What is intel core i7 processor, Why is it the fastest on planet

Intel (Integrated Electronics) corporation is the world’s largest semiconductor company and the inventor of x86 (32-bit) microprocessors. 286, 386, 486, Pentium and Itanium processors are the developed processors over x86 processors. Pentium Pro and Pentium II processors are the next generation. Intel Core 2 brand refers to a range of Intel’s consumer 64-bit single- and dual-core and 2×2 MCM (Multi-Chip Module) quad-core CPUS with the x86-64 instruction set, based on the Intel Core micro architecture derived from the 32-bit dual-core Yonah processor. This was introduced in 2006. with Solo(single-core), Duo (dual-core), Quad (quad-core) and Extreme branches. This was the successful brand in that period. The successor to The Core 2 brand is the Core i7, which is based on the Nehalem micro architecture.
The most notable changes in features of Core i7are, the FSB is replaced by a QuickPath interface, and the processor has an onboard memory controller. These are the Quad Core processors. The Nehalem architecture has many new features some of which are present in the Core i7.

The ones that represent significant changes from the Core 2 include:

• The new LGA 1366 socket is incompatible with earlier processors.
• On-die memory controller: the memory is directly connected to the processor.

1. Three channel memory: each channel can support one or two DDR3 DIMMs. Motherboards for Core i7 have four (3+1) or six DIMM slots instead of two or four, and DIMMs should be installed in sets of three, not two.
2. Support for DDR3 only.
3. No ECC support.

• The front side bus is replaced by QuickPath interface. Motherboards must use a chipset that supports QuickPath.
• The following caches:

1. 32 KB L1 instruction and 32 KB L1 data cache per core.
2. 256 KB L2 cache (combined instruction and data) per core
3. 8 MB L3 (combined instruction and data) “inclusive”, shared by all cores

• Single-die device: all four cores, the memory controller, and all cache are on a single die.
• “Turbo Boost” technology allows all active cores to intelligently clock themselves up in steps of 133 MHz over the design clock rate as long as the CPU’s predetermined thermal and electrical requirements are still met.
• Re-implemented Hyper-threading. Each of the four cores can process up to two threads simultaneously, so the processor appears to the OS as eight CPUs. This feature was present in the older NetBurst architecture but was dropped in Core.
• Only one QuickPath interface: not intended for multi-processor motherboards.
• 45nm process technology.
• 781M transistors for the quad core version.
• Sophisticated power management can place an unused core in a zero-power mode.
• Support for SSE4.2 & SSE4.1 instruction sets.

With faster, intelligent, multi-core technology that applies processing power where it is needed most, Core i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. We can multi task applications faster and unleash incredible digital media creation. It has the combination of Turbo Boost technology and Hyper threading technology which maximizes the performance during workload.

The Core i7 die and major components. Source: Intel

Special features of Intel Core i7 Processors:

Intel(R) Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload—more performance when you need it the most. Intel(R) Hyper-Threading technology enables highly threaded applications to get more work done in parallel. With 8 threads available to the operating system, multi-tasking becomes even easier. Intel(R) Smart Cache provides a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for industry leading multi-threaded games. Intel(R) QuickPath Interconnect is designed for increased bandwidth and low latency. It can achieve data transfer speeds as high as 25.6 GB/sec with the Extreme Edition processor. Integrated memory controller enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. This memory controller’s lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications. Intel(R) HD Boost significantly improves a broad range of multimedia and compute-intensive applications. The 128-bit SSE instructions are issued at a throughput rate of one per clock cycle, allowing a new level of processing efficiency with SSE4 optimized applications.

Intel Core i7 Processor and Corsair Triple-Channel DDR3 RAM On The DX58SO 'Smackover' Motherboard