Intel has remained silent on its plans for an upcoming
dual-core Xeon processor, which it has promised as the next major
follow-up to the Nocona chip it launched in August.
During the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel chief
operating officer Paul Otellini said his company planned to
introduce dual-core chips for desktops, servers and notebooks in
2005.
But in an interview a senior Intel executive said the chip maker
was not ready to reveal any details about the new Xeon
processor.
"We want to make sure that any commitments that we make have all
the right levels of scrutiny," said Abhi Talwalkar, vice-president
and general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platforms Group.
"There are multiple considerations that we're weighing now,
everything from time-to-market options to consideration around the
platform that we just launched into the marketplace," he said
referring to Nocona.
In May, Intel scrapped plans to develop a single-core follow-up
to Nocona, code-named Jayhawk, saying it would instead develop a
processor that would contain the cores of two processors on the
same chip - a move that analysts saw as a sign of Intel's growing
commitment to dual-core processors.
Dual-core chips divide up processing tasks into two separate
processing units, which can speed up performance for certain types
of applications.
Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices has promised to begin
shipping dual-core Opteron processors in 2005. Other server chip
makers, including IBM, with its Power 4 processor, and Sun
Microsystems, with its UltraSparc IV, have already begun shipping
dual-core systems.
Though his reluctance to talk about the Jayhawk replacement may
raise questions about how far away the new chip may be from
shipping, Talwalkar has reason to be cautious when discussing
future product plans.
Intel has been plagued with missed deadlines over the last year,
including delays in the roll-out of its Dothan Pentium M mobile
processors and Prescott Pentium 4 chips.
A desire to avoid further missed deadlines may account for a
general lack of new product roadmap details during the first day of
the conference, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with research
firm Insight 64. "Intel has not been as forthcoming at this Intel
Developers Forum with details of its roadmap as it has in the
past," he said.
Still, Talwalkar did offer a few snippets of news about his
company's enterprise server processor roadmap.
Intel is readying a minor upgrade to Xeon for the first part of
2005, he said. Code-named Irwindale, the chip will have 2Mbytes of
Level 2 cache, twice the on-chip memory of Nocona.
A new low-cost version of the Xeon MP processor for systems with
more than two microprocessors, called Cranford, is also in the
works.
Intel also plans to ship a multi-core Xeon processor, called
Whitefield, that will be interchangeable with Intel's upcoming
Tukwila Itanium 2 processors, so that system suppliers will be able
to use the same components to build Itanium or Xeon systems,
Talwalkar said.
Robert McMillan writes for IDG News
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