Intel’s Dec. 2 demonstration of its experimental 48-core processor is the latest step by chip makers to increase the performance and efficiency of their products by growing the number of cores that can be put onto a single silicon chip. Intel's "single-chip cloud computer" was created by Intel Lab's Tera-scale Computing Research Program, which is working to create chips with hundreds of cores. Other chip makers also are driving their core count up, from rival AMD, which is planning a 12-core processor in 2010, to IBM and Sun Microsystems. Intel is planning an eight-core "Nehalem EX" Xeon server processor for early 2010. Core count also is going up in graphics chips, which vendors like AMD and Nvidia are pushing more into mainstream computing. This slideshow shows some current and future multicore processors.
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Intel, AMD, IBM Boosting Chip Core Count
by Jeffrey Burt
Intel Single-Chip Cloud Computer
Intel officials say their 48-core processor will greatly improve the performance and energy efficiency of future data centers. The chip can run at as low as 25 watts.
Intel "Nehalem EX"
Intel officials say the eight-core Nehalem EX processor, for servers with four or more sockets, will challenge higher-end Unix systems. Intel's Boyd Davis holds up a Nehalem EX chip, which is due out in early 2010.
Intel "Dunnington" Chip
Intel's six-core "Dunnington" chip is designed for greater density and higher energy efficiency, and is aimed at such systems as blade servers.
AMD "Magny-Cours"
AMD is planning to release its 12-core "Magny-Cours" Opteron processor in early 2010.
AMD "Istanbul" Processor
The six-core "Istanbul" Opteron processor, released in June, comes with strong virtualization and power reduction features.
IBM Power7
Due out in 2010, IBM's eight-core Power 7 processor is a 45-nanometer chip that also will have four- and six-core variants when released.
Sun UltraSparc T2
Launched in 2007, Sun's UltraSparc T2 chip was the second in its line of "Niagara" processors, which were designed with Internet workloads in mind. In 2008, Sun started selling systems with UltraSparc T2 Plus, a chip for SMP servers.
Tilera GX100
Tilera, which already had chips with 36 and 64 cores, in October unveiled plans for a 100-core processor, which is due in the first quarter of 2011.
Nvidia "Fermi"
Nvidia's Fermi GPU architecture features 3 billion transistors and 512 CUDA cores, and will be incorporated into Nvidia's GeForce, Quadro and Tesla lines.
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See All Slideshows
Intel’s Dec. 2 demonstration of its experimental 48-core processor is the latest step by chip makers to increase the performance and efficiency of their products by growing the number of cores that can be put onto a single silicon chip. Intel's "single-chip cloud computer" was created by Intel Lab's Tera-scale Computing Research Program, which is working to create chips with hundreds of cores. Other chip makers also are driving their core count up, from rival AMD, which is planning a 12-core processor in 2010, to IBM and Sun Microsystems. Intel is planning an eight-core "Nehalem EX" Xeon server processor for early 2010. Core count also is going up in graphics chips, which vendors like AMD and Nvidia are pushing more into mainstream computing. This slideshow shows some current and future multicore processors.