http://imicarus.com/2009/09/15/intel-jasper-forest-less-energy-more-space/

Intel's new Jasper Forest CPU will integrate the I/O hub into the CPU itself, saving space on the motherboard and using less energy in the process.

By integrating the I/O hub into the CPU, there's no need to have a north bridge on the motherboard anymore.

So, since we already got rid of the southbridge, all he had left was the north bridge.

Now that that's gone... wow no more bridges on the motherboard! That's amazing!

It seems as though many computer hardware innovators are moving toward integrating more and more into the CPU and less on the motherboard.

So from this, I came up with a hypothesis:

Could Intel be moving toward integrating everything into the CPU, and getting rid of the motherboard all together?

I can't really think of a way to connect all of the other components to the CPU itself, but when that becomes possible in the near future, all we may have in our tiny little boxes we used to loathe carrying around may be just a tiny little box the size of your hand.

However, I don't think Intel will be able to throw out the motherboard all together; motherboard vendors will have something to say about that.

Also, if Intel is trying to integrate EVERYTHING into the CPU, they will have the problem of shrinking every component in the computer down to the size of a chip or a transistor and integrating them into the CPU.

Well, that's my theory! But what do you guys think?

You need a main board to house the CPU. You'll still need a main PCB Board (Motherboard).

TamTheBam said:


But, it wouldn't be a motherboard, more a connection hub.

A device with peripheral / storage / sound / video connectors, and nothing else. Literally, just a routing board I suppose.

It would reduce the size of the computer hugely, but then again, if you wanted a dedicated GPU - thats the minimalist size gone.

Secondly, you would have no choice with regard to I/O controller (RAID/number of USB etc), sound card (would Intel have to use their own crappy sound controller, or acquire/license Creative/Realtek?).

I dunno, I can see the idea being welcome in embedded systems, but not really for the home PC.

OP - you should really put that text in quotes, as you've nicked it from that site.

Yea, the problem with minimizing the size of the computer itself is the desktop GPU.

Over years, I think one of the only components that didn't shrink in size(excluding PSUs and Memory) are the GPUs. They seem to get progressively bigger and more power-hungry. This is understandable though.

Once the desktop GPU starts shrinking and less power is needed, I think that the PC will start to shrink dramatically... though I don't see that happening anytime soon.

I say it's damn time they change the form factor on motherboards! I read a rant of form factor on MaximumPc which I'll try to post here, so you can all agree with me.

*ediT*
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/in_lab_gordon_mah_ung_wants_kill_atx

GPU's like IGP's can and will move on die. intel's next round up will come with optional IGP on die.
i am not to fond of the SOC = System On Chip idea. for corporations this is great because of the mentioned space and maintenance reasons but there will also not be an option to replace only the chipset or use a chipset from another manufacturer.
there won't be boards with intel cpu and an nvidia chipset option or an amd/ati chipset option
this already becomes apparent and problematic in the i7/i5's of intel's lineup.

with it all on die the motherboard truly becomes a connector hub only and could shring in size and change shape and form drastically, a dedicated gpu could easily be housed and used externally.

Hmm some interesting opinions here.

Meats Of Evil: yes, I've read that article before, and how he made an image of his ideal motherboard layout. It's actually quite interesting. Standards have been in place for much too long, I do agree.

BoT: if I'm understanding correctly, you're saying that the brands AMD and NVidia basically disappear because everything on the motherboard is integrated into the CPU right?

And another problem I thought of just now is, if everything is integrated into a single processor, and there's some technical difficulty in the processor that prevents you from powering up the PC, then there's no way to physically fix that part on your own since the transistors and parts will be microscopic.

What do you guys think about this problem?

Motherboards are just too cramped these days. Companies who manufacture MoBo's
allow Tri-SLi and there's no room for any other PCi cards, ok 1 or 2 PCI-X for sound
cards but big deal. It's still too cramped and heat's becoming more of an issue.

Aki Horie said:

the companies won't disappear completly but pretty much disappear from the chipset market that concerns intel. for nvidia it won't be feasable to make any chipsets and for ati only for it's amd parts.

but i also fear that it won't stop there, maybe as you mentioned the pch is next which would include network, sata, usb, etc controllers. many more companies could be effected by that then just nvidia and amd/ati

Aki Horie said:

exactly, there won't be a way to repair it. for me, for you or anybody. not even intel would make the effort to fix a broken SoC. it will just be replaced.
my fear however is not so much that it won't leave me with much work but well will the components work together on die. with soo many, the likelihood of something failing is much greater. something simple like a failing igp or degrading chipset or simply out dated chipset will be the EOL for a system altogether.
this could end up being more expensive then what we have to deal with now, plus you won't be able to pick your poison.

for now the options intel is setting forth are feasible but i fear that in the near future it won't be that way and i like a healthy competition which keeps companies on there toes and the development curve at a peak which also got us the great prices/ performance parts we are currently seeing.
i just hope that amd will not fall into the same trap because if intel drops the ball and thinks that they got everybody locked in on their platform they will be in for a rude awakening.

an SoC would be nice for small systems like the atom and laptops but on the desktop people want variety

TamtheBam: Yea, heating is such a big issue right now, it's not even funny.

And because liquid cooling and all that isn't for everyone, most of us have to stick with air cooling. I wish GPU vendors put much more effort into making air flow better in generally all cases.

BoT: Ah ok I understand what you're saying.

That's a great point though with the competition part. It's basically what's driving NVidia, AMD/ATi and other companies to constantly strive for new GPUs and innovations that'll put them ahead of the other. The prices are also a factor in this competition too.

Though, if you think about it, as hardware gets better, there should be less errors though. So in the near future, having most things on-die like the SoC idea may not have as much room for error as we think.

Hopefully, there'll be less errors with hardware... but I guess with mass-production and other issues, some hardware failures are just inevitable...

exactly, but what would be the big break for intel if they would release a dud. people would locked in with there system already. you would have to get a complete new system and by the time you were able to proof that it is a dud it's time to upgrade anyway.

systems won't be build to last 10-15 years anymore because it's not profitable. instead you will be forced to exchange your system every two years in order to stay with moore's law.
with a complete SoC intel could even force people to upgrade by simple enabling or disabling certain features or creating compatibility issues

i just had a client asking me to get there PII system back in shape and i am not talking about a phenom and the other day i was helping someone on another forum with a bios for pentium pc.

in can imagine that intel engineers would jump for joy while there sales dept would break out in a frantic rage.

once intel has a complete SoC, it locks out the competition and with it, it's own drive for improvement. sure they will continue to develop but who is really pushing them, who could make demands or a fair comparison or push them to lower prices?

right now intel has great products but i hope they won't be sleeping on there lead like they did with the p4

Ah true. Wow... Pentium II... I didn't know that some people are still on those. I guess they're locked in with their tech.

That is true, but once everything is on-die and we get the SoC, I think that the cost of producing these SoC processors will be much, much lower. So in an economic way, it may not be much more expensive than upgrading each component like we do right now.

However, I do see your problem with upgrading though. We get so much technology so quickly that things that are announced for demos are already obsolete by the time they come out for the market. By then, something new would be announced to the public.

I think Intel learned enough of a lesson with constantly striving for something better when they got their butts whooped with the Pentium IV...