Intel Core i7 Mobile Chips Unveiled

Intel unveiled its fastest Core i7 mobile platform processors on the second day of Intel Developer Forum at San Francisco. The new Intel Core i7 mobile processors are based on the 45nm Nehalem microarchitecture. Formerly codenamed "Clarksfield", the two new quad-core mobile processors include Intel Core i7-820M and Core i7-720M along with Intel Core i7-920XM Extreme Edition.

Laptop makers like Asus, Dell's Alienware, HP and Toshiba will be shipping Intel Core i7 mobile processors equipped notebooks from Thursday. Intel Core i7 mobile chips will be compatible and paired with Intel PM55 Express chipset for a better experience in gaming, digital multimedia experience, business programs and other multi-threaded tasks.

The new Intel Core i7 mobile chips bring several Nehalem features, like integrated dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, Hyper-Threading, dynamic Turbo Boost technology, built-in PCI-Express 2.0 x16 connectivity, and others. Intel's Calpella platform thus integrates four cores and memory controller on the same die.

Calpella platform's Intel PM55 Express chipset has single chip architecture that brings support for up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s port support, 8 PCI Express 2.0 x1 and support for up to 14 USB 2.0 peripherals. Also, the Intel Matrix Storage Technology 8.9 enables storage data protection, power management and enhanced system performance.

The new Intel Core i7 Mobile Processors are specs are:

-Core i7-720QM: 1.60GHz, 1MB L2 cache (256KB per core), 6MB unified L3 core,
-Core i7-820QM: 1.73GHz, 1MB L2 cache (256KB per core), 8MB unified L3 core,
-Core i7-920XM: 2.00GHz, 1MB L2 cache (256KB per core), 8MB unified L3 core,

The Core i7 Mobile processors bring support for 1333MHz DDR3 memory in dual-channel mode and full single PCI Express 2.0 x16 or dual x8 graphics support. Intel Turbo Boost technology can shoot up the CPU clock speed up to 75 per cent, i.e. up to 3.06GHz (Core i7-Q820). The Hyper Threading technology aids multi-threaded applications for higher processing throughput and improved system performance.

Laptops with Intel Core i7-920XM will support Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP). The Intel Extreme Tuning Utility is used for overclocking as well as tuning the system for performance boost with battery life optimizations.

The quad-core Intel Core i7-720QM and Core i7-820QM have Thermal Design Power of 45Watts while that of Core i7-920XM is 55Watts. These mobile processors have slightly higher TDP than the Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile chips since they incorporate memory controllers. However, the overall power consumption of the entire Calpella platform (CPUs+Chipset) should remain the same.

Intel will be offering the Intel Core i7-720QM for $364 (Rs. 17,500 approx.), Core i7-820QM for $546 (Rs. 26,200 approx.) and Core i7-920XM for $1054 (Rs. 50,600 approx.) - all at per unit in a thousand chips tray. Considering these prices, expect the notebooks packing these Core i7 Mobile chips to be priced high.