Westmere (formerly Nehalem-C) is the code name given to the

32 nm The "32 nm" node is the step following the "45 nm" process in CMOS (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication. "32-nanometre" refers to the average half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features) of a memory cell at this technolo ...

die shrink The term die shrink (sometimes optical shrink or process shrink) refers to the List of semiconductor scale examples, scaling of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) devices. The act of shrinking a Die (integrated circuit), die creates a somewhat ...

of '' Nehalem''. While sharing the same

CPU socket In computer hardware, a CPU socket or CPU slot contains one or more mechanical components providing mechanical and electrical connections between a microprocessor and a printed circuit board (PCB). This allows for placing and replacing the centr ...

s, Westmere included Intel HD Graphics, while Nehalem did not. The first ''Westmere''-based processors were launched on January 7, 2010, by Intel Corporation. The Westmere architecture has been available under the Intel brands of

Core i3 Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...

Core i5 Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...

Core i7 Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...

Pentium Pentium is a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The Pentium (original), original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship proce ...

Celeron Celeron is a series of IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor, microprocessors targeted at low-cost Personal computer, personal computers, manufactured by Intel from 1998 until 2023. The first Celeron-branded CPU was introduced on April 15, ...

and

Xeon Xeon (; ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same archite ...

, and includes directX 10.1, and openGL 2.1.

Technology

Westmere's feature improvements from Nehalem, as reported: * Native six-core (

Gulftown Gulftown or Westmere-E is the codename of an up to six-core hyperthreaded Intel processor able to run up to 12 threads in parallel. It is based on Westmere microarchitecture, the 32 nm shrink of Nehalem. Originally rumored to be called the Int ...

) and ten-core ( Westmere-EX) processors. * A new set of instructions that gives over 3x the encryption and decryption rate of

Advanced Encryption Standard The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...

(AES) processes compared to before. ** Delivers seven new instructions (

AES instruction set An Advanced Encryption Standard instruction set (AES instruction set) is a set of instructions that are specifically designed to perform AES encryption and decryption operations efficiently. These instructions are typically found in modern process ...

or AES-NI), out of which six implement the AES algorithm, and PCLMULQDQ (see

CLMUL instruction set Carry-less Multiplication (CLMUL) is an extension to the x86 instruction set used by microprocessors from Intel and AMD which was proposed by Intel in March 2008 and made available in the Intel Westmere processors announced in early 2010. Mathema ...

) implements carry-less multiplication for use in

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

and

data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressi ...

. * Integrated graphics, added into the processor package (dual core

Arrandale Arrandale is the code name for a family of mobile Intel processors, sold as mobile Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 as well as Celeron and Pentium. It is closely related to the desktop Clarkdale processor; both use dual-core dies based on the '' Westm ...

and Clarkdale only). * Improved virtualization latency. * New virtualization capability: "VMX Unrestricted mode support," which allows 16-bit guests to run (real mode and big real mode). * Support for "Huge Pages" of 1 GB in size.

CPU variants

Westmere CPUs

* TDP includes the integrated GPU, if present. * Clarkdale processors feature 16

PCIe PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a high-speed standard used to connect hardware components inside computers. It is designed to replace older expansion bus standards such as Peripher ...

2.0 lanes, which can be used in 1x16 or 2x8 configuration. * ''Clarkdale'' and ''Arrandale'' contain the 32 nm dual core processor ''Hillel'' and the 45 nm integrated graphics device ''Ironlake'', and support switchable graphics. * Only certain higher-end CPUs support AES-NI and 1GB Huge Pages.

Server / Desktop processors

Mobile processors

Roadmap

The successor to ''Nehalem'' and ''Westmere'' is ''

Sandy Bridge Sandy Bridge is the List of Intel codenames, codename for Intel's 32 nm process, 32 nm microarchitecture used in the second generation of the Intel Core, Intel Core processors (Intel Core i7, Core i7, Intel Core i5, i5, Intel Core i3, i3). The Sa ...

''.

References

External links

Official Intel homepage for Westmere-EP

Official Intel homepage for Westmere-EX

Westmere-EX: A 20 thread server CPU
(PDF) {{Intel processor roadmap Intel microarchitectures X86 microarchitectures