Intel gets ready to launch 32nm Westmere chips

Intel Corp. is making a big leap later this week, moving from a 45-nanometer manufacturing process to 32nm with three new chips.

Intel is expected to announce the new chips – and their associated chipsets – at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Billing Intel President Paul Otellini's keynote as a big news event, the company is set to unveil three chips from the Westmere family for desktop and mobile PCs.

While Westmere has been the chips' internal name, they're officially being called Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. The chips all are based on the Nehalem architecture but are being built on a 32nm platform. Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is scheduled to release its first 32nm chip in six months or so, but this is the first time Intel has dropped below 45nm, and the move marks a significant milestone for the industry.

“This is a big deal because these are the first 32nm chips, which is a big shrink versus current 45nm technology,” said Dan Olds, an analyst with the Gabriel Consulting Group. “AMD is supposed to deliver 32nm chips in 2010, sometime around mid-year. Intel has supposedly been fabbing these new chips since November to ensure an adequate supply, meaning that Intel will be in the driver's seat at least until mid-2010, though it could be longer if AMD's production schedules slip. For their part, AMD needs to get its 32nm technology out on time — or sooner if possible. The longer Intel has the lead, the more difficult it will be for AMD to regain mind and market share.”

With the big Otellini keynote coming later this week, Intel released some basic information about the new chips today.

According to Intel, all three new chips will be dual cores and will use hyper-threading technology, an integrated memory controller and intelligent power gating.

Jim McGregor, an analyst with In-Stat, noted that the 32nm chips will have an increased transistor count , and the chips will run faster without increasing power consumption. Intel is able to squeeze so much more on the new chips that the corresponding chipset packages, which are the groups of chips designed to work together, has gone from three to two chips.

“With this shrink, Intel is able to pull more circuitry onto the chip, such as the memory and graphics controllers,” Olds said. “This allows them to eliminate an entire chip, making their processor/chipset solution two chips rather than three. This is important as it is less costly to manufacture and will reduce costs to OEMs. In turn, this also means that the chips take up less space on the board and will allow smaller and more flexible system form factors. Intel being able to fab these chips in volume puts them firmly in the lead over AMD.”