Tony, Article...Intel Readies 64-Bit Chips...
March 16, 1999
COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS : Palm Springs, Calif. -- Intel Corp. is preparing to hit the server market big time next year with the introduction of its 64-bit Merced processor.
At the Intel Developers Forum held here last month, the company presented an update on its ambitious plans for the high-end chip market. Intel is scheduled to produce Merced, the first chip in the company's 64-bit architecture, in mid-2000.
"Merced and the IA-64 [architecture] will extend our reach in terms of performance," said John Miner, vice president and general manager of the Intel Enterprise Server Group.
The 64-bit architecture will allow Intel to offer support for demanding applications such as data warehousing and enterprise resource planning (ERP), he said.
After Merced, Intel plans to introduce McKinley in late 2001. The processor will offer twice the performance of Merced and target clock speeds more than 1GHz, said Albert Yu, vice president and general manager of Intel's Microprocessor Products Group. McKinley will feature a superset of the Merced bus with enhanced bandwidth and on-die Level 2 cache.
Both Merced and McKinley will be produced on next-generation 0.18-micron process technology. Madison and Deerfield, McKinley's successors, will be manufactured on 0.13-micron technology, Yu said. All four chips will be based on the same IA-64 architecture.
"In our society, bigger is better," said Lou Artale, president of PC Strategies Inc., a Canton, Ohio-based VAR. "Not necessarily that we need it, but if you make it affordable, they will come."
Intel executives declined to discuss potential pricing that VARs might expect with the 64-bit series.
Tim Wenhold, president of systems integrator Sintaks, a Canon U.S.A. company based in Bridgeport, Pa., said Merced is too far off for people to think much about it now.
"American business people are so focused on year 2000," he said. "I don't think anyone's paying attention [to Merced]. Mid-next year is so far away, and I've got to worry about everything else today. I think it's going to be tough to get an audience for Merced."
Wenhold said he sees potential for Merced if the Linux operating system can take advantage of it. Earlier this month, Intel announced an agreement with VA Research Inc. to port the Linux operating system to Intel's 64-bit architecture.
Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., is working with Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., The Santa Cruz Operation Inc., and others to provide operating systems for IA-64.
Also at the developers forum, Intel announced the Enterprise Technology Center. The DuPont, Wash.-based center will provide a collaborative environment for Intel and enterprise solution providers to develop specifications and implementations of core technology features for future IA-based server platforms. The center will focus on platform power and cooling, reliability, scalability and I/O technologies.
On the 32-bit side, Intel will roll out its 500MHz Pentium III Xeon chip for workstations and servers with events in both New York and San Francisco. There will be a demonstration of systems based on the new chip, including eight-way servers.
In the second half of this year, Intel is scheduled to launch Cascades. Built on 0.18-micron process technology, the chip is expected to be introduced at a clock speed of 600MHz and quickly boosted to 667MHz. In 2001, Intel plans to release Foster, a processor built on next-generation 32-bit architecture.
In other Intel news, the company recently said it will acquire Level One Communications Inc. for about $2.2 billion in stock.
The deal with Sacramento, Calif.-based Level One will establish Intel as a leading component supplier for the Internet and intranet equipment markets, Intel executives said.
Level One provides components for high-speed telecom and networking applications.
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MERCED
- 64-bit architecture will allow Intel to offer support for demanding applications such as data-warehousing and ERP.
- Processor will be produced on next-generation 0.18-micron process technology.
- Intel signed agreement with VA Research to port Linux to Intel's 64-bit architecture.
McKINLEY
- Processor will offer twice the preformance of Merced and will target clock speeds more than 1GHz.
- Set for release in late 2001.
- Will feature a superset of the Merced bus with enhanced bandwidth.
By Marcia Savage |
