Advertisment

Intel previews six-core 'Westmere' server chip

author-image
CIOL Bureau
Updated On
New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA: Chip giant Intel said on Wednesday that it is preparing six-core chips for high-end desktops and servers. The Westmere processors, the 32nm version of the Nehalem architecture, with chips dubbed Clarkdale for the desktop version and Arrandale for mobile, would be released in the first half of this year.

Advertisment

The chips will contain 1.17 billion transistors and include 12MB of cache, according to a company spokesman, who said the new processor would deliver faster performance and more power savings compared to earlier quad-core chips.

According to reports, Westmere offers a handful of new instructions, most of which centre around AES mathematical operations in order to boost data encryption and decryption speeds. Based on the Nehalem architecture, Westmere supports both Hyperthreading and Turbo Boost. The Turbo Boost feature is not available in the budget Core i3 chips.

Intel already offers a six-core Xeon processor code-named Dunnington that was announced in 2008. The new six-core Westmere-EP chip will also be offered under the Xeon brand name, but it includes speed and security enhancements, the reports said.

Advertisment

Intel is expected to present papers on the upcoming Westmere offerings at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) 2010 show, which would happen in San Francisco from which runs February 7 to 11.

Intel is also targeting desktop six-core processors at enthusiasts like gamers. Code-named Gulftown, the processor will fit into the same socket as the older quad-core Core i7 chips targeted at the same segment, according to Intel spokesman. The Gulftown processor will come under the Core i7 brand name and be able to run 12 threads at the same time to boost application performance.

The company is also preparing an eight-core chip which is code-named Nehalem-EX, according to reports. Due for release in the first half of this year, this would be Intel's fastest processor to date, according to Intel top brass.

semicon