These integrated DirectX 10 GPUs will benefit from a number of functions normally found within Intel's CPUs, including their Turbo Boost functionality for automatic overclocking and (more importantly) shared access to the chip's L3 cache (click the diagram for a better view). The latter required Intel to construct an entirely new interface to replace its previous QuickPath Interconnect -- the means by which a CPU "talks" to memory and other system components. A new ring bus will deliver up to 96 gigabytes per second of bandwidth for every core, and connect said CPU cores to the GPU, cache, and the system agent (analogous to an on-die North Bridge).
Intel's second-generation Core processors will come in two- and four-core variants. Hyper-threading is still present; it's the process by which one physical CPU core is split into two virtual CPU cores of-sorts. Turbo Boost is back as well, but it's been kicked up a notch from Nehalem's designs. Not only can all four cores receive an automatic overclock depending on your system's workload, but the CPU will actually push past the rated thermal design power () of the chip itself for brief periods of time. The technological wisdom is that a CPU can get away with a bit of over-overclocking before it has to back off at the TDP limit -- the CPU doesn't immediately jump up to said limit, for example, if the cores get clocked up to extreme amounts.
Those opting to use Intel's built-in CPU/GPU combination instead of a discrete graphics card will also be treated to enhanced video decoding and encoding capabilities as a result of the chip's built-in media processor. But just how much has Intel's fixation on fixed-function processing boosted its video capabilities? A demo at this year's Intel Developer Forum featured a three-minute 1080p source video converted to a 640-by-360 iPhone video in around 14 seconds-or roughly 400 frames per second.
New vector extensions built into Sandy Bridge CPUs-dubbed AVX, or Advanced Vector Extensions-should increase floating-point performance for tasks like video and photo processing, as well as certain financial applications. In essence, AVX's 256-bit vectors--double those of its predecessor instruction set, Streaming SIMD Extensions or "SSE"-will allow your system to crunch more data by grouping it together in larger chunks. And that directly correlates to the power efficiency of the chip itself. In order to actually benefit from AVX however, consumers will have to be running Windows 7 SP1. Expect to see the update hit sometime in the first quarter of 2011.
The full details on Sandy Bridge's performance are still under wraps, but is looming over the horizon, and a few vendors are getting the party started . For a look at how Intel's second-generation Core processor performs for work and play, stay tuned to our coverage!