What is QPI ? (QuickPath Interconnect)

Mario · 19th July 2009, 10:22 PM

The Intel QuickPath Interconnect is a highspeed, packetized, point-to-point interconnect used in Intel’s next generation of microprocessors first produced in the second half of 2008.

The first Core i7s will sport both the memory controller and system I/O integrated onto the CPU die and therefore eliminates the Front Side Bus (FSB) altogether. In place of the FSB, one or more high speed, point-to-point buses called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) are used, formerly known as Common Serial Interconnect Bus or CSI. QPI features higher bandwidth than the traditional FSB and is better suited to system scaling. Intel was tied to the the FSB that started to interfere with performance. The QPI architecture will allow Intel to connect tri, or even quad-channel memory directly to the the processors integrated memory controller. (Ergo current i7's use DDR-3 memory.)

Intel also added PCI-E links directly into the CPU die. This will deliver much more bandwidth for high performance graphics cards and remove any bottleneck issues with other system components.

An Introduction to the Intel QuickPath Interconnect.

19th July 2009, 10:22 PM	#1
Mario Special Guest Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: @home Posts: 627	What is QPI ? (QuickPath Interconnect) The Intel QuickPath Interconnect is a highspeed, packetized, point-to-point interconnect used in Intel’s next generation of microprocessors first produced in the second half of 2008. The first Core i7s will sport both the memory controller and system I/O integrated onto the CPU die and therefore eliminates the Front Side Bus (FSB) altogether. In place of the FSB, one or more high speed, point-to-point buses called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) are used, formerly known as Common Serial Interconnect Bus or CSI. QPI features higher bandwidth than the traditional FSB and is better suited to system scaling. Intel was tied to the the FSB that started to interfere with performance. The QPI architecture will allow Intel to connect tri, or even quad-channel memory directly to the the processors integrated memory controller. (Ergo current i7's use DDR-3 memory.) Intel also added PCI-E links directly into the CPU die. This will deliver much more bandwidth for high performance graphics cards and remove any bottleneck issues with other system components. An Introduction to the Intel QuickPath Interconnect.

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