Intel Core i5 Loses QPI and Triple-Channel Memory Controller

Information regarding Intel’s upcoming Lynnfield processor has been leaked, with a real processor sample benchmarked. From what we can see so far, Lynnfield is going to be quite different than Core i7, and from the CPU-Z screenshots, it looks like Lynnfield = Core i5. But it’s important not to think that it’s simply a slower i7, because that’s not the full story.

According to a few slides found on the originating thread at ChipHell, Lynnfield will remain a Quad-Core variety like i7, but the QPI bus will be removed, along with the tri-channel memory controller. Rather, we’d be moving back to a DMI solution and will revert to dual-channel DDR3 that we’ve become accustomed to. Also, given it’s seemingly budget focus, the maximum-supported GPU solution will be one PCI-E 16x, or two PCI-E 8x, which we can assume is more of a chipset issue than a CPU issue.

One other important piece of info is that Lynnfield will not follow along the same lines as i7 and be built around an LGA1366 socket. Rather, since QPI and other features will be shaved off, less contacts are needed, and that results in LGA1160 socket. That unquestionably has the power to make things a little confusing.

Along with the first Core i5 processors will come Intel’s 5-series budget-variant chipset, which we can assume will be called P55. It’s unknown at this point all of what that will bring, but it seems safe to say that it will be quite similar overall to P45, except with support for the latest socket and processors.

Where Lynnfield fits into Intel’s plan is a little tough to gage, but it seems likely that what Core i7 processors are available now, will remain the only ones available, with the possibility of one or two more above and below the current offerings being released. This is just personal speculation, however. Also, Core i5’s mobile counterpart is Clarksfield, and according to the same thread as mentioned above, it will also carry identical specifications to Lynnfield. The performance information I mentioned can be found at the Expreview URL below, but it was down at the time of writing.