IDF Fall 09: Clarkdale Performance Unveiled

Clarkdale Performance Unveiled

We had the privilege of previewing the upcoming Clarkdale processor in action at a closed door briefing earlier today. Besides getting a firsthand look, Intel also revealed some performance numbers. This gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect when Clarkdale is made available.

First off, Clarkdale is the first 32nm processor that comes built with integrated graphics. The graphics chip is packaged together with the processor in the same die as the processor. Apparently, Intel has no plans (or likely not ready) to put the GPU in the same die in this generation of processors. The next iteration of their 32nm generation, codenamed Sandy Bridge, would incorporate graphics along with the CPU. For now, graphics is located in a different 45nm chip connected to the main CPU via QPI. In addition, the memory controller is also integrated together with the GPU this time around. This raises concern of memory latency since access to memory would have to pass through QPI to the memory controller in the GPU. However, Intel assured that latency would not be a major problem since the large built-in cache would reduce memory access times.

On the graphics side of the processor, Intel has largely improved its performance by providing smarter and larger execution units. Besides that, Intel boosted its clock frequency to keep it consistent with the requirements of mainstream 3D games. However, the largest improvement to its graphics engine would be its HD decoding which supports dual 1080p picture-in-picture decoding. Besides that, the GPU supports bitstream audio and it passes DolbyHD or DTS-HD audio directly through the HDMI port into supported AV receivers. This extensive support for Blu-ray playback makes Clarkdale an extremely versatile all-in-one solution, especially for home theatre PCs.

Finally, the Westmere core also comes with new AES-NI technology that accelerates encryption and decryption. This effectively improves systems that implements data security through disk encryption. Compression tools like WinZip that deals with passworded files would also benefit with AES-NI.

Relative Performance to Core 2

Below, we have relative performance of Clarkdale against previous generations of Core 2 processors. As you can see in the charts below, the dual core Clarkdale can outperform a Core 2 Quad processor under most workloads. In terms of 3D graphics performance, expect about 50% improvement in framerates.

Power Consumption

Power consumption of the Clarkdale looked promising as power drawn by the entire system at idle mode is only about 25W. We do not really know the full configuration of the system, so we'll just take these measurements with a pinch of salt.

"Jet Geyser" mini-ITX motherboard

Along with the introduction of Clarkdale, Intel will also be releasing a new mini-ITX motherboard to support the new CPU. As the board now uses a single I/O chip, the board has more real estate freed up for a full length PCIe slot for those who want the option to upgrade to a discrete graphics card.

New Control Panel
 

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