Intel officially launched its quad-core chips yesterday,
taking the wraps off its Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 server
processors and its Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core chips for
workstations.
Dell, HP, Fujitsu-Siemens and IBM previously announced new
server and desktop products to house the new processors, promising
much faster processing times for users’ applications. Today, NEC
also announced a new workstation platform that will use the
quad-core Intel chips.
Paul Otellini, Intel chief executive officer, said, “The
capabilities of quad-core microprocessors will bring new
possibilities for science, entertainment and business.”
Intel said Fujitsu-Siemens, Dell and HP had all reported record
processing speeds using its new chips in lab tests, using industry
accepted benchmarks. Four Intel Xeon processors have been launched,
with clock speeds ranging from 1.60GHz to 2.66GHz.
In the first quarter of next year, Intel will launch two more
quad-core Xeon processors – a low-voltage version for ultra-dense
deployments with a thermal design power of only 50W, and a
processor designed for single-socket workstations and servers.
The new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor for
workstations is said to be 80% faster than Intel’s current Intel
Core 2 Extreme X6800 dual-core processor.
Smaller Intel rival AMD plans to launch its first quad-core
processors by the middle of next year.
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