In 2005, Intel will follow with Montecito, which will contain two Itanium processor cores on the same piece of silicon. Dual-processor chips are pretty much what they sound like: single chips that contain two separate "brains" so they can best a single-core chip but cost less than two separate ones. It's one of the hot design ideas in the chip world. IBM came out with the first dual-processor chip for the server market, Power4, in 2004. Sun's UltraSparc IV, debuting toward the end of the year, is expected to contain two processor cores. Analysts have also noted that AMD's Opteron chip, coming out in the first half, could be redesigned to accommodate a second processor core. Originally, Montecito, due in 2004, wasn't a dual-core chip, but it morphed into one after engineering and manufacturing teams concurred that a dual-processor chip could be mass manufactured at Intel by 2005. "Our dual-core (chip) was originally planned for the following generation of chips," said Waxman. Besides enhancing performance, Intel may use its dual-core chips to undercut IBM, said Kevin Krewell, senior editor at The Microprocessor Report. In larger servers, Oracle and other software vendors charge a licensing fee for every processor in a given server. To date, IBM has said that the Power4, although a single chip, is two processors. Hence, software customers have to buy two licenses for each Power4 chip. Intel is already indicating that it will consider Montecito a single processor, requiring only one software licence, Krewell said. "I think they are going to sell it that way to make it cost effective," to switch to Itanium from other servers with different chips, Krewell said. Montecito, Krewell added, will be made on the 90-nanometre process, which means the average feature inside the chip measures 90 nanometres. Madison, Madison II and Deerfield will contain features measuring 130 nanometres. The current Itanium 2 comes with 180-nanometre features. Reducing feature size allows companies to squeeze more transistors on a chip. Not as sweet by any other name
Continuity is another theme. All the forthcoming chips -- Madison, Deerfield, Madison II and Montecito -- will be sold under the Itanium 2 name. All these chips will also fit into the same motherboard sockets and be capable of using the same chipsets currently used in Itanium 2 servers, said Waxman. In turn, this will reduce the need for server makers to redesign their servers with each new chip release, smoothing the commercial adoption. Despite its long and often controversial history, the Itanium family appears to be gaining momentum in the market, according to Eunice. Back in the mid-'90s, analysts speculated that the chip, designed by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, would become one of the most popular for high-end servers. However, the first version, formerly code-named Merced, was delayed several times and offered only middling performance. It finally debuted in 2001; sales were dismal. Itanium 2, formerly McKinley, came out in July 2002 and was substantially different than the first Itanium. Analysts have given it fairly strong reviews. Itanium 2 "competes or outperforms the fastest Alpha and Power chips. It is right up there at the elite country club of performance", Eunice said. Still, despite strong benchmark scores, sales started slow. The economy was in a slump, which discouraged interest from customers, software developers and hardware makers. Interest, though, appears to be growing, Eunice said. Laboratories and other scientific customers are increasingly deploying Itanium 2 servers. More software tools are also coming onto the market. If the tide changes, Intel could benefit. "2002 was a terrible time to launch a new technology," said Eunice.
See Chips Central for the latest headlines on processors and semiconductors.
To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section.
Let the Chips Central editor know what you think by email. And sign up for the weekly Chips Central newsletter.
