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MaximumPC Builds First Nehalem System
Techtree News Staff, Aug 07, 2008 1844 hrs ISTMaximumPC has built the first Nehalem system with a desktop version of the mid-range 2.93GHz Nehalem chip, codenamed Bloomfield, and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard.
Rumors of Intel's next Nehalem chips have been doing the rounds on the Internet, complete with unconfirmed specifications. Anticipating a near future Nehalem release, Maximum PC secretly managed to build the first Intel's Nehalem processor based system.
In spite of the uncertain socket-motherboard compatibility, they managed to source the desktop version of mid-range 2.93GHz Nehalem chip, codenamed Bloomfield, expected in Q4 this year and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard from their 'secret hardware contacts'.
Bloomfield is larger than the Core 2 Quad chip. Also the new LGA1366 socket is larger and obviously won't be compatible with LGA775 heatsinks. Hence, most new heatsinks will have to be reworked to include new mounting brackets to make them compatible with Bloomfield. So, larger fan cooler and heatsinks with new mounting brackets will be required for this chip, along with different motherboard configurations.
Bloomfield's onboard DDR3 controller supports running three separate DDR3 DIMMS in three individual channels. So, motherboard vendors addicted to building dual-channel memory slot boards will have to build X58 motherboards having either four DIMM slots or six DIMM slots.
Intel's Smackover motherboard has four DIMM slots, of which two are individual channels while the third and fourth share a channel. Using three slots along with an optional fourth slot for expanded capacity may impact performance since the capacities in the third channel is likely to exceed the first two.
Maximum PC first tested the impact of DDR3 1333 memory used with Corsair DDR3 1333 for benchmarking on different memory configurations - single, dual, and triple channel. An increase in performance was observed when memory configuration was changed from single to dual-channel. However, dual to triple channel shift didn't show much of a difference in performance. The performance can be boosted with new tweaked BIOS and motherboards along with tweaked RAM single presence detections (SPD).
The three-channel memory configuration can bring better performance over 1600, 1800 or higher speed DDR3 modules. MaximumPC reported no benchmarks as the BIOS, drivers and early chip silicon could prejudice people against Bloomfield. The memory controller is flexible as it allows running the rig with single, dual, and tri-channel modes.
MaximumPC preferred to remain silent about "interesting overclocking features" that will introduce Intel's new technologies.
MaximumPC also mentioned that Bloomfield's SLI capability will become a reality only when board vendors buy and integrate Nvidia's nForce 200 chips onto the X58 motherboards. According to industry buzz, vendors are giving it a thought.
In spite of the uncertain socket-motherboard compatibility, they managed to source the desktop version of mid-range 2.93GHz Nehalem chip, codenamed Bloomfield, expected in Q4 this year and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard from their 'secret hardware contacts'.
Bloomfield is larger than the Core 2 Quad chip. Also the new LGA1366 socket is larger and obviously won't be compatible with LGA775 heatsinks. Hence, most new heatsinks will have to be reworked to include new mounting brackets to make them compatible with Bloomfield. So, larger fan cooler and heatsinks with new mounting brackets will be required for this chip, along with different motherboard configurations.
Bloomfield's onboard DDR3 controller supports running three separate DDR3 DIMMS in three individual channels. So, motherboard vendors addicted to building dual-channel memory slot boards will have to build X58 motherboards having either four DIMM slots or six DIMM slots.
Intel's Smackover motherboard has four DIMM slots, of which two are individual channels while the third and fourth share a channel. Using three slots along with an optional fourth slot for expanded capacity may impact performance since the capacities in the third channel is likely to exceed the first two.
Maximum PC first tested the impact of DDR3 1333 memory used with Corsair DDR3 1333 for benchmarking on different memory configurations - single, dual, and triple channel. An increase in performance was observed when memory configuration was changed from single to dual-channel. However, dual to triple channel shift didn't show much of a difference in performance. The performance can be boosted with new tweaked BIOS and motherboards along with tweaked RAM single presence detections (SPD).
The three-channel memory configuration can bring better performance over 1600, 1800 or higher speed DDR3 modules. MaximumPC reported no benchmarks as the BIOS, drivers and early chip silicon could prejudice people against Bloomfield. The memory controller is flexible as it allows running the rig with single, dual, and tri-channel modes.
MaximumPC preferred to remain silent about "interesting overclocking features" that will introduce Intel's new technologies.
MaximumPC also mentioned that Bloomfield's SLI capability will become a reality only when board vendors buy and integrate Nvidia's nForce 200 chips onto the X58 motherboards. According to industry buzz, vendors are giving it a thought.
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