Intel Core i7-740QM Mobile processor (BY80607005259AA / BX80607I7740QM)

Core i7-740QM is the second model from the i7-7xx series of high-performance microprocessors. At this time, June 2010, the processor is not officially launched yet, although all major laptop manufacturers already announced laptops based on this CPU. One of the first spotted laptops with the i7-740QM was HP Envy 17, followed by Dell Studio 14 notebook. Other manufacturers, who prepared new laptop models with the CPU, are Toshiba X505-Q887, X505-Q888 and X505-Q890 notebooks, Hewlett Packard 8540p, 8540w and 8740w laptops, EUROCOM X8100 Leopard, Mouse Computer Company MB-G811B, Sony VAIO VPC-F127HG/BI, and Fujitsu Celsius H700 laptops.

The Core i7-740QM is based on 45 nm Clarksfield core, which is built on Nehalem micro-architecture. Like other Core i7 Mobile models, the 740QM utilizes two different interfaces to access memory and peripheral devices. Instead of Front Side Bus interface, that was used in older processors for communications between the motherboard and the CPU, the i7-740QM uses integrated memory controller for memory accesses, and Direct Media Interface to talk to other devices. Integrated memory controller can work with two DD3 memory channels, which doubles its available bandwidth and increases CPU performance to some extent. Both the memory controller and Direct Media interface are located on the same die as four CPU cores. The die also contains 6 MB level 3 cache, which is 2 MB less than L3 cache on more powerful i7-8xx line of mobile microprocessors. Each CPU core has its own level 1 (L1) and level 2 (L2) caches, and those are used to store only the data used by the core. Level 3 cache, on the other side, is shared between all cores, and stores data for all of them. Even more, the L3 cache is inclusive, i.e. it also stores data located in each core's L1 and L2 caches. This make it easier for any core to find previously cached data, even if it was cached by another core. The disadvantage of this method is in reduced effective size of the L3 cache, as some cache data is duplicated in L1/L2 and L3 caches.

The Intel Core i7-740QM CPU is clocked at 1.73 GHz, or 133 MHz faster than slower i7-720QM model. The processor has two features that may temporarily modify clock frequency. Turbo Boost feature can increase the frequency when the processor is running within its thermal limits, and when maximum performance is required. How big is the boost depends on the number of active cores. The frequency is boosted by 133 MHz when 3 or all 4 cores are active, up to 800 MHz when two cores are active, and up to 1.2 GHz when only one core is active. Please note that these are maximum allowed frequency increases. The frequency boost may be lower if the processor is operating close to its Thermal Design Power (TDP), or close to its maximum temperature. Another feature that may temporary change CPU frequency is Enhanced SpeepStep technology. The primary goal of this feature is to preserve battery power at the expense of performance, and the SpeedStep technology achieves this by reducing core frequency and core voltage. CPU's Thermal Design Power (TDP) Power in this mode is lowered to 35 Watt. TDP of the i7-740QM under normal operating conditions is 45 Watt.

The Core i7-740QM CPU uses a few features that became standard on all modern processors. The processor includes 64-bit instruction set and 64-bit mode. In this mode the processor can run 64-bit operating system and applications, that, due to faster data access and additional registers, have slightly better performance than 32-bit applications. The processor also includes SSEx instructions from SSE to SSE4, that accelerate processing of certain types of data. Virtualization technology can be used to run an operating system or an application in a virtual environment. In addition to these now standard features, the processor supports Hyper-Threading technology. This technology adds additional modules to each CPU core, that permits the core to execute two threads at once. Please note that, while the number of threads is doubled, the performance is only marginally increased. HyperThreading boosts CPU performance by less than 20% in multi-threaded applications, although there is a small number of applications which can be boosted by as much as 50%.

Intel Core i7-740QM is packaged into 988-pin micro-PGA package, and requires socket 988 motherboards.