'Bensley': Intel's long-lived Xeon server platform
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
SAN FRANCISCO--Intel's "Bensley" platform--a chipset and other technology used to build dual-processor servers--will last longer than the chipmaker originally disclosed.
Bensley arrived with two dual-core Xeon processors almost at the same time: the older-generation "Dempsey" and the higher-performance, more power-efficient "Woodcrest." Later this year, it will be upgraded with the quad-core "Clovertown," which is due to arrive in November.
But Kirk Skaugen, general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group, said Wednesday at the Intel Developer Forum here that Bensley will house Clovertown's successors, too. Clovertown is built with a manufacturing process that can make circuitry features as small as 65 nanometers. But in 2007, Intel will begin moving to a 45-nanometer process, and both dual-core and quad-core processors will fit into Bensley, he said.
That means Bensley will live on through 2009, Skaugen said.
The 45-nanometer quad-core chip is called Harpertown, said Pat Gelsinger, general manger of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "When you put Harpertown into a Bensley, that's a great platform," Gelsinger told News.com.