IT"S ALL CHANGE on the Intel server gravy train during this year and next, as the chip firm re-aligns its microprocessors to fit the changing market. As we"ve written previously, the "Nocona" processor is a die shrink for the Xeon from .13µ microns to 90 nanometers, while the Potomac processor is a different fish altogether.
Intel is telling its customers that the "Prestonia" 3.06GHz 1MB processor will be introduced in the third quarter of this year and claims this will give a big performance boost, while it will introduce the Nocona 533 in the fourth quarter.
But it"s in the first half of next year that the spark will start to fly with the introduction of the Lindenhurst chipset which will give a faster bus, support more memory, give direct connect LAN and storage, and support PCI Express, a seachange for all PCs in 2004.