Corsair Labs:
Intel Core i7 Build & Architecture Changes
»
Introduction - The "Old" Way
Discuss this Article in the Ram Guy Forum
||
View printable version
Intel's newest architecture, known as Nehalem (nee-HAY-lem), is an interesting and mysterious beast. There are some of the most significant changes in years inside this bad boy, so let's get straight to the point.
The biggest and most important change for us to talk about today is the memory controller. The memory controller, much like its name implies, is the interface between the memory and the processor. Typically located on the "North Bridge" chip on the motherboard, the memory controller communicated to the processor through the "Front Side Bus" or FSB.
THE OLD WAY - A SYSTEM WITH A FRONT-SIDE BUS
In this image, the FSB is the connection between the processor(s) and the memory controller. Notice the memory controller is the interface between the CPU and the memory, as well as the interface between the CPU and the I/O controller, which would control your hard drives, USB ports, etc.
In the past, overclocking was usually achieved by tweaking this FSB. For example, on a Core 2 Duo system where the processor's multiplier is locked, we might have seen the FSB at 800 or 1066. Typically this was twice what the actual host frequency was, so a processor would have a multiplier based on the actual host clock.
Example: The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 runs at 3.2 GHz, and claims a "1600 MHz" FSB. This is a "Quad-pumped" FSB and the host clock is truly running at 400 MHz, still extremely fast. So the multiplier of this processor is 8.
Host clock * Multiplier = Clock Speed
400 MHz * 8 = 3200 MHz, or 3.2 GHz.
Image provided by Intel.com
http://www.intel.com/technology/quickpath/index.htm
Next Section: Introduction - The "New" Way »
Jump to Section: