Nehalem’s specs elevate Intel engineers’ “most significant update to Intel’s x86 in ten years” mantra from mere marketing to reality, thanks to the on-package power management controller. “Way to bring more than lip service to green IT, guys, and sooner than most observers (myself included) expected,” Tom Yager writes. “Sign me up for three-level cache architecture, hyperthreading, and direct virtual machine links to physical peripherals, but if Nehalem’s power management delivers its potential, and if Microsoft and Intel server OEMs exploit the technology, I’m open to declaring a new ball game in x86 servers.” The Nehalem chip’s secret weapon. Software Development