Farewell to the processor socket: a storm in a teacup?


According to the Japanese website PC Watch Intel plans of the 2014 expected generation processor Broadwell no versions for desktop Desktop Boards with AC versions. Broadwell chips should therefore only in ball grid array (BGA) packages appear, which are intended for direct soldering onto PCBs.

From this information, PC Watch has concluded Intel might even want to deliver from 2014 no middle class processors for changing versions more. For such high-end PCs are expected to continue, however, are derived as the existing LGA2011 CPUs server processors.

Now Charlie Demerjian contributed by Semiaccurate.com more information. Therefore confirmed employee unnamed motherboard makers that Intel actually planning any change versions for mid-Broad Wells. This does not mean that after Haswell - appears likely as Core i5-4000 or i7-4000 - are no extra processors for LGA sockets longer on the market. Rather reported Demerjian, are expected in the 2015 CPU generation Skylake which again provided. If so, then there would be no mere Broadwell CPUs to change versions, the Haswell versions would simply stay longer in the race until the Skylake detachment occurs.




It is conceivable that an intermediate generation Intel brings to the market - were those "refresh" cycles in the past already. One possible reform would be DDR4 SDRAM: This memory-generation could, according to the DRAM manufacturers have indeed start 2013, but so far there are no indications that already can handle the first Haswell incarnations so. On the other hand whiz information Xeon version Haswell EP. With DDR4 memory controller through the network, which will be released in the second half of 2014 Since it is not unlikely that in the same period a DDR4-compatible Haswell version also appears for a new CPU socket of the middle class - DDR4 SDRAM needs some more contacts and allows for the high frequencies may be only a single (dual-rank ) UDIMM memory per channel. LR-DIMMs for servers should have no such restriction.

There is also speculation that Intel also plans processors with "aufgestapeltem" RAM, possibly with fast graphics memory. Such chip stacks would seem useful, especially for slim mobile devices where you can not upgrade the GPU. In desktop PCs, complex chip stacks of this generation would be economically unattractive, because you can reach higher GPU performance with cheaper means: For example, with very fast (DDR4) RAM or simply with graphic chips that dock via PCIe 3.0.


Although Intel but through 2015 further mainstream processors made ​​for the PC-middle class, the future of this type is uncertain. The desktop PC market is shrinking at the same time, the demand shifted to very compact and all-in-one designs, where a CPU swap is hardly possible or where already BGA mobile processors are used. Intel also sells long been far more processors for mobile devices than for stationary.

The manufacturing cost of a CPU are strongly dependent on the latest required silicon area. Why Intel made ​​differently depending on the CPU price range large silicon dice, namely in the Ivy Bridge generation of four different: each dual and quad-core GPU with 6 or 16 "tiles" (Execution Units). If the structures are so small that the development and production of different size chips is more expensive than the production of a single, the version in larger numbers, currency version loses benefits. Intel has already conducted experiments with other advertising methods, such as subsequent upgrades by license code: As with too big IBM servers could then "unlock" additional cores or higher clock frequencies, without the need to replace hardware.


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