Nehalem (microarchitecture)

Nehalem

Logo for Core i7 Bloomfield processors
General information
Launched	November 11, 2008; 15 years ago (November 11, 2008)
Marketed by	Intel
Designed by	Intel
Common manufacturer	Intel
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate	1.06 GHz to 3.33 GHz
QPI speeds	4.80 GT/s to 6.40 GT/s
DMI speeds	2 GT/s
Cache
L1 cache	64 KB per core (32 KB data + 32 KB instructions)
L2 cache	256 KB per core
L3 cache	2 MB to 24 MB shared
Architecture and classification
Technology node	45 nm
Microarchitecture	Nehalem
Instruction set	x86-16, IA-32, x86-64
Instructions	MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4, SSE4.1, SSE4.2
Extensions	VT-x, VT-d
Physical specifications
Transistors	731M to 2300M 45 nm
Cores	1-6 (1-8 Xeon)
Sockets	LGA 1156 LGA 1366 LGA 1567 μPGA 988
Products, models, variants
Core names	Clarksfield Lynnfield Bloomfield Jasper Forest Gainestown (Nehalem-EP) Beckton (Nehalem-EX) Aubrurndale Havendale
Product code name	NHM
Models	Core i5-7xx Core i7-8xx Core i7-9xx Extreme Xeon 3000/5000/7000 Mobile Core i7-7xxQM Mobile Core i7-8xxQM Mobile Core i7-9xxXM Extreme
History
Predecessors	Core (tock) Penryn (tick)
Successors	Westmere (tick) Sandy Bridge (tock)
Support status
Unsupported

Nehalem /nəˈheɪləm/^[1] is the codename for Intel's 45 nm microarchitecture released in November 2008.^[2] It was used in the first generation of the Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, and succeeds the older Core microarchitecture used on Core 2 processors.^[3] The term "Nehalem" comes from the Nehalem River.^[4][5]

Nehalem is built on the 45 nm process, is able to run at higher clock speeds without sacrificing efficiency, and is more energy-efficient than Penryn microprocessors. Hyper-threading is reintroduced, along with a reduction in L2 cache size, as well as an enlarged L3 cache that is shared among all cores. Nehalem is an architecture that differs radically from NetBurst, while retaining some of the latter's minor features.

Nehalem later received a die-shrink to 32 nm with Westmere, and was fully succeeded by "second-generation" Sandy Bridge in January 2011.