Intel quad-core server and desktop processors will arrive this yearinstead of next, Chief Executive Paul Otellini said Wednesday, firing anew competitive volley against rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Intel has been bruised financially in recent quarters, but is fighting to reverse market share losses. Both Intel and AMD now sell dual-core chips--those with two processing engines on a single slice of silicon--and are racing to bring multicore successors to market.
Intel's quad-core chips, Xeon server processor code-named Clovertown and desktop processor code-named Kentsfield, actually are packages consisting of two dual-core chips, but each package plugs into a single processor socket. AMD, whose quad-core chips are due in mid-2007, uses a more refined design with all the cores on a single slice of silicon.
Intel has advanced several schedules recently. Its "Woodcrest" Xeonchip for dual-processor servers went on sale in the second quarterinstead of the fourth, and its "Tulsa" Xeon for four-processor serversalso is arriving sooner. "We pulled in the Tulsa processor launch bytwo quarters to the third quarter and have begun shipping that productfor revenue," Otellini said.
News source: CNET News.com
