Intel to go quad-core this year
Stephen Shankland
CNET News.com
July 20, 2006, 08:50 BST
The battle to ship quad-core server and desktop chips is swinging
Intel's way
Intel quad-core server and desktop processors will arrive this year
instead of next, Chief Executive Paul Otellini said Wednesday,
firing a new competitive volley against rival AMD.
"We notified customers we're pulling in both the desktop and server
(launch) of the first quad-core processors into the fourth quarter
of this year from the first half of 2007," Otellini said.
Intel's quad-core Xeon server processor is code-named
Clovertown, and its desktop processor Kentsfield.
Intel has been bruised financially in recent quarters, but is
fighting to reverse market share losses. Both Intel and AMD now
sell dual-core chips those with two processing engines on a
single slice of silicon and are racing to bring multi-core
successors to market.
Chips with more cores can juggle multiple jobs simultaneously.
However, while server software typically is able to use multiple
cores, most desktop computer software hasn't been adapted for the
designs.
Intel's quad-core chips are packages consisting of two
dual-core chips, but each package plugs into a single processor
socket. AMD, whose quad-core chips are due in mid-2007, uses a more
refined design with all the cores on a single slice of
silicon.
Intel has advanced several schedules recently. Its "Woodcrest" Xeon
chip for dual-processor servers went on sale in the second quarter
instead of the fourth, and its "Tulsa" Xeon for four-processor
servers is also arriving sooner. "We pulled in the Tulsa processor
launch by two quarters to the third quarter and have begun shipping
that product for revenue," Otellini said.