost Circuits website. The Tech Report calls it "one of the most consequential shifts in the industry." Intel's unique Turbo Boost Technology accelerates performance to match a computer user's needs and workloads. Through a sophisticated on-die power control unit and using new "power gate" transistors based on Intel's advanced 45 nanometer, high-k metal gate manufacturing process, Turbo Boost automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single- and multi-threaded applications to boost performance, without increasing power consumption. The Core i7 also has the latest Intel power-saving technologies, allowing desktops to go into sleep states formerly reserved for Intel-based notebooks. The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel "Extreme" platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bites in and out of the processor with Intel Quickpath Technology. Designed with Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology, the processor also allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at once. As a result, the Core i7 quad-core processor delivers 8-threaded performance. The Intel Core i7 processor also offers unrivalled performance for immersive 3-D games - over 40 percent faster than previous Intel high-performance processors on both the 3DMark Vantage CPU physics and AI tests, popular industry computer benchmarks that measure gaming performance. The Extreme Edition uses 8 threads to run games with advanced artificial intelligence and physics to make games act and feel real. In January 2009, AMD launched its 'fastest desktop processors ever'. They announced two new quad-core Phenom II processors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA. The Phenom II processors, pack 8MB of cache and are positioned squarely in the consumer desktop market. They also run at up to 3GHz, though AMD has demonstrated an over-clocked Phenom II processor running up to 4GHz just on air cooling. Even though the Phenom II processors represent the fastest processors ever released by AMD, they flounder when pitted against Intel's fastest Core i7. Benchmarks show the Intel processor coming out about 22% faster, though the AMD system delivers better "performance per watt" figures. Although the majority of PC users around the world are not high end users, who do not require top speed, it is also a matter of prestige of the processor manufacturing companies to be the proud owners of the fastest processors. The war is on! Information Source: infoniac.com, intel.com, fiercecio.com and wikipedia.
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