Dual-core Pentium 4s coming to desktops in Q2 2005

[Asher]

Much sooner than I expected. 2 cores with SMT = 4 threads simultanously on a CPU. Expect lots more software to be SMP/SMT aware.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050207-4591.html

Dual-core Pentium 4s coming in second quarter

2/7/2005 12:04:48 PM, by Ken "Caesar" Fisher

The year of the dual-cores is coming sooner than many expected. After a few months of speculation, it appears that Intel is indeed ready to roll with dual-core parts, and not only just for Itanium. The company is now talking dual-core Pentium 4s in the second quarter of this year, which means we may see parts as early as April. But what kinds of parts will we see?

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 7, 2005 – Intel Corporation today announced it has completed initial production runs of dual-core processors and provided further details about its multi-core plans to its customers, signaling the beginning of an era when PCs will have two or more "brains" inside.

Intel plans to deliver two separate dual-core products and dual-core-enabled chipsets for its Pentium® processor-class families in the second quarter, including the Pentium® processor Extreme Edition. The Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition will include Hyper-Threading Technology, providing the ability to process four software "threads" simultaneously.

The company is planning two different Pentium-level dual-core solutions, one for the Extreme Edition, and the other, presumably, for the standard Pentium 4 dual-core line, which we've been calling "Smithfield" for a while now. Notably, hyperthreading will be relegated to the domain of the Extreme Edition dual-core line for now, as Smithfield's hyperthreading is turned off. No pricing has been announced yet, but the company has said that they have completed a first run production. We can expect some numbers to leak out before too long, and bucking 2004's industry-wide trend, this likely won't be a paper launch.

The Pentium Processor Extreme Edition will be combined with a new chipset named the Intel® 955X Express chipset, formerly codenamed "Glenwood," that includes features such as Intel® High Definition Audio, PCI-Express and faster dual-channel DDR-2 memory.

Intel will also couple its mainstream "Smithfield" processor with two new chipsets named the Intel® 945G Express chipset and Intel® 945P Express chipset, both previously code-named "Lakeport" in the second quarter of the year.

There's still considerable speculation as to what speeds these CPUs will debut at, but sources say they'll be beyond the 3.0GHz range, and I'd guess that Dell is on tap to demo an Extreme Edition workstation later this month at the February Intel Developer Forum. And before you ask, the new dual-cores require new chipsets, so these CPUs will not run on existing systems. AMD fans, meanwhile, can still hope that their dual-core parts will run in Socket 939.

Robert Crooke, the vice president of the Desktop Platforms Group sees multi-core as the next logical step after hyperthreading. "We accelerated this effort with the introduction of Hyper-Threading Technology three years ago and we're extending it by building multi-core processors. Platforms based on Intel multi-core technology will provide the performance and responsiveness consumers and businesses need to get the most enjoyment and productivity from their applications," he said.

This week the company is also expected to talk up "Montecito," its new 90nm dual-core Itanium 2 processor. For a look at multi-core and dual-core architectures and their relation to Intel's future, check out Hannibal's excellent article on the topic.

You can expect a good deal of CPU news this week, as the International Solid-State Circuits Conference is on in full force in San Francisco. Stay tuned to Ars, as our own Hannibal is on the scene, and will be bringing us more news—including details of IBM's Cell processor—later today and in the coming days.

[chequita guevara]

So does this mean we're going to see a fork in processor platform and software?

[Asher]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
So does this mean we're going to see a fork in processor platform and software?

I don't see why that would be the case. It's just that most software designed today don't make use of multiple threads on multiple CPUs. The same software would work on a single-CPU system.

[SpencerH]

This announcement wouldnt have anything to do with SONY's announcement about the new "cell processor" I guess :sarcasm:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1761412,00.asp

[Asher]

Erm...the "Cell" processor has been known about in detail for years...

And "Cell" is 90% IBM...it's basically a ton of IBM's tiny, weak, old CPUs on one chip.

Sony and Toshiba threw some money at it because they wanted it in the PS3.

Seeing as "Cell" and the P4 are aimed at completely different markets, and seeing as they have very different architectures, I do think it's fairly safe to say that Intel's announcement now had nothing to do with Cell...

[Ned]

Asher, any idea when Microsoft is going to release its 64-bit OS?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ned
Asher, any idea when Microsoft is going to release its 64-bit OS?

April-ish.

[Ned]

IBM drops the other shoe.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050207/D883TJB00.html

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Setting up a battle for the future of computing, engineers from IBM, Sony and Toshiba unveiled details Monday of a microprocessor they claim has the muscle of a supercomputer and can power everything from video game consoles to business computers.

Devices built with the processor, code-named Cell, will compete directly with the PC chips that have powered most of the world's personal computers for a quarter century.

Cell's designers say their chip, built from the start with the burgeoning world of rich media and broadband networks in mind, can deliver 10 times the performance over today's PC processors.

It also will not carry the same technical baggage that has made most of today's computers compatible with older PCs. That architectural divergence will challenge the current dominant paradigm of computing that Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Intel Corp. (INTC) have fostered.


The new chip is expected to be used in Sony Corp. (SNE)'s next-generation PlayStation game console. Toshiba plans to incorporate it into a high-end televisions. And IBM has said it will sell a workstation with the chip.

Beyond that, companies are remaining coy about where it might be used and whether it will be compatible with older technology.

"With this massive computing power, we'll get to the point where we'll get closer to photo realistic-type effect that will be able to be generated by the computer," said Jim Kahle, an IBM Corp. fellow.

Supercomputer claims are nothing new in the high-tech industry, and over the years chip and computer companies have steadily improved microprocessor performance even without altering chips' underlying architecture.

And while its competitors may well match the Cell chip in performance by the time it debuts in 2006, it differs considerably from today's processors in constitution.

Cell is comprised of several computing engines, or cores. A core based on IBM's Power architecture controls eight "synergistic" processing centers. In all, they can simultaneously carry out 10 instruction sequences, compared with two for today's Intel chips.

The new microprocessor also is expected to be able to run multiple operating systems and programs at the same time while ensuring each has enough resources. In the home, that could allow for a device that's capable of handling a video game, television and general-purpose computer at once.

"It's very flexible," Kahle said. "We support many operating systems with our virtualization technology so we can run multiple operating systems at the same time, doing different jobs on the system."

Later this year, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) plan to release their own "multicore" chips, which also increase the number of instructions that can be executed at once. IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) already sell chips with multiple cores, mainly for business servers.

Cell also appears to have an advantage in the number of transistors - 234 million compared with 125 million for today's latest Pentium 4 chips. Traditional chip makers, however, have regularly doubled their number of transistors every 12 to 18 months.

Cell is said to run at clock speeds greater than 4 gigahertz, which would top the 3.8 GHz of Intel's current top-speed chip.

[Asher]

IMO Cell is nothing but hype, with a niche market in applications that are hugely parallel.

Shades of the PS2 Emotion Engine coming out...and how it was hyped to all hell, supercomputer on a chip, etc...

In reality it's a total piece of ****.

The author of that article is pretty clueless...

Cell also appears to have an advantage in the number of transistors - 234 million compared with 125 million for today's latest Pentium 4 chips. Traditional chip makers, however, have regularly doubled their number of transistors every 12 to 18 months.

Having more transistors isn't an advantage...

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Asher
Erm...the "Cell" processor has been known about in detail for years...

And "Cell" is 90% IBM...it's basically a ton of IBM's tiny, weak, old CPUs on one chip.

Sony and Toshiba threw some money at it because they wanted it in the PS3.

Seeing as "Cell" and the P4 are aimed at completely different markets, and seeing as they have very different architectures, I do think it's fairly safe to say that Intel's announcement now had nothing to do with Cell...

Ah, OK! Looking back at my post the :sarcasm: looks inappropriate and may have been misinterpreted. I added it while remembering the many many times that Intel announced a 'new' faster processor days after AMD announced theirs (when clearly Intel had many faster processors just waiting for the next AMD processor).