Tukwila perfromance being >2x

[andy-polyakov]

Greetings. I wonder what's behindthe promise ofTukwila performance being >2x current Itanium2 generation. Is it merereference to thefact of it being quad-core design with bigger cache, faster memory interface, etc.? Or is every core equipped withadditional execution units? Most notably would it be capable of scheduling4x{mfi} bundles in one cycle and break current ILP limit?A lot of thanks in advance. A.

[Adam]

Quoting - andy-polyakov

Greetings. I wonder what's behindthe promise ofTukwila performance being >2x current Itanium2 generation. Is it merereference to thefact of it being quad-core design with bigger cache, faster memory interface, etc.? Or is every core equipped withadditional execution units? Most notably would it be capable of scheduling4x{mfi} bundles in one cycle and break current ILP limit?A lot of thanks in advance. A.

I was hoping for all that as well as socket compatibility with Xeon. It would benefit both the customer and Intel themselves.

It seems they delayed it several times this year and I am personally very disappointed with that.

I think the >2X performance is a reference to the fact of it being a quad core.

I do however recall that there will be no major architectural changes to the Itanium architecture itself until Poulson is released. I cannot confirm whether or not this is true. So in effect each core will most likely have the same number of execution units as a single core Itanium 2 processor - but then again an Intel engineer can correct me on this one.

I think as well judging by some pictures I have seen of the die the 30ish MB cache is divided between the cores (maybe Intel engineer can correct me there)

[David_S_Intel3]

Quoting - andy-polyakov

Greetings. I wonder what's behindthe promise ofTukwila performance being >2x current Itanium2 generation. Is it merereference to thefact of it being quad-core design with bigger cache, faster memory interface, etc.? Or is every core equipped withadditional execution units? Most notably would it be capable of scheduling4x{mfi} bundles in one cycle and break current ILP limit?A lot of thanks in advance. A.

Hi, The processor code-named Tukwila includes four cores (based upon the current Itanium processor microarchitecture), Hyper-Threading Technology, 30MB total on-die caches, dual integrated memory controllers, and the new Intel QuickPath Interconnect. With these technologies, Tukwila is expected to deliver twice the twice the performance of the current Itanium processor 9000 Series.

Tukwila is not socket-compatible with the upcoming "Nehalem-EX" Xeon processor, but it will be compatible with the future Itanium processor code-named "Poulson", which will feature a new microarchitecture, and the subsequent socket-compatible Itanium processor code-named "Kittson."

[Adam]

Quoting - David Song (Intel)

Hi, The processor code-named Tukwila includes four cores (based upon the current Itanium processor microarchitecture), Hyper-Threading Technology, 30MB total on-die caches, dual integrated memory controllers, and the new Intel QuickPath Interconnect. With these technologies, Tukwila is expected to deliver twice the twice the performance of the current Itanium processor 9000 Series.

Tukwila is not socket-compatible with the upcoming "Nehalem-EX" Xeon processor, but it will be compatible with the future Itanium processor code-named "Poulson", which will feature a new microarchitecture, and the subsequent socket-compatible Itanium processor code-named "Kittson."

What a pity it isn't socket compatible. I guess that means it will cost over $5000 or so like its predecessors?

[David_S_Intel3]

Quoting - Adam Kachwalla

What a pity it isn't socket compatible. I guess that means it will cost over $5000 or so like its predecessors?

Hi, Pricing for Tukwila hasn't been determined yet, but it will probablybe comparable to the Itanium processor 9100 Series, which costs $696 to $3,692 depending on order volume, features and performance.