DigiTimes reports, citing mainboard makers, that Intel is going to introduce two Pentium 4 models supporting Virtualization Technology on November 13. The 662 and 672 chips operate at 3.6 and 3.8 GHz, use an 800 MHz frontside bus and integrate 2 MB of L2 cache. According to the site, pricing will be similar to that of current 660 and 670 processors.
IBM this week unveiled the custom CPU that will equip the Xbox 360 videogame. The yet to be named processor, derived from the Power design, brings three multi-threaded cores operating at 3.2 GHz, 1 MB shared L2 cache and 5.4 Gb/s per-pin FSB. The 90-nm chip has 165 million transistors and is in production at the company’s East Fishkill (New York) fab and at Chartered Semiconductor (Singapore).
AMD is gaining momentum in the server front. Fujitsu has announced plans to sell two servers based on the dual-core Opteron: the Primergy RX220 rack server and the Primergy BX630 blade box. Currently, the company offers only systems based on Xeon, Itanium and Sparc processors. With the move, Dell will be the only big server vendor still avoiding AMD chips. The BX630 will be available in mid-november, while the RX220 will be released in December.
Intel has released its first dual-core Xeon chip, clocked at 2.8 GHz, confirming the anticipation of its plans. The DP processor, to be paired with the E7520 chipset, has an 800 MHz FSB and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. It supports EM64T, Hyper-Threading, Execute Disable and Demand Based Switching. The chip costs USD 1,043 in 1,000-unit quantities. In two months, the company will introduce the 7000 series, with MP processors running at up to 3 GHz, which will be matched with E8500 and E8501 chipsets.
AMD this week included a new Turion 64 chip in its price list. The ML-42 is clocked at 2.4 GHz and has 1 MB of L2 cache. Aimed at thin and light notebooks, it consumes 35 W of power, like all other products in the ML series. The ML-42 costs USD 525 in 1,000-unit quantities. AMD roadmaps indicate that the ML-44 will arrive before the end of the year.
An ex-leading engineer at Digital Equipment Corp, Dan Dobberpuhl, will unveil its new chip design company later this month at the Fall Processor Forum. P.A. Semi will design low-power processors for blade servers and portable devices. Dobberpuhl helped develop the mythic Alpha chip and the StrongARM, which eventually became Intel’s XScale.
Sun Microsystems has upgraded its UltraSPARC family after a year and a half with the release of the IV+ model. The new 1.5 GHz processor is fabbed at 90-nanometer and integrates 2 MB of L2 cache. There is also an off-chip 32 MB L3 cache. The UltraSPARC IV+ will be initially featured in four to 24-way Fire servers running Solaris 10 with prices starting at USD 30.995.
Apple’s has secured supply of PowerPC processors from Freescale Semiconductor through 2008. The agreement was received as a sign that the transition of its Macintosh line to Intel chips may not happen as fast as originally announced. Last June, CEO Steve Jobs hinted that the first such products would appear in June 2006 and transition should be completed by the end of 2007.
AMD has announced two new additions to its Turion 64 lineup. The MT-37 and MT-40 are clocked at 2 GHz and 2.2 GHz, respectively, and sport 1 MB of L2 cache and power consumption of 25 W. Partner VoodooPC is the first to launch products based on the two chips as part os its ENVY Featherweight and Middleweight series. The MT-37 costs US$ 268, while the MT-40 sells for USD 359, both in 1,000-unit quantities.
AMD has released a new high-end Mobile Athlon 64 aimed at desktop replacement notebooks. The 4000+ is clocked at 2.6 GHz and brings 1 MB of L2 cache. Thermal design power (TDP) is 62 W. The chips, which will be featured in products from companies such as Fujitsu, costs USD 382 in 1,000-unit quantities. AMD has also announced availability of powerful mobile systems based on the dual-core Athlon 64 X2 and the Athlon 64 FX-57 from VoodooPC.
Intel has announced that it will release the dual-core Xeon ahead of schedule. Previously expected to launch in early 2006, the Xeon MP codenamed Paxville will be introduced later this year, along with a lower-end version aimed at dual-processor servers. The 64-bit chips will support Hyper-Threading, Execute Disable and Demand Based Switching, among other technologies. Paxville MP will use the E8500 chipset while the DP version will be paired with the E7520.
AMD and IBM have reportedly agreed to maintain a development alliance until 2011. The arrangement involves cooperation in 32 and 22-nm chip fabrication processes and a series of technologies related to transistors, interconnects, lithography and processor packaging. The partnership between the companies began in 2002 when IBM joined AMD to help in the latter’s silicon-on-insulator manufacturing technique.
AMD has officially launched the dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800+, a cheaper model clocked at 2 GHz and sporting 512 KB of cache per core, which has been reportedly on sale for some weeks. The socket 939 processor costs USD 354 in 1,000-unit quantities while the top of the line 4800+ sells for USD 902. AMD has also released the 64-bit enabled socket 754 Sempron 3400+ clocked at 2 GHz and equipped with 256 KB of cache (USD 134).
Intel has released its first Itanium 2 processors with 667 MHz front side bus. The upgrade will move system bandwidth from 6.4 Gbps to 10.6 Gbps. The 667 MHz FSB Itanium 2 clocked at 1.66 GHz with 9 MB of cache is available for USD 4,655 in 1,000-unit quantities, while the 1.66 GHz model with 6 MB cache costs USD 2,194. These should be the last Itanium 2 chips before Intel launches dual-core Montecito processors in the fourth quarter.
Officials from the European Commision this Tuesday raided offices of Intel and a number of other companies, such as Dell, as part of an antitrust investigation into the chip company practices. Inspections were carried out in Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy), Munich (Germany) and Swindon (England). AMD has repeatedly complained to European regulators about Intel’s supposed malpractices to coerce computer makers and retailers to avoid selling and marketing its rivals products. Intel declared that it is fully cooperating with investigators.
