Year in review: The race to dual-core
AMD and Intel raced to bring dual-core x86 chips to PCs and mainstream servers.
Year in Review: CHIPS
The race to dual-core
Dual-core processors--those with two processing engines--hit the mainstream in 2005.
For years, chipmakers improved chips by increasing clock speeds. But physics and engineering problems put a stop to that approach as designers struggled to deliver sufficient electricity to power and cool the chips. The result: a course correction toward multicore processors that get more work done but at lower clock frequencies.
It's a move that began in 2001 with IBM's Power4. But this year, x86 chips from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel arrived in PCs and mainstream servers.
Intel initially asserted the push to dual-core chips "is not a race." But it eagerly trumpeted the arrival of its dual-core desktop chips in April. And by October, Intel hustled its first dual-core server chip to market, releasing a dual-processor server version of the "Paxville" chip that was originally designed just for four-processor machines.
AMD, though, had planned for dual-core designs much earlier in the development of its Athlon PC chip and its server-oriented Opteron sibling. It beat Intel to the server market handily with dual-core Opterons in April--significant given that server software, already designed to run on multiple processors, is much better suited to multicore chips than desktop software.
The Intel-AMD rivalry took a legal turn in June when AMD filed an antitrust suit against Intel.
Apple Computer dropped a bombshell in June, announcing that it would switch to Intel's Pentium. The move required extensive software changes, but Apple said IBM's PowerPC processors just weren't meeting the company's needs.
Apple's transition will be gradual though. The company's newest G5 models went dual-core in October with the latest IBM PowerPC 970.
For Itanium, the dual-core news wasn't good. In October, Intel delayed its first dual-core Itanium model, "Montecito," from 2005 until mid-2006. Its successors, Montvale and Tukwila, also were pushed out a year to 2007 and 2008, respectively.
There were also executive changes at Intel in 2005, as President Paul Otellini replaced Craig Barrett as chief executive. Even before taking the reins, Otellini launched an Intel reorganization in January that grouped processors with chipsets and other related technology components into "platforms." The company announced one of the first examples of the change in August, unveiling the Viiv brand for entertainment PCs.
AMD also won another battle against Intel: lower power consumption. Its Opterons draw 95 watts compared with a range of
Sun Microsystems, after years of processor products even the company admits were uninspiring, made major changes in 2005. In September, it announced its "Galaxy" line of Opteron servers, the company's first major in-house x86 server designs. And in December, Sun introduced servers using its ambitious UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" processor.
Niagara has no fewer than eight cores, each able to process four instruction sequences called threads, and Sun is banking that it will endow its UltraSparc line not merely with relevance, but glory.
One of Sun's biggest competitors, IBM's Power family, got a new member in October with the Power5+. But for another major rival, May marked the end of an era as Hewlett-Packard introduced the final member of its PA-RISC chip family.
--Stephen Shankland
Intel launches broad reorganization
Among the changes: a new division devoted to digital health care technologies, plus a unit to focus on Intel's distribution channels.
Mr. Chips takes a final bow
newsmaker Before leaving his post as CEO, Intel's Craig Barrett wants to make a few things perfectly clear.
Dual-core desktops hit the market
Dell, Alienware and Velocity Micro begin offering PCs with Intel's dual-core Pentium Extreme Edition 840 chip.
New Life for Moore's Law
Emerging technologies could extend the life of the famous principle whose demise has been predicted repeatedly. AMD releases dual-core server chips
Trio of dual-core Opterons hits the market, with three more and a desktop line soon to follow. Apple's Switch: It's Intel Inside
After a decade with IBM, Apple is ready to switch. But can the Mac maker's customers take another architecture shift? AMD files antitrust suit against Intel
The 48-page complaint charges Intel with scare tactics and coercion in the latest fight over the x86-based PCs. Intel powers up plans for low-power chips
Chipmaker changes course from some Pentium 4 designs and says future processors will go easy on the energy. Galaxy remakes Sun's server strategy
Company unveils first in Galaxy server family, a key piece of its push to restore its reputation, business health. Intel hustles for dual-core Xeon debut
"Paxville" is intended to recapture some turf lost to competitor AMD, but it's likely to be quickly outmoded. Intel pushes back Itanium, revamps Xeon
The long-suffering Itanium line takes another hit as the chipmaker addresses quality issues.
Sun has high expectations for Niagara
The forthcoming processor embraces both the multicore and multithreading approaches more aggressively than does IBM, Intel and AMD.
Intel moves into volume with new chips
Intel's had a tough time, but the manufacturing machine is still churning away in good order.
AMD surpasses Intel in U.S. retail stores
Store sales of Advanced Micro Devices chips outpaced those of industry giant Intel chips in October, researcher says.
Sun begins Sparc phase of server overhaul
Launch of new "Niagara" is key to effort to restore its ailing server fortunes by catering to its core customers.
Behind the headlines
- HP moves out of pre-Itanium era
- BEA backtracks on dual-core pricing
- IBM, Sony, Toshiba push Cell chip beyond games
- Flash memory closing in on hard drives?
- Sun revamps Unix servers with UltraSparc IV+
- IBM rebuilds Unix servers with Power5+ chip
- With new factory, AMD ups ante against Intel
- Start-up plans new energy-efficient processor
- IBM ramps up Xbox chip production
- Fujitsu plans four-core Sparc chip for 2008
Year in Review: CHIPS
The race to dual-core
Dual-core processors--those with two processing engines--hit the mainstream in 2005.
For years, chipmakers improved chips by increasing clock speeds. But physics and engineering problems put a stop to that approach as designers struggled to deliver sufficient electricity to power and cool the chips. The result: a course correction toward multicore processors that get more work done but at lower clock frequencies.
It's a move that began in 2001 with IBM's Power4. But this year, x86 chips from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel arrived in PCs and mainstream servers.
Intel initially asserted the push to dual-core chips "is not a race." But it eagerly trumpeted the arrival of its dual-core desktop chips in April. And by October, Intel hustled its first dual-core server chip to market, releasing a dual-processor server version of the "Paxville" chip that was originally designed just for four-processor machines.
AMD, though, had planned for dual-core designs much earlier in the development of its Athlon PC chip and its server-oriented Opteron sibling. It beat Intel to the server market handily with dual-core Opterons in April--significant given that server software, already designed to run on multiple processors, is much better suited to multicore chips than desktop software.
The Intel-AMD rivalry took a legal turn in June when AMD filed an antitrust suit against Intel.
Apple Computer dropped a bombshell in June, announcing that it would switch to Intel's Pentium. The move required extensive software changes, but Apple said IBM's PowerPC processors just weren't meeting the company's needs.
Apple's transition will be gradual though. The company's newest G5 models went dual-core in October with the latest IBM PowerPC 970.
For Itanium, the dual-core news wasn't good. In October, Intel delayed its first dual-core Itanium model, "Montecito," from 2005 until mid-2006. Its successors, Montvale and Tukwila, also were pushed out a year to 2007 and 2008, respectively.
There were also executive changes at Intel in 2005, as President Paul Otellini replaced Craig Barrett as chief executive. Even before taking the reins, Otellini launched an Intel reorganization in January that grouped processors with chipsets and other related technology components into "platforms." The company announced one of the first examples of the change in August, unveiling the Viiv brand for entertainment PCs.
AMD also won another battle against Intel: lower power consumption. Its Opterons draw 95 watts compared with a range of
Sun Microsystems, after years of processor products even the company admits were uninspiring, made major changes in 2005. In September, it announced its "Galaxy" line of Opteron servers, the company's first major in-house x86 server designs. And in December, Sun introduced servers using its ambitious UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" processor.
Niagara has no fewer than eight cores, each able to process four instruction sequences called threads, and Sun is banking that it will endow its UltraSparc line not merely with relevance, but glory.
One of Sun's biggest competitors, IBM's Power family, got a new member in October with the Power5+. But for another major rival, May marked the end of an era as Hewlett-Packard introduced the final member of its PA-RISC chip family.
--Stephen Shankland
Intel launches broad reorganization
Among the changes: a new division devoted to digital health care technologies, plus a unit to focus on Intel's distribution channels.
Mr. Chips takes a final bow
newsmaker Before leaving his post as CEO, Intel's Craig Barrett wants to make a few things perfectly clear.
Dual-core desktops hit the market
Dell, Alienware and Velocity Micro begin offering PCs with Intel's dual-core Pentium Extreme Edition 840 chip.
New Life for Moore's Law
Emerging technologies could extend the life of the famous principle whose demise has been predicted repeatedly. AMD releases dual-core server chips
Trio of dual-core Opterons hits the market, with three more and a desktop line soon to follow. Apple's Switch: It's Intel Inside
After a decade with IBM, Apple is ready to switch. But can the Mac maker's customers take another architecture shift? AMD files antitrust suit against Intel
The 48-page complaint charges Intel with scare tactics and coercion in the latest fight over the x86-based PCs. Intel powers up plans for low-power chips
Chipmaker changes course from some Pentium 4 designs and says future processors will go easy on the energy. Galaxy remakes Sun's server strategy
Company unveils first in Galaxy server family, a key piece of its push to restore its reputation, business health. Intel hustles for dual-core Xeon debut
"Paxville" is intended to recapture some turf lost to competitor AMD, but it's likely to be quickly outmoded. Intel pushes back Itanium, revamps Xeon
The long-suffering Itanium line takes another hit as the chipmaker addresses quality issues.
Sun has high expectations for Niagara
The forthcoming processor embraces both the multicore and multithreading approaches more aggressively than does IBM, Intel and AMD.
Intel moves into volume with new chips
Intel's had a tough time, but the manufacturing machine is still churning away in good order.
AMD surpasses Intel in U.S. retail stores
Store sales of Advanced Micro Devices chips outpaced those of industry giant Intel chips in October, researcher says.
Sun begins Sparc phase of server overhaul
Launch of new "Niagara" is key to effort to restore its ailing server fortunes by catering to its core customers.
Behind the headlines
- HP moves out of pre-Itanium era
- BEA backtracks on dual-core pricing
- IBM, Sony, Toshiba push Cell chip beyond games
- Flash memory closing in on hard drives?
- Sun revamps Unix servers with UltraSparc IV+
- IBM rebuilds Unix servers with Power5+ chip
- With new factory, AMD ups ante against Intel
- Start-up plans new energy-efficient processor
- IBM ramps up Xbox chip production
- Fujitsu plans four-core Sparc chip for 2008