Merom then Penryn

[perplex]

Firstly, I heard that Merom may consume more power than Yonah. I've also heard that Merom may consumer same power as Yonah. Both of these scenarios with Merom performing better than Yonah of course. Could someone clear this up?

Finally, will Penryn be a jump in performance like Merom is to Yonah, or will it be a more significant performance boost. Also because it will be made with 45nm equipment it should consume significantly less power, or approximately the same as Merom?

 

[pxc]

Firstly, I heard that Merom may consume more power than Yonah.

It was stupid theinq that said Merom was going to be 45W-48W. That would be a completely different rant to explain how often they are wrong.

I've also heard that Merom may consumer same power as Yonah. Both of these scenarios with Merom performing better than Yonah of course. Could someone clear this up?

When Intel formally introduced NGMA (now called Core Microarchitecture) at Spring IDF, they said it would use the same amount of power as Yonah.

Finally, will Penryn be a jump in performance like Merom is to Yonah, or will it be a more significant performance boost. Also because it will be made with 45nm equipment it should consume significantly less power, or approximately the same as Merom?

Probably not a big increase clock for clock since it's a 45nm shrink with a 50% increase in cache size (3MB and 6MB). If the trade off for the shrink is between lower power and higher clock speeds, it will be higher clock speeds.

 

[perplex]

So Penryn is JUST a shrink with more cache? Will the cache make much difference? Because Merom will have a relatively high amount of cache to begin with.

 

[pxc]

So Penryn is JUST a shrink with more cache?

Probably not "just" a shrink, but in the volume desktop and mobile versions that will likely be the most significant changes.

 

[$BangforThe$]

Penryn should be more than a die shrink as terrhertz should be introduced with the 45nm penryn High K (metal gates) penryn should be 20% faster than Merom clock for clock and 30% more effient.

 

[xonik]

So Penryn is JUST a shrink with more cache? Will the cache make much difference? Because Merom will have a relatively high amount of cache to begin with.

Increasing cache size is basically a given for die shrinks, regardless of performance implications. It keeps the die area sufficiently large to facilitate cooling, if anything else.