Core i7 Question: Is the 920/965 actually the server version?

[SunnyD]

I'm curious if these "enthusiast" Core i7's and X58 motherboards are actually Intel's "server" version of i7?

I recall reading that the "desktop" versions won't have QPI, and only feature 2 memory channels among other things. Is that alluding to a different socket, making early adopters possibly locked into a "dead" or at the very least "expensive" server socket?

 

[JackyP]

No. They do not officially support ECC AFAIK. Wouldn't quite work for a server...
There's an article explaining it fairly well on the mainpage http://anandtech.com/cpuchipse...el/showdoc.aspx?i=3461

 

[Seggybop]

1366 is in fact the server socket and the processors themselves are presumably identical to what will be officially marked as the server/Xeon versions.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Yeah, I think that's pretty much the case. If you look at the QX9775 and the Skulltrail board, you can see that intel did something similar with Core 2, all though on a much smaller scale. The Skulltrail board is essentially a "gaming" version of a Core 2 server board.

The mainstream i7 stuff is supposed to be coming out in Q2 09, and that will be on a separate socket and such. I don't think that 1336 is going to be a dead socket after these initial chips. From the sound of it, intel wants to keep the high end on 1336, and midrange on the other socket. I'm not too sure, but I'm almost positive that intel has confirmed that there will be at least a second iteration of i7 on 1336 (die shrink I believe).

 

[Extelleron]

LGA 1366 is the enthusiast / 2P server setup; the socket for Beckton octal-core (MP) will be different.

So from what I believe there will be three sockets in total; LGA-1156 for mainstream desktop, LGA 1366 for high-end/2P server, and LGA 15xx for MP variants.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So will there be dual-socket enthusiast platforms for 1366? Will the chips be crippled such that they won't run 2P, or is that an open possibility?

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Seggybop
1366 is in fact the server socket and the processors themselves are presumably identical to what will be officially marked as the server/Xeon versions.

Nope, there is also an extra QPI link...Aigo knows...

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
So will there be dual-socket enthusiast platforms for 1366? Will the chips be crippled such that they won't run 2P, or is that an open possibility?

As Mark mentioned, the Bloomfield i7's have just one QPI link enabled...which they need in order to communicate with the x58 and PCIe.

Nehalem requires at least two QPI links in order to communicate with another CPU in a 2P config.

http://www.hothardware.com/art...tem1204/big_slide7.jpg

http://www.hothardware.com/art...tem1204/big_slide9.jpg

http://video.intel.com/?fr_sto...c35a4f339f46c579&rf=bm

 

[MarchTheMonth]

Is anyone other than just myself happy someone really just straight up catered to enthusiast computer users by (essentially) giving us our own socket and chipset without it being too ridiculous of a premium? And on top of that, it's a top performer and (what looks like) a long line of upgrades without being cut short (in reference to how short the life span of S940 or S939 was)