i9 Six-core Gulftown Recently Sold on Ebay for $1200

[cbn]

One of the few complaints about the i7 was it's relatively low L3 cache amount, I am excited to see what a quad can do with the extra 4MB cache.

Do you have any links to this information?

 

[Idontcare]

the man wants links when he's got folks who are looking at the chips right now talking about it right here in front of him [/forehead-slap]

 

[cbn]

the man wants links when he's got folks who are looking at the chips right now talking about it right here in front of him [/forehead-slap]

Nobody else has mentioned low l3 cache being a design weakness of Core i7 in this thread. On top of that the person with the ES chip can't post results.

 

[lothar]

Do you have any links to this information?

Anandtech's review on Nehalem.

 

[cbn]

Anandtech's review on Nehalem.

In fact, going forward there’s no guarantee that the L2 caches will see growth in size, but the focus instead may be on making the L3 cache faster. Right now the 8MB L3 cache takes around 41 cycles to access, but there’s clearly room for improvement - getting a 30 cycle L3 should be within the realm of possibility. I pushed Ronak for more details on how Intel would achieve a lower latency L3, but the best I got was “microarchitectural tweaks”.

As I mentioned before, Ronak wanted the L3 to be bigger on Nehalem; at 8MB that’s only 2MB per core and merely sufficient in his eyes. There are two 32nm products due out in the next 2 years, I suspect that at least one of them will have an even larger L3 to continue the exponential trend I showed in the second chart above.

I found this. So it appears both size and latency of L3 cache *could* be different on Gulftown.

 

[aigomorla]

IDC and CB shall be crying soon.

:X

 

[cbn]

Do we have any idea how expensive this Q3QT Core i9 quad core will be?

Even though it is a harvested part the stock clock speed is pretty high. --->http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=240252

 

[exar333]

Anandtech's review on Nehalem.

Thanks Lothar! You beat me in providing the link; I should have probably provided the link, but I made an incorrect assumption that everyone here had read the review from Anand.

I just couldn't bring myself to replace by C0 with a D0, and with this 12MB chip on the horizon, I am definitely holding out for this. I don't think a hexa-core would benefit me a lot right now, but a faster quad with more cache could really be the killer CPU for 2010.

Hopefully Aigo can give more information soon.

 

[JFAMD]

Like his Aigo remark in the same post, of course IDC was just kidding.

Since we're on that topic anyway, would there be no benefit to R&D in getting an actual working to-be-released chip from the competition? Would any useful information be discernible from a working chip that wasn't in the roadmaps/previews/press releases of Intel?

2 things:

1. $1200 is a round trip ticket from Austin to Munich with stops in London and Paris (my last trip). I could bring infinitely more value to the business by doing that then getting my hands on a processor for the same price.

2. Any part available before launch is provided to the original person under NDA. For them to sell it, they are violating their NDA with Intel. That is a really slippery slope. It is not illegal but it is a breach of contract, which creates an interesting set of legal challenges.

I enjoy the taste of food and the warmth of a roof over my head, so things like that are not worth the risk.

Besides, both companies have really good modeling tools, so we both have a pretty accurate way of simulating the characteristics of products that we don't have in hand. The same way that I have a good feel for how bulldozer will perform is the same way that I can model what a westmere will be.

 

[jvroig]

Besides, both companies have really good modeling tools, so we both have a pretty accurate way of simulating the characteristics of products that we don't have in hand. The same way that I have a good feel for how bulldozer will perform is the same way that I can model what a westmere will be.

Thank you for the response. I am by no means even remotely familiar with the CPU business, so any enlightenment you share about how the business works, especially the very hi-tech parts of the business, is very much appreciated. This answer of yours clarified my thinking very much.

2. Any part available before launch is provided to the original person under NDA. For them to sell it, they are violating their NDA with Intel. That is a really slippery slope. It is not illegal but it is a breach of contract, which creates an interesting set of legal challenges.

Ah, yes, sorry, I was aware of the legal implications of it and should have mentioned it. I was only after the technical aspects of the scenario, whether an unreleased chip in the hands of the competition would be useful, which you also answered quite clearly.

EDIT: By the way, I hope you took no offense from my question. I was by no means implying AMD must have bought the chip as a way to peek into Intel's upcoming offering. I apologize if it seemed like so.

 

[dank69]

LOL, a guy who bought one of these chips is posting on the evga forums asking how to get it to work on his 756 micro.

 

[clusta]

sweet,but 2.4ghz

 

[JFAMD]

EDIT: By the way, I hope you took no offense from my question. I was by no means implying AMD must have bought the chip as a way to peek into Intel's upcoming offering. I apologize if it seemed like so.

no blood no foul

 

[aigomorla]

sweet,but 2.4ghz

sour cuz B0 steppings are out already, and the one sold is an A0.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Someone suggested to make a toilet seat and lid from Pentium 4s. Now I could not think of a funnier thing - except the flush button labeled "FLUSH NETBURST CACHE HERE".

I don't think you want a toilet with the replay bug.

 

[dmens]

i don't think you want a toilet with the replay bug.

bwahahahahahaha

 

[clusta]

sour cuz B0 steppings are out already, and the one sold is an A0.

yea but i dont know too much about B0 steppings and A0's, but if u want u can tell me what is it and whats meaning about B0 and A0 steppings

 

[FelixDeCat]

I am truly envious of the buyer (assuming it wasnt Intel itself). I made so much money buying and selling Intel chips, that I have an everlasting place in my bosom for AT FS/T and Ebay.

The most interesting find I bought here was an unmarked Intel chip with bent pins some guy was selling for his friend. I carefully straigtened all the pins without breaking them and sold the $89 chip for $310. It was a 32 cap P4 capable of a stable 2.0 to 3.4 ghz. Normally on unlocked chips you get a narrow multiplier range. But this chip was so special it ran all the way from 1-12 IIRC. It was truly among the most special chips I ever came accross (next to the 35 Extreme Editions).

God bless AT FS/T, Intel & Ebay!

 

[dank69]

I am truly envious of the buyer (assuming it wasnt Intel itself)...

Intel didn't buy it

 

[aigomorla]

Intel didn't buy it

his auction showed 2 was sold.

intel only needs 1 from the tray to trace the entire tray.

yea but i dont know too much about B0 steppings and A0's, but if u want u can tell me what is it and whats meaning about B0 and A0 steppings

Stepping revisions are usually tweeks in the process that can lead to better yields on the cpu.
Step revisions can give u better overclocking, cooler operation, and even longivity.

Its always in the consumers best interest to get the latest stepping.

 

[Gillbot]

intel only needs 1 from the tray to trace the entire tray.

And the buyer is SOL if intel wants that chip back. Intel wants it, they get it or you are charged with the possession of stolen property.

 

[clusta]

Stepping revisions are usually tweeks in the process that can lead to better yields on the cpu.
Step revisions can give u better overclocking, cooler operation, and even longivity.

Its always in the consumers best interest to get the latest stepping.

How can i know what B0 and A0 steping is on my cpu and on other cpu btw,

that price 1200$ is not bad just the 2.4ghz is a little small per core or not?, 2.69ghz,2.99ghz, and so would be a verry better solution

 

[Gillbot]

cpuid will tell you

 

[clusta]

aye

 

[clusta]

that guy who bought the gulftown will need the asus p6x58d premium or the gigabyte ga-x58a-ud7 mobo that supports the cpu