Tag: intel

Intel Keifer: 32 Cores

Post ImageBack in January I sort of predicted that by 2007, a common question won’t be how fast your processor is, but how many cores it has. I think my prediction is starting to look more and more like a reality. I don’t think I wrote about it, but we purchased new machines for the office a while ago, and they each have dual core processors. This last week saw the official launch of Intel’s new Core 2 Duo chips, and as the name suggests, they have more than one core.

But if you think two cores is good, wait another three to four years:

I have to say I can’t remember performance gains anywhere near 16x in only four years. Comparing a 2002 Pentium 4 3.06 GHz with a Core 2 Extreme 2.93 GHz will give you a two to five fold increase – if most. 16x more performance by 32 cores in 2010 versus today’s two cores, should it come true, equals linear scaling, which means that performance would double with the core count. Many of you will say this is utterly impossible, because even sustaining the clock speed levels at doubled core count might be difficult – and I agree, unless you start to think out of the box.

Yep it seems Intel is working on having 32 cores on a chip by 2010, a project code-named “Keifer”. According to some sources, each core would run at 2 GHz, which is slower than today’s fastest chips, but adds up when there’s 32 of them. No word on how much power this beast might devour.

Now 2010 is still a ways off, and Intel has been known to change course in the past, but if they get this project completed according to plan, the future for computing performance looks very bright indeed. That and AMD is going to have some catching up to do.

Read: Tom’s Hardware

First glimpse of Origami device?

Post ImageThis is the week we’ll find out more about Microsoft’s secretive Origami project. Intel today showed off some prototypes of the so-called “Ultra Mobile PC” devices and they look pretty good:

As earlier reported, the first devices have a 7-inch touch screen, standard x86 processors, and can run full versions of desktop operating systems including the Windows XP variant being used for Origami.

In later generations, probably next year or later, the devices could have the pocket size, all-day battery life, and $500 price that Microsoft and Intel are aiming for, Graff said in an interview.

Apparently these first devices will only get three hours of battery life, which is actually worse than my 12.1″ Toshiba Portege tablet. I think the concept is really great, and the price point is getting much, much better, but I’d rather have a Vista-based device that can last all day long. Should be interesting to see what Microsoft announces on Thursday.

Sounds like they are really going for the average consumer with this device too:

Intel also found in its testing that the devices appeal to active mothers, who, the chipmaker learned, have schedules similar to corporate road warriors.

I can’t figure out why Yahoo is featured so prominently in the pictures, as to my knowledge they don’t really have anything to do with this new platform. I mean obviously they must have paid for some attention, but certainly there could have been something more relevant to display.

Read: CNET News.com

How many cores do you have?

This post originally appeared as a guest post on Dave Lucas‘ popular blog, Capital Region People.

Post ImageNow that we’re into 2006, my computer is about six years old. I have upgraded certain components over the years (notably RAM and hard drives) but my original processors are still chugging along – dual Pentium III 600 MHz processors (x86 Family 6 Model 8 for those of you who like details). For the most part my computer is pretty responsive, and I do a good job of clearing up temp files, scanning for spyware and viruses, etc. Certain applications and tasks are starting to be noticeably slower though, which means a new computer is becoming more and more likely. My computer probably is doing things just as fast as a couple years ago, but it seems slower because of all the newer, faster machines I come into contact with. Faster machines that more and more frequently have more than one processor core.

To ring in the new year, Intel launched a massive rebranding complete with new logos and a new slogan, Leap Ahead. The company also announced a new focus and direction; one that includes muti-core processors at its heart. Here’s how Intel describes multi-core:

Intel multi-core architecture has a single Intel processor package that contains two or more processor “execution cores,” or computational engines, and delivers—with appropriate software—fully parallel execution of multiple software threads. The operating system (OS) perceives each of its execution cores as a discrete processor, with all the associated execution resources.

Essentially, more execution cores means you computer can do more things at once, and thus accomplish tasks faster. It was April of last year that Intel released their first dual core processor, and research on new multi-core projects (15 currently underway at Intel) has been feverish ever since. There haven’t been that many dual core processors sold yet, mainly because they are a bit too expensive still. That will change in 2006 though, as Intel forecasts “that more than 85 percent of our server processors and more than 70 percent of our mobile and desktop Pentium® family processor shipments will be multi-core–based by the end of 2006.”

Intel isn’t the only company betting on multi-core technology. In a recent interview with CNET News.com, AMD’s Chief Technology Officer confirmed that the company will be shipping quad-core processors by 2007. AMD has a good description of multi-core technology:

Multi-core processors enable true multitasking. On single-core systems, multitasking can max out CPU utilization, resulting in decreased performance as operations have to wait to be processed. On multi-core systems, since each core has its own cache, the operating system has sufficient resources to handle most compute intensive tasks in parallel.

Improvements are being made in software as well. The current versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X will all be able to take advantage of the improved performance delivered by multi-core processors, and new iterations of the operating systems should improve things even more. Mac users will be happy that Apple is switching to Intel this year, opening the door for multi-core processors in Macintosh computers. Windows users will soon have Windows Vista available which will not only support multi-core processors, but other performance boosting technologies like hot-swappable USB key-based RAM too.

Let’s not forget that other system components are being improved too. The speed of memory, motherboards, hard drives, and other components are all increasing along with processor performance. All this and I haven’t even mentioned 64-bit technology yet! When you step back and look at the big picture, it’s clear that we’re on track for a huge performance boost.

If you’re going to be purchasing a new computer, the coming year is as good a time as any. The new multi-core systems that will be available are a far cry from my pokey old Pentium III’s, even if I do have two! The faster computers will usher in new applications and interfaces that take advantage of the increased horsepower, meaning you’ll see improvements across the board, from hardware to software.

Perhaps a year from now you won’t ask someone how fast their computer is. Instead, you might ask, how many cores do you have?

The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists

Post ImageBusinessWeek has once again come up with their annual list of the 50 most generous philanthropists, and for the first time in a while, Bill and Melinda Gates do not top the list! They were unseated this year by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore and his wife Betty. From the Drudge Report:

The Moores, like a growing number of big givers, take a businesslike approach to philanthropy. Rather than throwing money at problems, they try to ensure the most productive use of their dollars by funding projects they believe can produce “significant and measurable” results. This desire for accountability is one of the most important themes in this year’s top 50 individual donors list.

The complete list and associated articles will be available in the November 28th issue of BusinessWeek which hits newstands on Monday. Looking at the top 26 on the Drudge Report page, I see that seven of them are technology-related like Microsoft, Intel, and eBay. Some of the other companies represented include Home Depot, Wal-Mart, CNN, and Bloomberg. It’s interesting to juxtapose this list with the Forbes ranking of the wealthiest people in the world. Some individuals are on both, while others are quite notably absent. I guess philanthropy isn’t for everyone though.

Read: BusinessWeek

Everyone loves a good rumor!

Post ImageIn case you missed it earlier this week, Apple announced it was switching to Intel chips for it’s computers starting in 2006. That’s pretty big news for the computer industry, and as a result, it has been debated, questioned, and otherwise picked apart over the last few days. People have all sorts of questions and thus theories about what is going to happen, but one of the most extreme comes to us from Robert X. Cringely (I picked out the best quotes):

And this time, what’s behind the announcement is so baffling and staggering that it isn’t surprising that nobody has yet figured it out until now. Apple and Intel are merging.

Then what is the driving force? Microsoft.

His article is a pretty interesting read, and he does ask some great questions. Why did Apple choose Intel and not AMD? Why did they not say anything about their previous marking campaigns that said PowerPC was so much faster than Intel? I expect these questions, and many others, have good answers.

As for Apple and Intel merging to dethrone Microsoft? Not likely:

  • Microsoft has so much money, they could be a bank. Heck, they could be anything they wanted almost overnight. And keeping a lot of money has always been part of the plan – lots of cash on hand means you can weather most storms. It would take a lot, an act of epic proportions, to harm Microsoft. Apple and Intel merging is not that act.
  • Dell and HP are the companies that have the real say here. If Intel were to buy Apple, I think you’d see Dell and HP knocking on AMD’s door extremely fast. Intel would lose it’s largest customers almost immediately.
  • Even if they didn’t, what’s stopping Microsoft from buying AMD? They’ve been pretty cozy lately anyway. At the very least, Microsoft could help AMD meet production demands if current Intel customers jumped ship.
  • Intel and Apple are hardware companies. Good luck creating and supporting a mainstream operating system! Microsoft is a software company at heart, it’s what they do. They might be slow at getting things fixed, but I am willing to bet they know a lot more about it than Intel-Apple would.

Basically, I don’t see the incentive for Intel to buy Apple. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think there is a much better chance that Apple would split into two companies: one focused on computers, and one focused on media (think iPod).

Read: I, Cringely

Apple switches to Intel

Post ImageOne of the biggest rumors in the technology industry was confirmed as fact this morning at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Steve Jobs, in his keynote address to conference attendees, announced that Apple will begin a phased transition to Intel chips by 2007, with the first Apple-Intel machines appearing by June 6th, 2006.

The move to Intel marks a tectonic shift for Apple, which has used processors from IBM and Motorola (now Freescale Semiconductor) throughout the life of the Mac. However, the company has changed architectures before, shifting in the 1990s from Motorola’s 68000 family of chips to the PowerPC architecture jointly developed by IBM and Motorola.

In addition the previous hardware shift, Apple also underwent a major change with the release of OS X. The new operating system required many changes on the parts of developers. Jobs admitted that Apple has had OS X running on Intel processors for the last five years, so one would assume that the move to Intel has always been in the back of Steve’s head.

So what does the change mean? Not much to the average user, except that future Apple computers might (stressing that word might) be cheaper. Microsoft and Adobe both announced that they will support the switch by updating their software. Apple will make sure that OS X doesn’t run on any Intel machine except the ones they create, though they said that they will not prevent other operating systems from running on Apple hardware. The change probably won’t affect IBM either, as all three major game consoles now run on some form of the Power PC chip, and let’s face it, game consoles outsell Apple computers by a large margin.

I think the most visible change in the short term will be fewer sales of Apple computers. Who’s going to buy a new Apple machine now when they will be so different in a year? Hard to say what will happen long term. Unless Apple decides to sell just OS X or until someone figures how to make it run on other Intel machines, not much has changed.

If I were Apple, I’d sell Mac OS X as a standalone operating system that would run on any x86 based computer. Baby steps though right? Maybe this is the first step towards that happening.

Read: CNET News.com

Librarians silently fume over Intel magazine bounty

A few days ago, Intel announced that they would pay up to $10,000 for a mint-condition copy of an April 19th, 1965 issue of the magazine that contained Gordon Moore’s now famed law about how the number of components on integrated circuits would double every year. Kind of amazing that Intel didn’t have a copy of the magazine, and apparently they thought so too, so they offered the bounty.

A day after the bounty was announced, a library at the University of Illinois noticed that one of their two copies of the magazine had disappeared:

There was a glaring space on the shelf where the bound volume containing the April 19, 1965, edition of Electronics Magazine sat for years, said Mary Schlembach, assistant engineering librarian at the Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Another librarian heard a student talking on a cell phone about the volume the same day, Schlembach said. Ordinarily, the magazine is not a popular item.

Librarians at other schools are mad too. Stanford, the University of Washington, and a bunch of others have expressed their frustration. Intel though, has apparently said they will only buy library copies from actual libraries, so the student who swiped one might have a hard time claiming the bounty.

Read: CNET News.com