Intel's new line of processors for corporate computing is its most significant launch to the market in more than a decade, the company said today. After the UAE launch of the new generation of chips, Ferhad Patel, the regional market development manager for Intel, said the Xeon line was its most important corporate offering since the Pentium Pro chip in 1995. "When the web was still in its early stages, the Pentium Pro introduced a whole new standards-based architecture that helped the internet take off," he said. "Now, as cloud computing and virtualisation are emerging, this is the new generation that will make it happen."
The chips have been significantly redesigned, incorporating features to allow for much faster information processing, better interaction with storage systems and computer networks, and greater energy efficiency. Their power and efficiency means that a data centre using 184 of Intel's top-of-the-line chips from 2005 could upgrade to just 21 of the new chips for the same computing power, Mr Patel said.
Along with a 92 per cent reduction in energy use, it means data centres could have their investment repaid by savings in just one year. The redesigned chips also feature an integrated memory controller, which shuttles data between memory chips to the central processing unit. Integrating the controller into the chip cuts down the time taken moving information through the system, and removes a performance bottleneck.
AMD, Intel's main rival, has offered integrated memory controllers on its chips since 2003, and the feature was promoted as one of the company's main technological advantages over Intel. The new chips are the second stage in the release of Intel's new generation of processor architecture, Nehalem. The first Nehalem chips released to the market were the Core i7 chips, designed for high-end desktop computers. Chips from the Nehalem generation designed for laptop computers are expected to be released next year, Mr Patel said.
He said the company would invest US$7 billion (Dh25.71bn) in upgrading its US production facilities in the coming years, enabling the transition to a 32-nanometre manufacturing standard that will allow it to produce smaller, more powerful chips. These chips, codenamed Westmere, will be the successor to the Nehalem line. AMD, which now has its chips made by the Abu Dhabi-owned chipmaker, Globalfoundries, is completing the transition to 45-nanometre manufacturing, and is expected to follow Intel to the next generation as investment in Globalfoundries increases.
tgara@thenational.ae